Reformation21

Last year we went through the Heidelberg Catechism each Sunday as our confession of faith. People loved it and lots bought Kevin Deyoung's book 'The good news we almost forgot' . I recently got sent 'The Quest for Comfort - the story of the Heidelberg Catechism' by William Boekstein and illustrated...

If you wanted evidence of the cruel intelligence and brutal vindictiveness of the Adversary, ask a preacher about the coincidence of his preparations and temptations. You will begin to understand why it was that Luther flung an inkpot at the devil while seeking to translate the Scriptures. Is he...

I try to read The Briefing each month (now that it's free online). In all honesty it drives me round the bend. It's Australian, which is bad enough, but it's also pragmatism gone mad.The usual things come up every few months: 'Worship is all of life, not what we do in church', 'How can we do church...

Alexander Somerville (1813-1889) was a close friend of Robert Murray M'Cheyne. They went to school and university together. As divinity students, they met for the study of the Bible using both the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and the Hebrew original. More often still they...

I will make no bones about it: I am an Old World (for which please read 'continental European') Christian, of Puritan inclination, and a Dissenter - specifically, a Particular or Reformed Baptist. That means several things. By conviction and heritage I belong to those who left the Anglican...

Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15). We have been thinking together, in previous posts, about the implications of Peter's command in 1...

It is usually after I have thought through or more formally prepared the introduction to a sermon that I again sit back and remember to pray. I do not mean that I should not or do not pray until that point (at least in theory), but it is often then that I am forced to consider my desperate need of...

Our friend Dr. William VanDoodewaard has posted this piece on Witsius on preaching law and gospel.

It may be that you often hear of people praying for revival or are encouraged to do so yourself. It may also be that you are frustrated by what this usually means. In my experience, people praying for revival are often sitting with smug confidence in their own healthiness and wholeness, persuaded...

Walter Marshall's Directions 4-9 from Gospel Mystery of Sanctification emphasize that in the pursuit of holiness the order is Gospel then godliness , not godliness then Gospel . Direction Four The means or instruments by which the Spirit of God accomplishes our union with Christ, and our fellowship...