Machen’s Letter To His Mother Or What To Do With Dead Sinners?
How should Reformed confessionalists respond to the fact that Machen wrote an ugly, racist letter to his mother?
He was a man of his time and place but, given that Warfield, who was just as Southern as Machen and born before the Civil War and therefore even more closely tied to the Old South, was able to overcome his culture and see that the sort of segregation held by the Old Princeton faculty... Continue Reading
He Killed His Sin with Love
John Owen (1616–1683)
In the preface to his book The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, Owen does what no good marketing agent would allow today. He begins like this: “READER, . . . If thou art, as many in this pretending age, a sign or title gazer, and comest into books as Cato into the theatre, to... Continue Reading
This Day in History: The Death of John Owen
By 1642 Owen was convinced that the final source of authority in religion was the Holy Scriptures and moreover, that the doctrines of orthodox Calvinism were biblical Christianity.
The preacher took as his text that morning Matthew 8:26: “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” It proved to be a message that Owen needed to hear and embrace. Through the words of a preacher whose identity is unknown, God spoke to Owen and removed once and for all his doubts and... Continue Reading
Maximus the Confessor and The Two Wills of Christ
To save humanity, Jesus had to be fully man, in body and soul, which included the will.
In the 6th century, the Byzantine Patriarch Sergius came up with several convenient solutions to the problem of Christ’s divided natures. First, he suggested that Jesus had only one energy, an idea opposed by Sophronius, an elderly and well-respected monk (later patriarch of Jerusalem) said that “one energy” sounded too much like “one nature.” Sergius then proposed... Continue Reading
After 50 Years of Ministry, 7 Things I Would Tell Ministerial Candidates Today
From an older pastor to younger ones: some wise counsel from a pastor who served the Church faithfully for 50 year.
Be prepared for disappointment, failure and brokenness, for that is the only path that leads to resiliency and steadfastness. Always remember that Christ is the Head of the Church, and not men, and He knows what He is doing. It you are not positively sure God has called you to ministry, get out! You... Continue Reading
John Calvin: Who He Is, What He Did, and Why He Matters
Who is John Calvin, you ask? I have intentionally studied Calvin’s life over the years and this post is somewhat of a brief biography of his life.
“When I was as yet a very little boy, my father had destined me for the study of theology. But afterwards, when he considered that the legal profession commonly raised those who followed it to wealth, this prospect induced him suddenly to change his purpose . . . but God, by the sweet guidance of... Continue Reading
America Soured on My Multiracial Family
After adopting their daughter from Ethiopia, this family faced ugliness from many Americans that robbed them of their joy and optimism.
When my wife and I adopted our daughter from Ethiopia in 2010, we did so full of hope. In the years since, we’ve faced ugliness that has robbed us of our optimism—and left us fearful for the future of our country. We love our daughter more than we love our own lives. But the idealism... Continue Reading
Thomas Aquinas: Not Just for Catholics Any More
Significant points of overlap exist theologically between classical, confessional Protestantism and the theology of which Aquinas was a representative, particularly on the doctrine of God and orthodox Trinitarianism.
The times they are certainly a-changing, at least for thoughtful Protestants. Thomas Aquinas, for centuries the object of fear and dread among the followers of Luther and Calvin, is finally receiving his due among the “separated brethren” as a key Christian thinker. And I say this as one of those separated brethren. The times... Continue Reading
Pierre Durand – Huguenot Martyr
“I pray to the Lord that all will be to the glory of His name, to the furthering of His reign, and to the destruction of Satan’s empire.”
He could have fought back. In fact, he instinctively reached for his gun, but let go when he realized these were government authorities. One of the tenets of the newly reformed church – in contrast with the Camisards’ tactics – was respect for the civil powers. The guards took him for questioning, then led him to... Continue Reading
I Am Not My Own – Orlena Lynn Boyle (1922-2018)
On August 18, 2018, Orlena Lynn Boyle entered the joy of her Master. She was not her own; she was bought with a price, and she lived like it.
She continued to wrestle with a call to missions internally even as she went to work for the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago as a research statistician. Though she had tentative plans to marry, she sensed that God was calling her to go to China, and she obeyed. It would be the first of several... Continue Reading
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