When it comes to decision making, tomorrow often never comes. For Bavinck and the Reformed, this adage is too true for the Pelagian doctrine of regeneration. Assuming the final cause of salvation (faith and belief in the Gospel) rests in the ability to accept or deny most people won’t bother; the quality of the message waffles, and those who cannot exercise choice (infants, etc) are simply discounted from the conversation. On the other hand how does God bestow his grace to an indifferent and hostile world? The answer, says Bavinck, …

Or so it seems.  It appears that Darryl G. Hart has recently jumped out of the video for a-ha’s 1985 hit song Take on Me.  He has brought several other recognized theologian-historians from the animated sketch world with him.  They all will be appearing at Christ Reformed Church in Washington DC for Calvin in the Capital Thursdays this fall from October 8 through November 12.

a-ha – New Music – More Music Videos

Have you ever wanted to hear a sermon series on Obadiah? Maybe not, since there are not many out there. Rev. Jon Payne, minister of Grace Presbyterian Church in Douglasville, GA, recently finished preaching a short series on the book. These are some extremely edifying messages from a book that is largely overlooked. You can find the messages here.

Iain Campbell has a very helpful posts in which he considers what Herman Bavinck had to say about the first temptation in the Garden of Eden. It seems that there is a counterfeiting of the covenant of works on the part of the evil one when he tempts Adam and Eve on the very object of the Covenant of Works established by God. You can read the post here.

HT: Michael Lynch

Beholding the Glory (John 1:1-14)
Drawing Comparisons (John 1:14-18)
Daily Discipleship (John 1:19-51)
New Wine (John 2:1-11)
New Temple (John 2:12-21)
New Birth (John 2:23-3:14)

The great blessing and curse in our time is technology which enables us to work round the clock. Negatively this tends to marginalize time for self-reflection which can tend to depression or create problems in decision making. For Puritans like William Fenner the lack of self-reflection is a deeply rooted spiritual problem that even hinders salvation: it stunts growth in sanctification and loses sight of God’s favor and promises. Last week we saw Peter’s self-reflection melt into repentance and forgiveness. Here we face another difficult passage with grave results.
In The …

Here is the link to the latest Christ the Center interview. We had the great privilege of talking with Burk Parsons about his book Assured By God and the all important doctrine of assurance. We really enjoyed having Burk on the show.

The theme of the book of Hebrews is surely perseverance by looking unto Jesus. While there are many underlying ideas and teachings in the book, this is the overarching focus. When the author comes to chapter 10, he quotes a modified form of Habakkuk 4:2-4: “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” If you went back and considered the original context of …

Tim Keller wrote an outstanding article in the Dec. 2008 Themelios (33-3) titled “The Gospel and the Poor.” This is one of the finest presentations of the relation of word and deed that I have come across. In the article Keller notes several persuasive arguments of Jonathan Edwards in his well-known work Charity and Its Fruits. Keller points out two objections that Edwards anticipates with regard to caring for the unkind and irresponsible. Keller observes:
Edwards takes on two other objections: “I don’t want to help this person because he is …

1 Corinthians 9:19 has become one of the most frequently quoted Bible verses over the past 5 years. But do people really understand what the apostle Paul is saying there? Jay Adams has a take on it that is faithful to the analogy of Scripture and 2 Corinthians 6:17 in particular. You can read it here.
I would only add to Jay’s explanation that Paul meant he would not offend by criticizing a particular cultural distinction if it was not, in and of itself, a sinful practice.

Starting at 3 pm (EST) we will be online live here to interview Dr. Joseph Pipa with regard to his doctoral dissertation William Perkins and the Development of Puritan Preaching. If you can join us, please feel free to sign into the chat room. If you have questions we will be glad to ask them for you.

This morning my wife asked me the following question: “Did Jesus ever sacrifice?” She was not asking if He sinned and needed to sacrifice. She was asking the question because He would go to the Temple every year and observe the Passover. I remember having wrestled with this question several years ago, and don’t think that I ever came to a solid conclusion. Jesus received circumcision, the sign of the covenant that represented the need for the filth of the flesh to be removed in bloody judgment. We know that …

In his excellent JETS article, “The Scriptures Were Written For Our Instruction,” George Knight persuasively asserts that all of the Scripture, including the Old Covenant theocratic case laws, have a spiritual application to the New Covenant community. Chartering the waters between a theonomic  approach, on the one hand, and dispensational approach, on the other, Knight proves that we have very precise hermeneutical principles, set down in the apostolic writings, to follow. He explains:
In examining the core passages that have constituted the focal point of our study, we are coming to …

Michael Horton has followed up his study of the problem with contemporary American evangelical religion, Christless Christianity, with this new release from Baker Books entitled The Gospel Driven Life, which can be obtained here.  In this sequel Horton discusses the answer to the problem diagnosed in Christless Christianity.  The problem, religion that is a mere “moralistic therapeutic deism” (an expression first coined by Christian Smith in his book Soul Searching) can only be answered with the proclamation of the gospel and a consideration of the community that is birthed by …

Those of you who are in pastoral ministry will find this site particularly helpful. Ed Eubanks Jr. and Richard Burguet, have been working on it for a while now. Their purpose is to get helpful resources into the hands of pastors for the purpose of building up the church. One of the significant contributions they make is the Covenant Discipleship Communicant’s Curriculum. You can get a feel for where they will take you by checking out the Leadership Guide online.Ed and Richard are also committed to helping make transitions in …

There is a series of sermons on the Eric Alexander website on the Doctrine of the Church. You can find and download them here.

