Reformation21

Preparing to preach tomorrow, I came across these stirring words in a suprising place: 1. All the blessings which God hath bestowed upon man are of his mere grace, bounty, or favour; his free, undeserved favour; favour altogether undeserved; man having no claim to the least of his mercies. It was...

In 1528 Catholic and Protestant theologians met in the city of Berne to debate a series of topics associated with the burgeoning Reform movement in Switzerland. "The Ten Theses of Berne" focused on issues such as the nature of the Lord's Supper, prayers to the saints, purgatory, the veneration of...

Does an infinitely holy and righteous God accept imperfection from his people? Thankfully, he does. This is a central truth of our Christian living, though in some respects either ignored or rejected by some in the church today. Understanding God's acceptance of our (very) imperfect obedience will...

The recent execution of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya by the murderous Islamic group ISIS has prompted appropriate and helpful Christian reflections (see here and here ). But one question I have yet to see asked is, "Is it time now to pray the imprecatory Psalms?" I hear a frequent refrain in...

The credits roll. The hero and/or heroine (fling in a plural or two as appropriate) mount their horses, or link their arms, or climb aboard, or do something else redolent of completion, and disappear into the sunset. Some measure of victory lies behind them, even if more battles might lie ahead. It...

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like when Christ entered heaven after having ascended? This was a unique moment in redemptive history, and one that we should probably meditate upon a lot more than we do. At the risk of being occasionally speculative , here are some thoughts on Christ'...

No, not Carl's triumphant return to provide a window into the mind of "Luther" Levy, but rather the celebrity anti-celebrity's latest offering, considering Luther on the Christian Life (Crossway, arriving later this month). We are promised many good things between the covers of this volume, which...

Returning from labours overseas, especially with limited internet access (and most of that devoted to communication with the family), means returning to Reformation21 with a somewhat fresh perspective. A survey of the material over the past couple of weeks reveals some interesting themes, and makes...

In scholastic theological discourse, 'moral suasion' and 'physical influence' represent two different ways of getting someone to do something. If my goal were, say, getting my four-year-old daughter to the dinner table, I might employ 'moral suasion' by promising her that she'd find her favorite...

As I mentioned in the first post under this title (the other posts: no. 2 ; no. 3 ; no. 4 ), this series was a way of breaking up a paper that I gave at a pre-General Assembly conference sponsored by the PCA Historical Center. The paper was entitled, "Race, Civil Rights, and the Southern (...