Reformation21

Like most Americans, I was astonished by the brazen and inept lies told by NBC anchorman Brian Williams about his faux exploits while covering the war in Iraq. Moreover, I find his precipitous fall (which surely is accelerating even as I write) to be sadly instructive about men in general and the...

I'm off to South Africa tomorrow for a few weeks, then to North Carolina and South Carolina, then to the China, and then to Hong Kong, all for teaching and preaching purposes (Jas. 4:15). So the flurry of posts of late are to keep up my contractual obligations to the Top Men here at Ref21. Recently...

Without a hint of shame or embarrassment or any sort of profound internal conflict, Jesus openly admits he is--or at least was, while living under the conditions of the fall and fulfilling all righteousness for us--ignorant of at least one thing: "concerning the day and hour [of my return] no one...

Appreciating both Christ's divinity and his humanity is not easy. What does it mean to be both God and man? Looking at Christ's two natures helps us to understand not only the marvel of the incarnation, but the incredible humility of Christ, who "did not count equality with God a thing to be...

We tend, perhaps, to think of divine love as something akin to, albeit much greater than, human love. We tend, in other words, to assume that God's sentiments towards us are much bigger and stronger than, but fundamentally similar to, the sentiments we feel towards our most cherished friends and...

Pastors writing their own catechisms was standard practice in the Reformation and Post-Reformation eras. Luther, Calvin, Bucer, Beza, Ursinus, Ussher, Owen, Fisher, Cotton, Baxter, Ball, among many others wrote catechisms. Each catechism has similarities and differences. Moreover, a lot of...

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13.14 B. B. Warfield long ago observed that the apostolic writings do not develop but rather presuppose the doctrine of the Trinity. The New Testament is not evidence of a...

Do all professing Christians pray with the same efficacy? Does our godliness or lack thereof affect our prayers in terms of the influence they have on God to answer them? There is no question, our sin can hinder our prayers (Ps. 66:18; Prov. 28:9; Isa. 59:2; Jn. 9:31; James 4:3; 1 Pet. 3:7). So if...

I have decided to go see the movie American Sniper because by all accounts it thoughtfully delves into the moral contours of warfare and killing. Whether we prefer to acknowledge it or not, our society has been at war for over a decade and large numbers of our young people have had to face the...

The internet world exploded earlier this month when South Carolina mega-pastor Perry Noble informed his attendees that the Ten Commandments are not commandments after all but promises. Noble gleaned this insight not from a careful study of the Scriptures - he admits that he did not do that - but...