When Our Voices Fail
Three weeks ago this past Thursday (March 21), I decided it was probably best, because of my mother’s serious health situation, for me to head home to South Carolina after worship on the coming Sunday to be with her. The…
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Thomas Boston, the Marrow and the Gospel
Thomas Boston is one of my favorite authors. Through his sermons, memoirs, and other writings, the prolific theologian and humble pastor of a small rural church in the Scottish border country has become one of the pastors of my soul.…
Constructing a Course…Constructively
I have been asked to put together an undergraduate elective course on the doctrine of God for Grove students for next year. There is, of course, a current (and most welcome) revival of interest in Protestant circles in classical Trinitarianism…
The Good, the Bad and the Providence of God
Johannes Maccovius, in his Theological Distinctions, treated the subject of the Divine providence toward the righteous and toward the wicked with the maxim, “In this life, what happens to good people is never bad and what happens to bad people is…
Defeat and Victory in the Church
It is well documented that a staggering number of pastors leave the ministry each year. Conflict and burnout are numbered as some of the top reasons. Conflict between pastors and the congregation are common. In addition, the pastor’s inability to…
Calvin’s Four Rules of Prayer
Reading through some old notes on Calvin’s Institutes made me realize what always gets dropped when life feels like one giant game of whirlyball: prayer. Calvin says that if we do not pray, we are like a man who “neglect[s] a treasure, buried…
Barry Brings It!
It was a real pleasure to see Barry York’s very kind interaction with my recent DenDulk Lecture. The lecture itself was, as I confessed, long on analysis of the manifold temptations to corruption and incompetence to which religious institutions are…
Christians in the Cultural Closet
Our society celebrates the openness with which it accepts homosexuality and transgenderism. It contrasts our present enlightened times with past eras when what are now called “sexual minorities,” LGBTQers, were once consigned to the closets, forced to keep their “sexual…
Adoption and the Image of God
When I was in my early 20s, I met a college friend of my parents for the first time. After a short conversation, she smiled and commented, “You’re just like your dad!” She wasn’t just referring to my appearance, but…
Two Book Recommendations
I’ve been slacking on the blog, but I promise I’ve been writing. My manuscript for Zondervan is due April 1st, so that is where I’ve been investing much of my reading and writing time. Along with the enriching research…