The One Who Endures: The Church
Not too long ago at a small party, I was chatting with a young lady who had just switched churches. She had left a rather large, seeker-sensitive type of church in the Washington D.C. area, a church which put…
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Polity and Ecclesiology
It is a very human trait, one from which even theologians are not immune: the tendency to make ourselves the default reference point for everything. We do it without realising it, because it is built into our subconscious. But it…
Giovanni Diodati – An Italian at Dordt
In 1618, the situation in Europe was tense. The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) was only a natural consequence of the religious and political conflicts of the previous century. On top of this, the Protestant camp was becoming dangerously divided by…
The One Who Endures: Perseverance and Counseling
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. John 10:29 I have benefitted greatly from the teaching ministry of the late R.C. Sproul. …
‘No longer Orphans’
Jesus is simultaneously the master theologian and the perfect pastor. He sets the deepest of truths before his people, but in a way that pastorally meets their deepest needs. This should give pause for thought for thought on different fronts.…
The One Who Endures: The Parable of the Soils
The Bible is very clear that those who make genuine professions of faith will continue in those confessions of faith. The genuine believer will bear fruit as a consequence of God’s working in them. Thus, Scripture often brings to the…
Vittoria Colonna – the Poet Who Inspired Michelangelo
The first meeting between Vittoria Colonna and Michelangelo Buonarroti (probably around 1537) was the start of a long and deep friendship. It was also, in some ways, uncommon. As a famed noblewoman, she was used to the company of…
Surveying Sanctification: What About God’s Holiness?
Quite a while ago, I met a woman with whom I had attended a particular church several years earlier. At the time of our meeting we were both worshiping in different congregations. In the midst of the conversation, having discovered…
The Apostles’ Creed: In Jesus Christ
“I believe…in Jesus Christ, his [God’s] only Son, our Lord” So every believer confesses and so it is found in the Apostles’ Creed. Let’s unpack four things that we find in this phrase of the Creed: (1) Jesus; (2) Jesus…
Fullness of Joy and Pleasures Forevermore
The very first John Piper book I read was Future Grace. Its title is taken from Peter’s exhortation, ‘Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed’ (1Pe 1.13). It provides the important…