Ref21 Blog

A reminder from Spurgeon to deal in our ministry with subjects suitable to an immortal being, taken from a sermon on The Word of the Cross (#1611):If I were able to explain to a general audience how to make unlimited...

Church planting requires many administrative tasks. From setting up email accounts and registering the church's 501-C3 status to fundraising and sending update letters, one can easily spend over one-hundred hours on the front end tackling these necessary duties. In addition...

John Pye Smith was a Congregationalist of the first half of the nineteenth century. He was theological tutor at the Dissenting academy known as Homerton College near Hackney, London, for forty-five years between 1805 and 1850. In addition he was...

Among contemporary theologians there are two I would rather read than all others. One is J.I. Packer and the other is Donald MacLeod. Like Packer, Donald MacLeod knows that theology is ultimately not for the academy but for the church....

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Moses to the unfolding of God's plan of salvation. Arguably, Moses is the most significant Old Testament figure because of his unique role as mediator of the old covenant. In this sense,...

As far back as I can recall, Christians have utilized the phrase, "personal relationship" in evangelism. It is oft-times used as a synonym for "salvation." Perhaps pressing the phrase to its unlikely meaning, we might suggest that the phrase, "personal...

There is little doubt that an appetite for pornography is endemic in the modern West. That this is the case was driven home on a recent voyage. On my outward journey, I settled in to my seat for what was...

This week's MoS discussion is on strength in weakness.  Moving from reflections on boy bands through discussion of Bill Shatner's outstanding career as thespian ('He's our greatest cultural icon!' according to the Arts section of Canadian Librarian Monthly) to Aimee's...

Life and relationships have become all too superficial in our present age. It is the easiest thing in the world to say we know someone and yet really have nothing more than a nodding acquaintance. Indeed with the influence of...

This morning I am staring at a stack of books that I hope to read over the next several months. These resources came to me compliments of Reformation Heritage Books and I am eager to make you aware of them....

Friends towards the west coast of the US of A might be interested in this year's Southern California Reformed Baptist Pastors' Conference on "The Doctrine of Scripture" on the 3rd and 4th of November. Dr. Carl Trueman is the keynote...

Just who were the Puritans? Was Jonathan Edwards a Puritan? Was Matthew Henry a Puritan? Is Nacho Libre a Puritan? The answers to these questions are not uniform, but I think that once we answer the first question the following...

I read an article the other day that is still bothering me. I think that it captures a lie that many men and women believe about beauty and love. A 59-year-old wrote it, but this is the same problem I...

The brochure is available and booking is open for the Westminster Conference 2014. The conference runs from Tuesday 2nd through Wednesday 3rd December, and features six papers, as follows:Holy worldliness? by Stephen ClarkThomas Charles of Bala by Adrian BrakeThe International...

If you have never had the opportunity to indulge yourself in the works of Andrew Fuller (3 volumes, Sprinkle edition), luxuriating in the penetrating thought and terse prose of the greatly gifted Baptist theologian, then this may be your opportunity....