How Can We Know God?
In my first article on the topic of theology proper, I discussed why we must know the God who created us. I will now explain how we can know that God whose ways are higher than our ways, and his…
Category Reformation21
Dr. Watts’ Scheme
Isaac Watts wrote nearly 600 hymns in the 18th Century. Churches around the world still sing many today. For instance, if you visited a congregation on any given Sunday in the English speaking world, it would not be a surprise…
The Future of Everything
The Future of Everything: Essential Truths about the End Times Reformation Heritage Books, 2019, 166 pages. Approx. $16 on Amazon. Do you wonder what happens to believers when they die? Do you spend time thinking about what life will be…
Reason, Revelation and the Resurrection
I recently read a short article on Biologos entitled On What Basis Should A Scientist Accept The Resurrection? A composite piece written by a number of Biologos contributors, the article sets out an argument for the basis for and authority…
When Our Voices Fail
Three weeks ago this past Thursday (March 21), I decided it was probably best, because of my mother’s serious health situation, for me to head home to South Carolina after worship on the coming Sunday to be with her. The…
Thomas Boston, the Marrow and the Gospel
Thomas Boston is one of my favorite authors. Through his sermons, memoirs, and other writings, the prolific theologian and humble pastor of a small rural church in the Scottish border country has become one of the pastors of my soul.…
The Good, the Bad and the Providence of God
Johannes Maccovius, in his Theological Distinctions, treated the subject of the Divine providence toward the righteous and toward the wicked with the maxim, “In this life, what happens to good people is never bad and what happens to bad people is…
Defeat and Victory in the Church
It is well documented that a staggering number of pastors leave the ministry each year. Conflict and burnout are numbered as some of the top reasons. Conflict between pastors and the congregation are common. In addition, the pastor’s inability to…
Calvin’s Four Rules of Prayer
Reading through some old notes on Calvin’s Institutes made me realize what always gets dropped when life feels like one giant game of whirlyball: prayer. Calvin says that if we do not pray, we are like a man who “neglect[s] a treasure, buried…
Christians in the Cultural Closet
Our society celebrates the openness with which it accepts homosexuality and transgenderism. It contrasts our present enlightened times with past eras when what are now called “sexual minorities,” LGBTQers, were once consigned to the closets, forced to keep their “sexual…