Lex et Euangelium
Steven Carr has graciously asked me to contribute, from time to time, on a new blog--Lex et Euangelium. Check it out and let me know what you think. It looks like it will be a theologically rich blog....
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Dealing with Discouragement in Ministry
It is the common lot of those God has called into gospel ministry to become discouraged on account of the challenges and trials that come from serving as a pastor. I can almost always sense when a brother is weighed down by the pressures, demands, and discouragements that come with serving as a pastor of a congregation, because I have known them throughout my own pastoral service. The apostle Paul intimated the challenges that pastors face in the church when he added to the external opposition he experienced from the unbelieving world the care that he had for the church. He wrote, "apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:28). So what are ministers to do when they feel overwhelmed by the discouragements of ministry?...
The Silent, Suffering Savior
We are meant to know that Jesus had to remain silent when he was judged so that we might have our mouths shut before the just tribunal of God. Then, having heard the sentence exacted against the spotless lamb of God, believers might open their mouths in praise to God for all the ways that He has removed their transgressions and the righteous condemnation that stood against us for Christ's sake. The silence of condemnation belonged to Jesus that praise for justification might be ours. ...
The Gift and the Gifts of the Spirit
Sadly, many professing believers approach the gifts of the Spirit by overvaluing the idea of the miraculous spiritual gifts (e.g., tongues, prophecy, healing) and undervalue the common spiritual gifts (e.g., salvation and sanctifying fruit). Holding faulty views of the miraculous spiritual gifts is usually due to a failure to grasp the redemptive-historical purpose of the gifts. When we come to understand the biblical teaching about the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit and the ordinary gifts of the Spirit, we will better value the greater and continuing gifts in the life of the church today....
Old Testament Signs in Redemptive History
When each of the Old Covenant signs (i.e., the rainbow, Sabbath, circumcision, and the Passover) are viewed in light of the fulfillment of all that they typified, we come to understand a great deal about the work of Christ...
Organic Christian Living in the Local Church
As we enter a new year with new personal goals and desires, the Lord wants His people to commit to Christian living among the members of the body. We must resist the urge to look to practices and programs in the local church to live out the Christian life or do the work of ministry for us. Our God has given us the enormous privilege and responsibility of diligently living out, daily, our Christian lives in Christ. Let’s commit ourselves to the practice of seeking to live the organic Christian life in the context of the local church to which we belong. ...
Singing the Song of Humility
The reason why Mary sang a song of humility is because she was focusing on what God was doing to provide the Savior she needed. Mary had been waiting on God to fulfill the promises that He had made throughout the Old Testament era. Mary doesn't speak of herself or her privileges because Mary was focused on her need for redemption. ...
The Spirit of Christmas
We rightly wonder of the coming of the eternal Son of God into the world in true human form while wrongly neglecting to wonder at the accompanying role of the Spirit of God in the ministry of the Redeemer....
Hope in the Certainty of Christ
In many of life’s circumstances, we struggle to understand how we will come to attain the promises of God, forgetting that their fulfillment is entirely based on the person and work of Christ. Jesus has secured an everlasting joy, an inheritance of hope for His people through His death and resurrection. Though we do not now see all that he has for us, we wait for him with patience. We are to be a people who trust in and wait for Christ in faith....
None But Zion's Children Know
While recent developments concerning the state of Israel have given us reason to revisit this subject--it would do us good to be settled in our minds about the fact that all who are united to Jesus by faith have been made children of Abraham and heirs of God (Gal. 3:29). Believers are the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem (Phil. 3:20). This is the only Jerusalem that ultimately matters. As John Newton put it, "Solid joys and lasting treasures, none but Zion's children know."...
Meditations on Isaiah 53 (Part 1)
Isaiah 53, the fourth Servant song in Isaiah's prophecy, is arguably the most powerful Old Testament prophecy. Written nearly 800 years prior to the birth of Christ, it is undoubtedly the clearest representation of His substitutionary sufferings and subsequent glories. In the weeks ahead, consideration will be given to some of the spiritual riches of this magnificent chapt...
Keep ReadingChrist Desires Our Supreme Good
A friend of mine posted these words from Helen Roseveare recently. Â May God work these kind of desires in our hearts . . . Helen Roseveare, a missionary doctor to the Congo for twenty years, writes: To be a living sacrifice will involve all of my time. Â God wants me to live every minute for Him in accordance with His will and purpose . . . No time can be considered ...
Keep ReadingYour Name in a Book
Do you long to see your name mentioned in a book, or on the cover? This is something that many pastors have hidden deep within in their hearts. It is a subtle desire that creeps in ever so slowly in circles where authors and Conference speakers are seen as "those who have made it," or have finally achieved some sort of success in Christian ministry. There is a desire for f...
Keep ReadingSteps to Legalism
Mark Driscoll has a nice step by step approach to determining whether you are living in legalism or not: 1. Make rules outside the Bible 2. Push yourself to try and keep your rules 3. Castigate yourself when you don't keep your rules 4. Become proud when you don't keep your rules 5. Appoint yourself as judge over other people 6. Get angry with people who break your rules o...
Keep ReadingHerman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics: Being There
Any religion that first had to prove its god existed prior to worship is impoverished from the get go. Bavinck has demonstrated from an array of philosophical and theological authors that God’s essence cannot be grasped by (critical) reason, morals or ethics. Some have left God in the dark. Others have split God’s revelation between ethics and the rest of the...
Keep ReadingPRTS "The Beauty and Glory of Christ" Conference
Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary will be having their annual Fall Conference on August 26-28, 2010. The theme of the Conference is "The Beauty and Glory of Christ." You can see who is speaking there and find out more details here....
Keep ReadingEdward Donnelly Sermons on Preaching the Word
Edward Donnelly recently delivered two messages in a series called 'Preach the Word' (Part 1 and Part 2) at Second Presbyterian Church's Pastors and Seminary Students Conference. These messages are a good reminder of the centrality of preaching the word of God in a day when many have itching ears, and do not want to hear that word. Rev. Donnelly also preached a sermon the...
Keep ReadingMore Walke on Evolution
Bruce Waltke has given several clarifying points concerning the recent Biologos Foundation video on evolution and the church. I, for one, am thankful that Waltke was given the opportunity to clarify the things said in the video (knowing that organizations often takes things out of context), but am still wondering how any Reformed man can say that "creation by the process o...
Keep ReadingFree Sermon Hosting and Sermon Player Resource for Church Planters
Having been called to plant a church with no people and little to no ministry budget, I have become painfully aware of the need to find good free and/or inexpensive resources. I recently came across this site. It is the best free sermon hosting site that includes a sermon player which can be embed in your church website. You are allowed to upload 10 GB of storage for free,...
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