Every now and then I find myself reminded of just how much the world has changed. One such moment came for me on Saturday. I was up in Boston to preach for my friend and fellow member of a certain parachurch blacklist, Mike Abendroth. On Saturday afternoon, he offered to take me to Northampton,...

Christian Focus have released a kindle/e-book edition of Robert Bruce's sermons on the Lord's Supper (some of the most helpful ever preached on the topic). It is available for two weeks at a special price here (UK) and here (US).

The story of Gabe and Callie Fluhrer's embryo adoption is featured in The Washington Post . Gabe is an OPC pastor and the man at Alliance who handles all the complaints.

When teaching at Nottingham University, I had a colleague who was a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame, an educational order in the RCC. I remember her telling me that Cardinal Martini would one day be Pope. It never happened as he apparently died yesterday but not before he launched a major...

Here's your weekly shot in the arm (or to the head) from Peter Taylor Forsyth. He died nearly one hundred years ago but he could have written this yesterday. Look on his words, ye mighty (and ye one-man multisites), and despair. Emphasis mine once more: You hear it said, with a great air of...

Three new books have crossed my desk this week, each of them worth looking at: In the tradition of William Cunningham, B. B. Warfield and Helmut Thielicke, Kelly Kapic has published A Little Book for New Theologians (IVP USA) which looks like an excellent primer to give to anybody about to start...

In anticipation of my visit to SBTS in two weeks, it seems the profs there are lining up to shoot me. First, Michael Haykin on spiritual formation. Now another friend, Denny Burk has responded in a firm but friendly way to my earlier comments on complementarianism on his own blog . My time at...

After my comments on complementarianism last week, some have pushed back, arguing that this is a gospel distinctive or issue. Again, let me start by asserting my own complementarianism and also my allegiance to a denomination which, as far as I know, is currently under no suspicion of going soft on...

I see that Frank Turk at TeamPyro has concluded that my recent Conan the Barbarian comment was aimed at Ligon Duncan and started something of a twitter about it. Nonsense. A careful comparison of the two men indicates no similarity between the two at all Judge for yourselves: Conan: A Famous Former...

Longstanding readers of this blog, if such exist at all, may remember that I have a number of 'guilty pleasures'. Top among these would be the writings of John Henry Newman and Peter Taylor Forsyth, neither of whom would make the grade as Reformed Orthodox thinkers but both of whom are very...

Given that the issue of complementarianism is raising its head over at The Gospel Coalition, it provides an opportunity to reflect on an issue that has always perplexed me: why is the complementarian/egalitarian debate such a significant bone of contention in parachurch cobelligerent organisations...

It has been some months since I last had a rant about Lady Gaga, so I am grateful to the good old PCUSA for giving me the chance. Yes, the people whose General Assembly a few years back brought you the Carnival of Animals, presided over by some kind of Aztec divinity on steroids, and issued free...

Pushing Mike Reeves' material, that is -- here is an excellent article which has just been drawn to my attention, on the importance of theology.

A number of readers have emailed to point out that Mike Reeves' book, published in the US as Delighting in the Trinity , is published by IVP in the UK as The Good God , which I have now added to the original post. I assume that, unlike Sergio Leone's magnificent Western, Once upon a Time in the...

There is always place for a good introduction to the Christian faith and this week another welcome addition to the genre landed on my desk: Michael Reeves' new book, Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (IVP USA, in the UK The Good God ). Mike and I were partners in...

A couple of thoughts on Sean's helpful clarification: First, in his first post, it is important to note that Sean was not simply speaking positively of Covenant. My concern was that he passed a general judgment on all seminaries with a doctoral program. As I quoted, "Even when seminary faculty view...

Reading Sean's (another friend and another church historian -- I guess it is one of those weeks) response to my exchange with Michael Haykin, a number of thoughts by way of response come to mind but I will confine myself simply to addressing one of his points. Sean makes the following claim: Even...

My friend and fellow church historian, Michael Haykin, has offered a gracious, thoughtful but pointed response to an earlier post of mine where, almost as an aside, I expressed certain thoughts on seminaries and spiritual formation. The offending paragraph in my post reads as follows: This is a...

I have had some correspondence over the last few weeks, asking about Lloyd-Jones' mysticism and also apparent inconsistencies in Warfield's Christology. I am busy this week but working on posting on these topics before the end of August. In addition, I hope to write a few posts on the famous Davey...

A sharp-eyed Ref21 reader has spotted the Witsius article for free here . Don;t let it stop you buying the two volume set, though. There are many other gems therein.

Voddie Baucham has an excellent article on our pilgrim life here . A refreshing spot of realism and a good antidote to the obsession with trendy relevance that currently rules the roost.

I confess that I am still relishing Jim Garretson's two volumes on Princeton and the pastoral ministry . If you do not have them, you should buy them. These are those rarest of books: ones that you know on first reading will be companions for life. One prize essay is 'The Character of the Genuine...

Last week, I had the pleasure of doing a double act on 'evangelical identity' with Professor Darrell Bock, of Dallas Theological Seminary, at the Melbourne School of Theology. Professor Bock himself noted with cheerful irony that a double act involving a DTS and a WTS professor was itself...

Simonetta Carr is about to do it again. No, she is not pointing out the uncanny physical resemblance between a classic rock star and a great theologian of the past, as she did with famous Puritan and Westminster divine, Thomas Goodwin: and legendary drummer with LZ, John Bonham: Instead, she is...