Analyzing Narratives
An excerpt from “Getting the Message: A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible, Revised and Expanded” by Daniel M. Doriani.
In a sense, the Bible is one long narrative. It tells the story of creation, fall, and redemption. Shortly after Eve and Adam sinned, God activates his plan to restore humanity. The whole Bible fits within that narrative. Within the grand narrative, substories abound in the epochs of biblical history. There is a unity to... Continue Reading
Book Review: Joni’s Songs of Suffering
Sweetness and suffering—do not necessarily go together, but by God’s grace they can and often do.
One of the keys to Joni’s suffering is singing. As she suffers the effects of her paralysis, as she endures chronic pain, as she persists through illness, she sings. And it’s out of her singing-through-suffering that she brings a new book titled Songs of Suffering. This book is a series of devotionals based upon 25 hymns... Continue Reading
Without Natural Affection – The Dismantling of Faith & Family
In his book Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents, Rod Dreher writes about the many interviews he conducted with Christians who made it through the totalitarian regime of the former Communist Soviet Union.
Dreyer refers to learnings from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who was a dissident of the Soviet communist regime. Solzhenitsyn wrote to his fellow countrymen before he was exiled from his home in Russia in 1974 for exposing the inhumane repression of his fellow countrymen, particularly by its repressive Gulag system. In his open letter, titled “Live Not By Lies”, he... Continue Reading
Book Review: ‘I Will Build My Church’
Jonathan Gibson has gifted the church a wonderful book titled, I Will Build My Church: Selected Writings on Church Polity, Baptism, and the Sabbath.”
Perhaps the most helpful part of this book, dare I say the most entertaining, is the section called “The Parable of the City Park.” This is a fantastic little story meant to drive home the Biblical teaching of infant baptism, and it does the job. This little story is well worth the read. Soon after... Continue Reading
The Golden Chain of William Perkins
He made especially important contributions to Protestant preaching, ethics, pastoral counselling, and the role of conscience in the Christian life. But his most notable contributions were in theology, especially relating to predestination and Christian assurance.
Perkins held to double-predestination is well-known: it was memorably laid out in the large fold-out chart which accompanied his work, A Golden Chain (rev.1592). In that work Perkins describes individual human destiny as sovereignly determined by God, with all persons either being predestined to salvation in Christ, or damnation apart from him. The idea of... Continue Reading
The PCA Presbytery of The Ascension Receives Report On “Still Time To Care”
The Report of The Ascension Presbytery Ad Interim Committee to study “Still Time To Care,” by Greg Johnson.
At its July 30, 2022 stated meeting, The Ascension Presbytery voted, by a voice vote, to receive the Report of their Ad Interim Committee to Study “Still Time To Care,” by Greg Johnson. In its conclusion the Study Committee stated: “Our careful interaction with this work has demonstrated to us that there are several areas of agreement... Continue Reading
What Is ‘Gay Christianity’?
Throughout two thousand years of church history, Christians have understood—and Christian churches have taught—that homosexuality is a sin.
The book Dangerous Affirmation is intended to serve as an introduction, rebuttal, and warning. It was written to help the average person in the pew to understand what is being argued by major “gay Christian” thinkers and to respond to it biblically. Although the Bible is the primary focus, I did not shy away from... Continue Reading
An Introduction to John Owen: A Christian Vision for Every Stage of Life, by Crawford Gribben
Seasoned Owen readers will discover fresh insights into some of his key writings.
In his conclusion the author reflects on Owen’s lasting impact on society and the the church. The old Puritan’s ideas on religious toleration helped to sow the seeds of classic liberalism. His theological writings are the subject of renewed attention in the contemporary Evangelical world. Crawford Gribben has ably opened up John Owen’s Christian vision for every stage... Continue Reading
Review: “150 Questions About The Psalter”
The questions are not intended to be memorized, but to be used along with singing the Psalms to increase both one’s knowledge and love of the Psalms.
Overall, this book is a fine introduction to the Psalms and the singing of them. It is thorough in its scope, readable in its language, and practical for both worship and piety. And maybe most importantly, it directs the reader to the Psalms themselves. As Johnston notes again in the preface, you cannot love a... Continue Reading
Politics, Creation and New Creation
To think biblically about political matters, believers need to look both to the past and to the future.
Governments are not merely a response to sin, but are also affected by sin. Governments can become “beastly”; they can function as objects of idolatrous designs. They can – even when they claim to be maintaining “law and order” – commit themselves to injustice, unrighteousness, and oppression…Since we are already citizens of God’s commonwealth, we must find effective... Continue Reading
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