I'm not sure if Shai Linne was trying to capitalize on this year's PCRT theme or not, but his new, Bible-based, Reformed, John Piper-approved hip-hop CD is entitled "The Atonement." Listeners should be prepared for a heavy dose of Romans.

The gospel of Christ does not move by popular waves. It has no self-propagating power. It moves as the men who have charge of it move. The preacher must impersonate the gospel. Its divine, most distinctive features must be embodied in him. The constraining power of love must be in the preacher as a...

Janice Marsh and her friends in a women's Bible study at Redeemer PCA in Hurricane, West Virginia have written to tell me how much they learned about the Lord's Prayer last fall (full disclosure: they were using my book When Your Pray as a study guide). They also sent me a prayer that they worked...

Shortly after posting on Stephen Lungu, I received a sobering update on his work right now in Kenya. Where the following information says "AE" it is referring to African Enterprise, an evangelical ministry of word and deed that was founded by Michael Cassidy and is now directed by Stephen Lungu. It...

Over the last few days I have been devouring Michael Ward's remarkable new interpretation of The Narnia Chronicles by C. S. Lewis. The book is called Planet Narnia , and it was published this month by Oxford University Press. Dr. Ward and I were students together at Oxford, where we spent happy...

Anyone who wishes to respond to Rick Phillips's stirring call to family worship will find a helpful resource in Terry Johnson's recent publication, The Family Worship Book . In addition to a rationale for family worship and helpful hints for getting started, Terry provides outlines, suggested...

Anyone who wishes to respond to Rick Phillips's stirring call to family worship will find a helpful resource in Terry Johnson's recent publication, The Family Worship Book . In addition to a rationale for family worship and helpful hints for getting started, Terry provides outlines, suggested...

It has been so long since I have made a post that I am (almost) embarrassed to return. But I wanted to make sure that people knew about the upcoming Workshop on Biblical Exposition at Tenth Presbyterian Church on February 6 to 8. The workshop is sponsored by the Charles Simeon Trust, which promotes...

A friend has written with a seasonal quotation from Bernard of Clairvaux's sermons on Advent: "Who is this Virgin so reverently saluted by the angel? and so lowly as to be espoused to a carpenter ? Beautiful commingling of virginity with humility! That soul is in no small degree pleasing to God, in...

Paul Tripp made a helpful comment Sunday about the nature of biblical revelation. The Bible, he said is a "theologically-annotated narrative," a story that comes with "God's notes." This comment does justice to the narrative structure of the Bible as a whole, while avoiding the trap of thinking...

John Stott has just published a new book on the ministry of the church, called The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor. The structure of the book flows from Stott's exposition of Acts 2 and his admiration for the early church. As the pastor of a church that is considering a capital...

Ken Myers has done it again, writing a thoughtful, provocative letter to his listeners at Mars Hill Audio. One quotation from theologian Michael Williams seems especially appropriate to the season: "The power that called the world into being [took on] the weakness of creatureliness. Contrary to the...

Michael Bird has written to say that he has made a constructive response to my essay on justification and union with Christ -- an essay in which I mention Dr. Bird as someone who in my view collapses imputation into incorporation. I hope to write a fuller response in due course, but people who are...

I am leaving Monday for a ten-day trip to the Far East. The main purpose of the trip is to speak at the annual Bible conference of Singapore Youth for Christ (SYFC), an effective evangelical ministry for training disciples to reach Singapore and the world for Christ. This year also happens to be...

To my surprise, a number of readers have written to challenge my critique of Philip Pullman's theology. I say "to my surprise" because in recent years I have read a number of articles by or interviews with Philip Pullman in which his hostility to Christianity has been on display. It is common...

In criticizing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe , I fear that Carl Trueman may be committing a category mistake. It is true, of course, and widely known, that C. S. Lewis did not have a fully Reformed theology of the atonement. It is a mistake, though, to expect a work of fiction to carry the...

Writing in Five Views of Sanctification , Sinclair Ferguson explains that in Reformed theology, sanctification is "rooted not in humanity and in their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and...

A suitable aspiration for Thanksgiving: " Lord's Day, April 21. --In the morning, calm and composed, with some outgoings of soul after God in secret duties, and longing desires for His presence in the sanctuary and at His table; that His presence might be in the assembly, and that His children...

A beautiful festschrift for R. Kent Hughes has just been released by Crossway Books. The full title reads: Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching: In Honor of R. Kent Hughes . The editors are Leland Ryken (truth in advertising: Leland is my father) and Todd Wilson. For those who may not...

It has been a real pleasure to hear Paul Tripp preach on Jonah in recent months. Two of his more memorable lines have been especially thought provoking: "The anger of God is our only hope." (because in his implacable opposition to evil, God defeats Satan for our salvation) "Your theology will not...

This is old news by now, but I wanted to share one more highlight from last week's Reformation Hymn Festival. The children's choir sang Martin Luther's "All Glory be to God Alone." I'm not sure that I have heard this hymn before, and I was especially moved by a line from the opening stanza: "He is...

. . . that I found while mining his Commentary on John for something else entirely: "Whoever is not satisfied with Christ alone, strives after something beyond absolute perfection" (Vol. 18, p. 84).

Last night was the 8th annual Reformation Hymn Festival at Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church. It was a memorable evening of praise. Westminster Seminary California's President, Dr. Robert Godfrey, was the preacher. He made a simple but important point about the Protestant Reformation: the...

New Testament scholar and Bible teacher Dan Doriani was here in Philadelphia this week for Westminster Seminary's annual preaching conference. Dr. Doriani, who serves as Senior Minister at Central Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, makes a major contribution to the Reformed Expository Commentary as...