Reformation21

I used to tell people that Sinclair Ferguson could have read the phone book during his lectures and it would have not only been interesting, but profound. My theory was put to the test not by a Scottish brogue, but by a Welsh accent. Last night at First Pres in Jackson, Derek Thomas preached on...

I am also reading The Faithful Preacher this week, a book by Thabiti Anyabwile that presents selections from Lemuel Haynes, Daniel Payne, and Francis Grimke, three African-American pastors from the Reformed tradition. The African American church generally is not associated with Reformed theology...

In my morning worship, I've also been reading sections of Isaiah. One thing that struck me were the competing claims represented in Isaiah 46 and 47. In Isaiah 46, God clearly stakes his claim to absolute sovereign rights: "for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me...

With a road trip this week, I have finally had the opportunity to read The Jesus Gospel by my friend Liam Goligher, who preaches at the historical Duke Street Richmond Church in London. Liam wrote this book out of a desire to clarify the biblical doctrine of the atonement for ordinary Christians...

Connection Metro Church , Denver, which used its foyer coffee bars to attract visitors to its eight satellite churches in the Denver area, has decided to abandon ministry altogether to focus on coffee. "People liked the coffee a lot better than the ministry, according to congregational surveys, so...

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BLOG MAY CONTAIN HINTS OF IRONY AND MAY THEREFORE PROVE INCOMPREHENSIBLE TO AMERICANS. READER DISCRETION ADVISED. Due to the large volume of mail generated by the addition to our blog of Rev Boadicea von Ribbentrop, Priest-in-Charge of ST Olaf's the Sublime, Cricklewood, we...

Russell Moore has a superb blog post at Touchstone's "Mere Comments" responding to the new report discouraging transracial adoption. It's a must-read.

James MacDonald (Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, IL) gave us this zinger at The Gospel Coalition this week: "Sometimes our presentation of the gospel is so watered down that even the non-elect can't reject it."

Cohen's (and Trueman's) critique of the left misses the one real tragedy of the left, political and theological: absolutely no sense of humor. Still, that's a plus for the rest of us, as it has provided endless material for the conservatives throughout church history to have a go and have a laugh...

In my morning worship today, I was in Zephaniah and 3:9 leaped out at me: "For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord." Several texts connected in my mind and raised larger questions...