Every organisation needs a worthy objective to thrive, and—as we saw previously—the Puritans were biblical in their approach to family life. This meant that the Puritan family took its cue from God’s word and zealously sought it. This goal directed…
This is the third post in a series related to my new book on the theology of William Strong (ca. 1611–1654). In the previous posts we defined a “covenant of works” and determined that God did actually make such a covenant…
The Puritans show us how to live from a two-world point of view. Richard Baxter’s The Saint’s Everlasting Rest is a magnificent demonstration of the power that the hope of heaven should have for the directing, controlling, and energizing of…
Samuel Sewall lived with his family in Puritan America between 1652 and 1730, and he suffered in ways unimaginable to us today. Over a period of 24 years, he and his wife Hannah had 14 children: his first son John…
This is the second post in a series related to my new book on the theology of William Strong (ca. 1611–1654). In the first post we asked “What is a covenant of works?” Now we’ll look at whether God made such…
Dear Timothy, The Puritans were able to weather trials and rebuke pride because of their profound reliance upon the Holy Spirit. They keenly felt their inability to bring anyone to Christ as well as the magnitude of conversion. “God never…
This is the first post in a series related to my new book on the theology of William Strong (ca. 1611–1654), an influential leader at the Westminster Assembly. Each post will focus on a particular question: 1. What is a covenant of…
“With troubled heart and trembling hand I write. The heavens have changed to sorrow my delight. How oft with disappointment have I met When I on fading things my hopes have set.” [1] Anne Bradstreet (1612–1672)…
Satan tempts us to compare ourselves to men whom we think are worse than we are. “You do so much better than Brother Ralph,” Satan says: “Compare yourself to Ralph. You know more theology than he does. You serve God…
Dear Timothy, The Puritans show us how to handle trials in a Christian manner. Consider the Scottish brothers, Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine. In addition to the religious controversies that dampened their joy in ministry for twenty-five years, they endured much…
