Well might Calvin have drawn upon Lord Acton’s famous dictum in describing the outcome of the papacy’s successful bid to usurp all ecclesial authority in Christendom: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” During his earlier recitation of the earlier…
“I formulate the Gospel this way: it is information issuing in invitation; it is proclamation issuing in persuasion. It is an admonitory message embracing five themes. First, God: the God whom Paul proclaimed to the Athenians in Acts 17, the…
Few writers, if any, have had as profound an impact on my thinking as J.I. Packer. He has been and continues to be a blessed gift to the church of Jesus Christ. Books such as Knowing God, Evangelism and the…
It seems that in every election cycle those of us who will not, indeed cannot vote for a pro-abortion rights candidate are chastised as being myopic, too narrow, single-issue voters. Of course, everyone has a single issue over which they…
Look around the typical large or mega-church and try to find the children. Increasingly, they are disappearing from the church’s corporate worship. I know why we do it:Kids can be noisy.Parents need a break. Kids won’t really learn anything in…
In contesting Rome’s claim to universal authority over the entire Christian Church, Calvin pits the sober record of history against the fraudulent records of the papacy. It had long been the besetting sin of Rome, Calvin asserts, to desire hegemony…
As Calvin continues his refutation of papal claims to supremacy, he shows the great value of detailed learning. Reading 4.7.5-10, one may soak in the volume of facts marshaled by Calvin, but we should appreciate his vast reading in the…
History is always important to Christians, since ours is a faith based on God’s saving deeds in history and since the true church passes its faith through history, one generation to the next. For this reason, Calvin and the other…
From Jonathan Leeman over at Church Matters: “Mistakes Pastors Make When Practicing Church Discipline”1. They fail to teach their congregation what church discipline is and why to practice it. 2. They fail to teach about and practice meaningful membership. This…
“Love me, love my dog,” they say, and my poor dog has been sick all summer and continues to be in bad shape. But it is not dogs I am writing about here; it is the church. Jesus seems to…
