Egeria’s Travels
Egeria’s Travels One day in the fourth century, a woman with time and means left for a three-year tour of Biblical places. In her accurately detailed account, she says nothing about herself. We only know that her name…
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Give Thanks for the Church
In a few short weeks many of us will gather around a table loaded with food to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. For many it will be a day of feasting and family fun. For others, they may be…
Fighting our Enemies
Several years ago I missed a turn for one of my speaking events. It didn’t take me long to realize I was on the wrong road, but I didn’t know how to find my way without help. So I pulled…
Church Discipline: What Does Suspension Mean?
There are times within a disciplinary process that some in the church must be temporarily postponed from their normal opportunity to take part in the formal fellowship or service of the saints. The status of those so suspended is not…
Church Discipline: What is Rebuke?
Reformed, confessional theologians often point out that discipline is one of three signs of a true church.[1] Highlighting this distinguishing mark, my seminary professor once rhetorically asked our class, “How many true churches are out there?” The Westminster Confession of…
The Westminster Confession and Good and Necessary Consequence
The Westminster Confession of Faith begins with one of the most well articulated statements concerning the doctrine of Scripture. And incorporated right into the Confession is an ever so brief clause on how one might do theology. The clause…
The Logic of Westminster’s Confession
Have you ever wondered about the topical and logical order of the Westminster Confession of Faith? Not all of it; just the ordo salutis. After chapter nine lays out man’s fourfold state chapter ten begins with what we might think…
Psalm 121: The Unbelievable Promise
How can the believer reconcile the suffering, trials, and persecution they are guaranteed with the astounding assurance in Psalm 121 that the Lord will keep them from all evil? Some might misinterpret this passage and claim a false gospel of…
A close walk with Jesus
Sometimes we can be surprised by the kind of things theologians say that seem to resonate with us. We might expect them to be profound insights into a particular doctrine; but, more often than not, it is because of a…
Psalm 1: Comfort in the Way of the Righteous
We live in an age of turmoil. Everywhere we look, we see wickedness and corruption. It seems, at times as though it may overwhelm us. We often feel like a rudderless ship being tossed about on the waves of death…