Reformation21

Calvin material continues to appear throughout this anniversary year (sounds like I'm starting a poem, but I'm not). This is a plug for the latest in Day One's series of 'Travel Guides' - Travel with John Calvin , written by Ken Brownell and well illustrated throughout. For those who made it to...

Okay, it's not as long as the summer, but it is a few days and don't you think books ought to trump parades and college football? Put another way, nothing goes better with turkey than some good reads. Let me suggest four . . . The essays edited by Piper and Taylor, The Power of Words and the Wonder...

Further to recent blogs on the topic "How Can a loving God send People to Hell?" readers might like to watch a video clip (posted by Martin Downes) of Don Carson answering this question, here .

A couple of books that have come my way are outstanding: the first, by Tony Merida (Ok, he's in Mississippi, so I'm biased), called Faithful Preaching: Declaring Scripture with Responsibility, Passion, and Authenticity (B&H Publishing, 2009). Merida has a way of challenging just about every...

As I've transitioned from teaching back to congregational ministry, I find myself reading widely in the "practical theology" field--whether pastoral theology, preaching, worship, or counseling. One of the better books that I've read recently is Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson's book, Counsel...

Martin Downes draws my attention to a lecture on hell and annhilation given by J. I. Packer in Cardiff in 1991. You can find an audio file here .

As I've grown in my knowledge of the Reformed faith, I've come increasingly to appreciate the Heidelberg Catechism . In its exposition of the Ten Commandments , the Catechism wisely notes that the first commandment requires shunning "all idolatry" (Q94). When it defines idolatry, the Catechism...

This is an amazing interview with Steven Curtis Chapman about his new album, Beauty Will Rise . Written as "personal psalms" in the aftermath of the tragic death of his five-year old daughter, Maria Sue, this album (to which I'm listening as I type) is overwhelming with sorrow and hope. My favorite...

Registration is now open for the 2010 Workshop on Biblical Exposition at Tenth Presbyterian Church, sponsored by the Charles Simeon Trust and by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. As usual, the workshop will feature lectures on preaching, model expositions, and (this is the heart of the...

Russell Moore on what Martin Luther might think about the situation of many of our evangelical churches today: Hardened rebels against God rest easy in a prayer said at Vacation Bible School, or a card signed at confirmation class. And guilty consciences stand paralyzed outside, fearful that Christ...