Pastoral Letter no. 2
My dear friends: I hope that you are enjoying these Christmas sermons on John’s prologue. I certainly have enjoyed doing a deep-dive into the text, both to see how John expresses the Good News of Jesus’ incarnation in such a…
Category Reformation21
Rejoice in the Midst of Suffering?
We only need to read the headlines in the morning paper or turn on the evening news to have confirmed what we already know to be true, suffering is an ever-present companion in this world. As a result of the…
Undervaluing Christ’s Obedience?
We must be careful not to speak flippantly about Christ’s obedience. The nature, quality, and difficulty of what he actually went through in order to save us will always be beyond our abilities to fully grasp in this life; but…
The Uncommon Generosity of Richard Mouw
I have always enjoyed reading Richard Mouw, former president of Fuller Seminary, long-time faculty member at Calvin College. I was reminded how much I enjoy him this morning when I read his little book, Called to the Life of the…
Jesus and Abraham
The coming of Jesus is always good news. This is what Abraham learned when Jesus appeared to him during a sad time in Abraham’s life. Genesis 18 is a fascinating example of Jesus appearing in the Old Testament. He is…
Alistair Begg in Princeton, on audio and video
The Alliance was pleased to partner once again with the Princeton regional Conference on Reformed Theology. Ian Hamilton and Alistair Begg brought the doctrine of Providence to us in a clear and compelling way. You can download or order copies…
If there’s one thing worse than celebrity Christians…
If there’s one thing worse than celebrity Christians, I’ve become aware of an even worse plague on the Christian church; ‘The famous Christian’s family’. I’ve met three folk in the last month who are all related to well known people. We…
The Seven Deadly Sins in a Digital Age V. Envy
Envy, like our previous vice, Sloth, is often misunderstood today. In fact, I suspect many of us are apt to confuse it somewhat with Greed. Both, it seems, boil down to wanting more stuff, so that Envy would seem to…
Heaven Kissed Earth: The Incarnation
What is the incarnation? It is the kissing of heaven and earth. To borrow a phrase from Thomas Goodwin, when the Son became flesh, “Heaven and Earth met and kissed one another, namely, God and man.” The incarnation makes theology…
Ends of the incarnation
Christmas (along with Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost) is one of five “evangelical feast days” that celebrate key moments in the Son of God’s saving mission. On these days, the church turns its attention in a special way to…