The following are some books that are helpful toward developing a better understanding of the church: Nine Marks of the Healthy Church by Mark Dever Twelve Challenges Churches Face by Mark Dever The Church by Edmund Clowney Life in the…
Periodically I am reminded of the fact that those of us who were raised in evangelical churches often have a woefully undeveloped ecclesiology (theology of the church). The vast majority of what I know about the church has been learned…
Al Mohler addresses a very timely and surely controversial subject in his latest article. In the days since the shootings, the question of Muslims serving in the U.S. military has been unavoidable. In one sense, the question is hardly new.…
Further to recent blogs on the topic “How Can a loving God send People to Hell?” readers might like to watch a video clip (posted by Martin Downes) of Don Carson answering this question, here.
A couple of books that have come my way are outstanding: the first, by Tony Merida (Ok, he’s in Mississippi, so I’m biased), called Faithful Preaching: Declaring Scripture with Responsibility, Passion, and Authenticity (B&H Publishing, 2009). Merida has a…
As I’ve transitioned from teaching back to congregational ministry, I find myself reading widely in the “practical theology” field–whether pastoral theology, preaching, worship, or counseling. One of the better books that I’ve read recently is Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson’s…
One of the perplexities we modern Christians encounter in admiring magisterial reformers like Calvin is the severity of their attitude to, and treatment of, Anabaptists. In Calvin’s case this may seem all the more mysterious since he married the widow…
Perhaps the best way to approach this topic, if only briefly, is to ask and answer a series of five questions. First, why is church discipline so neglected, if not ignored altogether, in our day? Among the many reasons that…
Calvin was, and remains, a theologian of the ages. Of course his theology comes to us clothed in the garments of the sixteenth century. But some things never change–including many of the arguments, pro and con, in relation to the…
