"The Sabbath evening, July 12, 1739 I was walking again in the same solitary place, where I was brought to see myself lost and helpless, as was before mentioned; and here, in a mournful melancholy state, was attempting to pray; but found no heart to engage in that or any other duty; my former...

Just to set the record straight, the Ryken family has rooted for the St. Louis Cardinals since 1934, the year the Cardinals defeated the Tigers in the World Series. It is too bad the Phillies lost the playoffs this year, but for me (if not for some of my longsuffering staff members) it falls...

A helpful comment from Michael Cassidy, who is one of the leading evangelics in South Africa: "Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that doom them, the economic conditions that strangle them, the social conditions that cripple them,...

I am very happy to have received a book I have not yet read but do not hesitate to recommend. It is called The Great Exchange: My Sin for His Righteousness , and it was written by Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington. The book amounts to a full survey of the relevant biblical passages -- especially from...

Sydney's Daily Telegraph reports (September 18) that a husband and wife who didn't realize they were chatting each other up on the internet are now seeking a divorce. Sana Klaric (aka "Sweetie") and her husband Adnan ("Prince of Joy") spent hours in an online chatroom telling each other about their...

Paul Tripp has begun his tenure as the regular evening preacher at Tenth Presbyterian, following such worthies as Rick Phillips and Aaron Messner. He opened on Sunday with an overview sermon on the Book of Jonah, which he presented as a complete biblical worldview in 48 verses. Here were his points...

A reader has written to take issue with my post "Homeward Bound." First the critique, and then my response: Pastor Ryken commends as "good" Thomas R. Taylor's text "I'm But a Stranger Here." I must disagree. I think this text is unworthy to be sung in church. Like too much hymnody, it falls short...

In response to Carl Trueman's post on 3-10 Yuma , it should also be noted that Brokeback Mountain --with its homosexual love theme -- effectively destroyed the Western as a genre. This is part of a wider cultural trend: the postmodern subversion of the literary and cinematic conventions of healthy...

Many thanks to Rick for a thoughtful and provocative post on Mother Teresa. With regard to her nearly fifty year struggle to experience any presence of Christ in her life and ministry, I wish to make one further point about union and communion with Christ. Mother Teresa's apologists are taking her...

We were blessed in worship at Tenth last night by a fine offertory (with new music by Tenth's own Jeremy Strong) based on a good hymn text that was new to me: I’m But a Stranger Here Thomas R. Taylor, 1836, alt. I’m but a stranger here, Heav’n is my home; Earth is a desert drear, Heav’n is my home...

A friend has written to share a helpful quotation from Calvin. In the 1536 edition of his Institutes , Calvin defends the use of the word "Trinity" and other "extra-biblical" words such as ousia and hypostasis as legitimate terms of art in systematic theology. At the end of his defense, he mentions...

Mark Dever (Alliance Council Member) and Phillip Jensen are teaming up to present a conference called "Gospel Growth vs. Church Growth." The conference and seminars will take place at Capitol Hill Baptist Church from October 30 to November 1. Matthias Media can provide the full details.

Gentle reader (as a judgment of Christian charity, I am willing to include Carl Trueman and his personae under this rubric), please know that I leave shortly for summer vacation, and that any postings from me are likely to be few and far between over the next three weeks.

"Nobody ever did perish trusting in Jesus. There has not been through all these centuries a single instance of a soul being cast away that came all guilty and hell-deserving, and took Christ to be its salvation. If you perish, you will be the first that perished with his hand laid upon Christ. His...

A week or two ago I made a post on a new biography of C. Stacey Woods. Here is a characteristic quotation from his message "A Single Eye," first given at the Urbana Conference in 1954: "If a Christian has a single eye, if God is his goal, if he really is living for eternity and not for himself and...

Rick Phillips made the mistake of asking me to give the charge at his installation as the twelfth senior minister of the Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC. I chose the (admittedly unusual and presumably unprecedented) text of Hebrews 4:9-11 and spoke on resting in the finished work of...

It was a privilege to attend Rick Phillips's installation service last night at the Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville (South Carolina). Sinclair Ferguson preached from 1 Thessalonians 1 on "Becoming a Model Church" and was in his usual good form. In the light of a previous post on J.I...

The First Twenty Years are the Hardest Window on the World Philip Ryken It was twenty years ago that Lisa Maxwell and I walked down the aisle at the First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As a minister, I go to more weddings than most people, but Lisa is still the prettiest bride...

Recent posts (or the lack thereof) suggest that we are already into the dog days of summer. I hope to make a few contributions soon, but not until after I return from today's and tomorrow's trip to Minneapolis to lead a pre-conference on biblical exposition for the national convention of the...

For those who haven't seen it, there is a moving account of the funeral for three men who were martyred in Turkey on April 18 (for further context, see the May 1 post called "Turkey Martyrs." Here is the report:

I believe I may have seen Carl Trueman at the PCA General Assembly (just arrived back at 3am this morning -- a story for a different time, in which AirTran figures prominently and unhelpfully). However, I'm not sure whether I saw him or not -- styles are so casual at GA that someone like Carl tends...

Last night I had a night off from duties leading worship and thus had a rare opportunity to sit in the worship service with my family. Whenever I get the chance, I try to do what my mother did for me when I was roughly age 5 to 8: draw little pictures with short captions to illustrate the sermon...

Atheism Window on the World Philip Ryken You may not realize this, but there is an embattled group of religious believers in this country that is badly in need of protection from public hostility. Fortunately, help is on the way. Bestselling books by Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins are providing...

Sometime this summer, Barry Bonds -- who plays outfield for the San Francisco Giants -- will become Major League Baseball's all-time leading home run hitter. Few will cheer, however, because Mr. Bonds's alleged steroid use and lack of interest in anything but himself have also made him one of the...