Calvin and Piety
John Calvin, the great French Reformer who devoted most of his ministry to the church in Geneva, ranks amongst the most influential theologians of all time. His legacy to the church – and, indeed to the world – goes far…
Tag piety
Henry ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia and the Birth of Christian Missions in the Hawaiian Islands
Henry ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia and the Birth of Christian Missions in the Hawaiian Islands Henry ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia lived only 26 years and is seldom known outside of the Hawaii. And yet, many believe that his love for the gospel changed the course…
David George – from Anxious Runaway to Zealous Pastor
David George – from Anxious Runaway to Zealous Pastor Born on a cotton plantation in Virginia around 1742, David George grew accustomed to hard work and abuse. The plantation owner, a man called “Chapel,” was particularly cruel. George had…
God Is Never Absent: Omnipresence
“The guy upstairs.” “The big man in the sky.” These are just two of the more common, modern slang terms for God. Aside from being utterly irreverent, they transgress the Second Commandment of having no graven images of God in…
Psalm 46:10: Be Still Knowing God
Recently I had been thinking about how to minister to several members of our congregation because of what God is calling them to go through again which will surely tax their energy and emotions. I had also been pondering what…
Sanctification: Keep Advancing!
For a number of years, my family enjoyed a mid-summer escape from the hot winds of the Kansas plain to the cooler heights of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Colorado. With Horn Peak looming above our cabin, we were…
Sanctification: Eschatology
Christian sanctification is normally understood as the on-going spiritual growth of a believer where that believer is more and more conformed into the image and likeness of Christ. The moment a person believes in Jesus and thereby becomes one with…
The simplicity and profundity of Prayer
In almost every doctrine in Scripture there is a simplicity that belies its profundity. They can be summarised and defined in a single sentence of a catechism answer and yet be the theme of substantial books. They can be explained…
Samuel Miller – Conscientious Pastor and Teacher
Samuel Miller – Conscientious Pastor and Teacher In 1813, Samuel Miller was offered a position as Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government at the newly established Princeton Theological Seminary. At that time, the Seminary had only one teacher, who…
John Donne – Poet of Grace and Comfort
John Donne – Poet of Grace and Comfort In 1623, when a sudden illness brought the poet and preacher John Donne close to death, he expressed his lament with words that may sound relevant during our coronavirus pandemic: “Variable and…