Join Christ the Center Wednesday, September 23 at 9PM Eastern live as they discuss Ezra-Nehemiah and restoration prophecy with Matthew Patton.  Matthew is a PhD student in OT at Wheaton Graduate School.  Several people have requested we devote more time to topics in biblical studies and we couldn’t agree more.  Here’s your chance to interact live.  More details about the live discussion are available here.
Don’t forget to call us with your questions or comments: 440-97FORUM.

If you haven’t already discovered it, I would like to direct your attention to the website dedicated to quotes from the late J.C. Ryle. There is almost no one from the 19th Century whose writings were so true to Scripture and full of devotional riches. I hope you will visit this site and read the many Ryle books that have been reprinted.

Meditation is the first step toward conversion. The depraved heart, says Fenner, does not reflect on original sin or evaluate the true nature of God’s grace. This is the only difference: everyone complains of their guilt and depression but not all go to God for forgiveness. Fenner’s solution for removing guilt and its spiritual paralysis is to aggravate sin by reflecting on its circumstances. It is possible, says Fenner, to realize the full extent and character of sin in ourselves when we examine the circumstances of any given sin. Fenner …

There are several interesting details in the account of Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus, in John 2:23-3:15. First, the text itself, is a continuation of what John introduces in John 2:23-25. There we read, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.” This is …

I know this may come across as a shameless plug, but I want to encourage our readers to check out this rich new resource of apologetics texts from the whole history of the Christian church.  The first volume of a multi-volume set has been released from Crossway Books and is entitled Christian Apologetics: Past & Present and can be found here.  The handsome and useful volume has been ably edited by William Edgar and Scott Oliphint, esteemed professors of apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.  I had the privilege …

Here is the link to a recent interview we had with Dr. Tom Schreiner concerning his book New Testament Theology.

David Steinmitz’s article “The Superiority of Pre-modern Exegesis” has me and Nick Batzig thinking. Was there any valid exegesis prior to 1990? We hope so. We are beginning a series of posts dedicated to a consideration of several members of the Westminster Assembly, with regard to their exegesis of various portions of Scripture. The first Puritan we consider is William Fenner.
In A Sermon for Spirituall Mortification, William Fenner (1600 – 1640) urges his listeners, those interested in participating in Christ’s resurrected life, to sever the inner-motives of sin (Col. 3:5). …

Many of the works of the 19th Century Southern Presbyterians have been long forgotten. Thankfully some have not. I had the privilege of reading many of them during my time in seminary, and am glad to see that some of the lesser known volumes are still in print. Here is a list of Southern Presbyterian works that I know you will benefit from. You will find that many of these are links to free PDF versions of the books!
1. Writings of Thomas Peck (Peck’s “Notes on the Apocalypse” are especially …

At least from the Christian position, tracing the boundaries of philosophy and theology has proven to be quite difficult.  This is due in part to the fact that classic theological loci have so much to say about philosophy’s subject matter.  Cornelius Van Til once remarked that if one’s philosophy was Calvinistic, then it isn’t philosophy anymore – it is theology.  Herein lies the difficulty.  If the philosopher consciously presupposes the Triune God of the Bible in his system and presents Him as the foundation for epistemology, metaphysics and ethics, what …

There is a sermon series on 2 Timothy at the Eric Alexander website. You can download and listen here.

There seems to be a typological prediction of Christ’s cleansing of the Temple in the life of Nehemiah. In Nehemiah 13 we read of Nehemiah finding Tobiah living in the Temple, specifically in the room where the money was stored. Nehemiah throws Tobiah out, together with his furniture. There seems to be a parallel in the first Temple cleansing in the ministry of Jesus (John 2:12-22). Jesus finds those who are making the house of God into a financial enterprise, so he drives them out and turns over their furniture.  …

I have frequently heard well meaning ministers and theologians discourage young theological students by insisting that they must understand that they are not of the caliber of the great theologians of church history. While I understand that they are well-meaning–in that they are wanting to guard young men from the all pervasive temptations to pride and self-aggrandizement–should they not also be seeking to promote the gifts that God has given them for the edification and growth of the church? John Calvin was only 27 when he published his first edition …