For the next two Sundays I am going to be preaching from Hebrews 6:4-12 which contains perhaps the most challenging and certainly the most controversial passage in the book. It is a sober warning against apostasy. But the quesiton remains,…
Yesterday we ended with a question. The answer to it is: that Calvin offers ecclesiastical advice to places other than Geneva by using the contrast of what is necessary for the being of the church, and what is necessary for its…
Westminster Theological Seminary has distributed copies of Dr. Vern Poythress’ brilliant work “Redeeming Science” to over 15,000 science teachers and students across the U.S. If you have any interest at all in the intersection of science and theology Dr. Poythress’…
Part of Calvin’s idea of church order is to see it as following ‘apostolic precedent’ (in the matter, for example, of ordination by the laying on of hands) where there is no explicit NT command. Such precedents ‘ought to serve…
From J. Gresham Machen’s provocative 1933 essay “The Responsibility of the Church in Our New Age”: “The responsibility of the church in the new age is the same as its responsibility in every age. It is to testify that this…
Church of the Saviour where I have the privilege of serving as Senior Teaching Pastor will be hosting Paul Tripp in January. Paul will be speaking on the topic, “Your Walk with God is a Community Project.” If you are…
A read through these sections makes it clear that the establishing and preservation of order is a main Calvinian criterion for the various ecclesiastical rules he proposes at this point. For example, the establishing of governors, that is, elders, overseers,…
Recently President Obama signed a declaration proclaiming the month of June as “Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender Pride Month.” Unfortunately, the churches in the Northeast (from what I could tell) seemed to be largely silent on the event. I, in an…
From Gene Veith in an article he wrote for Modern Reformation: “Justification by faith alone” is surely the most important contribution of the Reformation. The second most important, arguably, is the “doctrine of vocation.” Whereas the doctrine of justification has…
Sunday’s message was part 16 in our series through Hebrews: “Move on to Maturity” (Hebrews 5:11-6:3). You can listen to or download it HERE.
