A friend has shared with me a litany, or formal order for prayer, written by Dr. George Ridding, the first Bishop of Southwell. The litany was designed for use at meetings of the clergy it was his privilege to supervise and encourage in the ministry of the gospel. Over the next several weeks I will...

The letter "from the editor" in the spring issue of ByFaith (the official magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America, in which I serve as a pastor) reports that ByFaith will soon launch an online series about the health of PCA churches, using Mark Dever's book What Is a Healthy Church? as a...

Writing for National Review Online , Jay Nordlinger recounts a broadcast from Middle East Media Research Institute in which a Muslim cleric from Egypt defends no fault divorce. What interests me is the last line, which gives Christians more credit than we seem to deserve. The cleric says:

Timothy George has a nice piece in First Things about Rick Warren and his inaugural prayer, especially the fact that he prayed in the name of Jesus. At the close, he asks whether "Christians must hide their faith in the inner reserve of their private consciousness." They must not do so, says George...

Calvin continues to make his case against the use of images (icons, crucifixes, and the like) in Christian worship, which he believes to be nothing less than an idolatrous violation of the Second Commandment. One of Calvin's arguments is historical: in the first five hundred years of the Christian...

The Institutes is a positive presentation of Christian faith and doctrine. But it is also something more: a polemical response to the Roman Catholic Church, in which Calvin defends the theology and practice of the Reformation. Here we find the Geneva Reformer arguing against the idolatrous practice...

In studying to preach Ecclesiastes, I came across this gem in the classic commentary by Charles Bridges, referring to the prayer that the tax collector offers in Luke 18:13 : "The publican's prayer will suit to the very last breath--nothing better--contrition for sin--confidence in the propitiation...

This is the title of Molly Worthen's article on Seattle's Mark Driscoll in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine . It was hard to tell what Ms. Worthen disliked more: Driscoll's masculinity or Driscoll's Calvinism. To her credit, though, Worthen played the piece straight up and largely managed to...

Carl Trueman is right about physiology and depression, but will come to regret ordering Franky Schaeffer's book about his father, which is guilty of far more than bad taste. For those who haven't seen it, Os Guinness wrote an appropriately scathing review a few months ago in Books and Culture.

"My beloved Christian brethren, my endearing believers in the Holy Spirit, we cannot remain impotent, indecisive, and mute spectators." Thus said the Governor of Maharashtra -- where Mumbai is located, scene of the recent bombings -- in an impassioned speech at Bangalore. The Governor went on to...

The Gospel and Culture Project has launched a new website that will be of interest to most if not all readers of Reformation 21. The website is edited by Chris Simmons, who is an expert in film and who attended Philadelphia's Westminster Theological Seminary the same time I did. To access the...

It was my privilege a few weeks back to speak at the Homecoming Chapel for Wheaton College. The link to my 20-minute address is here: http://www.wheaton.edu/wetn/chapelfall08.htm

I had to smile when I saw the title of C.J. Mahaney's latest book: Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World . Some of us have teased our friend C.J. for writing a book on humility. Apparently this time he didn't want to run the risk of people claiming a lack of personal knowledge on...

It was good to see Rick going off on his Wall Street rant -- another indication of the salutary influence that preaching through the minor prophets has had on him. I recently read through his manuscript on Micah and can tell everyone that it will make an excellent contribution to the Reformed...

When I predicted that his book The Reason for God would make the New York Times bestseller list, Tim Keller told me that he was embarrassed for both of us. But as it turned out, I was right (remember, you heard it here first). Dr. Keller's newest book has just been released: The Prodigal God:...

Several readers have asked for comment on Europe's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) -- the atom smasher located near Geneva at CERN (the European Centre for Nuclear Research). The new facility, which started operations earlier this month (although some recent electrical problems could lead to a two-...

In case some of our readers may have missed it, the August sermon series at The Oaks Fellowship in Red Oak, Texas, featured four messages on four books by Theodor Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss). "Sometimes we get way too serious as adults, and sometimes we just need to relax," the preacher says...

As some readers may know, the role of women in the mercy ministry of the church is a live issue in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). At Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church, where I serve as senior minister, our practice is to commission (not ordain) women as deaconesses. A full...

Summer vacation (as well as a teaching trip to Regent College in Vancouver) begins next week. As I anticipate laying down many of the burdens of pastoral care, at least for a little while, here is a salutary reminder of my calling, from Bishop Daniel A. Payne's "The Christian Ministry: Its Moral...

As promised, a gem from The Beauty of God . Here is a stanza from Jill Pelaez Baumgaertner's "Nunc Dimittis" -- part of a series of post 9/11 poems based on a funeral liturgy: We will follow the coffin back down the aisle trusting the dead to the extravagance of dust from which they came, knowing...

Over the past week I have had the opportunity to review advance proofs of the ESV Study Bible that is planned for publication in October of 2008. Although I have not participated in this project, I have watched it unfold with great interest and anticipation. From what I have seen so far, I believe...

With a road trip this week, I have finally had the opportunity to read The Jesus Gospel by my friend Liam Goligher, who preaches at the historical Duke Street Richmond Church in London. Liam wrote this book out of a desire to clarify the biblical doctrine of the atonement for ordinary Christians...

Like Ligon, I am spending most of the week at the Pastor's Colloquium sponsored by The Gospel Coalition -- 40+ pastors from across the country who are committed to evangelical essentials and who gather once a year to encourage one another in ministry. One of today's highlights was Tim Keller's...

Recent rumors to the contrary, Ligon Duncan is still a member in good standing of the Presbyterian Church in America. I can vouch for him, having recently heard him referred to in the Philadelphia Presbytery as one of the "modern-day fathers of the church."