Will Phoebe have Down’s Syndrome in heaven?
It seems even too trite to write a blog post such as this but at our dinner table the other night my 6 year old son asked the question. In January 2015 our third child Phoebe was born and, as…
Category Reformation21
‘Rise, heart; thy Lord is risen’
IThe Christian confession of the resurrection encompasses two great matters: first, that Jesus Christ is the living one who died and is alive for evermore (Rev. 1.18), and, second, that together with him ‘God made us alive’ (Eph. 2.5). These…
Christ Descended into Hell: No Hope without It
Of the twelve affirmations that constitute the Apostles’ Creed — perhaps the most regularly recited statement of basic Christian doctrine in the western Church of the last 1500 years — none has caused greater uncertainty and debate over the centuries…
Did the second person of the Trinity die?
Who died on the Cross? Did the Second Person of the Trinity die on the cross? We affirm. (But not all of us) I recently read an argument by R.C. Sproul that suggested we should not say the second person…
Three Mistakes to Avoid in Good Friday Preaching
Preaching “Christ and him crucified” is core to the job description of any minister of the Christian gospel (1 Corinthians 2:2). Good Friday drives this home more than any other day in the church calendar. On that day, the preacher’s…
Introducing Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Ethics
Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) served as the professor of dogmatic theology at the Theological School of the Secession Christian Reformed Church in Kampen, The Netherlands, from 1883 to 1902, when he left Kampen for Abraham Kuyper’s Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. His primary…
Introducing Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Ethics
Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) served as the professor of dogmatic theology at the Theological School of the Secession Christian Reformed Church in Kampen, The Netherlands, from 1883 to 1902, when he left Kampen for Abraham Kuyper’s Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. His primary…
The Friendless Flatterer
One of the most publicly and socially acceptable sins is flattery. That’s why it is also such a dangerous sin. Consider this Yiddish proverb: “Flattery makes friends and truth makes enemies.” But the friends made by flattery are not worth…
The Perfect Persuader
Last time, we noted that God himself initiated a relationship to his creation by way of condescension. “Condescension” is a metaphorical term. It means “to come down.” But God does not “come down” by occupying a space that he did…
The Perfect Persuader
Last time, we noted that God himself initiated a relationship to his creation by way of condescension. “Condescension” is a metaphorical term. It means “to come down.” But God does not “come down” by occupying a space that he did…