Posts by Philip Ryken

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Typically Bishop Ridding introduced his litany with words like these: "Seeing, brethren, that we are weak men but entrusted with a great office, and that we cannot but be liable to hinder the work entrusted to us by our infirmities of body, soul, and spirit, both those common to all men and those...
A friend has shared with me a litany, or formal order for prayer, written by Dr. George Ridding, the first Bishop of Southwell. The litany was designed for use at meetings of the clergy it was his privilege to supervise and encourage in the ministry of the gospel. Over the next several weeks I will...
In one of his two sermons on Ecclesiastes 9:10 (about doing things with all your might), Charles Spurgeon refers to the imprisonment of John Bunyan, and to Bunyan's undying commitment to preach the gospel, regardless of persecution. Here is what Bunyan said to his judge:
The letter "from the editor" in the spring issue of ByFaith (the official magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America, in which I serve as a pastor) reports that ByFaith will soon launch an online series about the health of PCA churches, using Mark Dever's book What Is a Healthy Church? as a...
I just received my copy of John Piper's new book Finally Alive: What Happens When We Are Born Again? One of Piper's reasons for making the biblical case for born-again Christianity is to guard the term against its misuse in popular culture, especially in the sociological research of The Barna Group...
Writing for National Review Online , Jay Nordlinger recounts a broadcast from Middle East Media Research Institute in which a Muslim cleric from Egypt defends no fault divorce. What interests me is the last line, which gives Christians more credit than we seem to deserve. The cleric says:
In recognition of the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, the Kairos Journal recently reminded its readers of the subtitle to the evolutionist's magnum opus, The Origin of the Species . What is the book's subtitle? The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life . This obviously opens the...
Timothy George has a nice piece in First Things about Rick Warren and his inaugural prayer, especially the fact that he prayed in the name of Jesus. At the close, he asks whether "Christians must hide their faith in the inner reserve of their private consciousness." They must not do so, says George...
After concluding his arguments against idolatry, proving that any use of images in worship is a sacrilege, Calvin turns to a consideration of the Trinity, as taught in Scripture. In addition to providing a basic definition of the doctrine--there is one and only God in three distinct persons--Calvin...
Calvin continues to make his case against the use of images (icons, crucifixes, and the like) in Christian worship, which he believes to be nothing less than an idolatrous violation of the Second Commandment. One of Calvin's arguments is historical: in the first five hundred years of the Christian...
This section of the Institutes includes one of the most helpful comments that Calvin ever made about the Christian life. "Man's nature," he said, "is a perpetual factory of idols." In context, Calvin is referring to idols in their most technical sense as physical objects used as a substitute for...
The Institutes is a positive presentation of Christian faith and doctrine. But it is also something more: a polemical response to the Roman Catholic Church, in which Calvin defends the theology and practice of the Reformation. Here we find the Geneva Reformer arguing against the idolatrous practice...
It is characteristic of Calvin's theology in general and of his Institutes in particular to give strong affirmation to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Generally speaking, Calvin does not do this by treating the Third Person of the Trinity as a separate topic of doctrine, but by highlighting...
In studying to preach Ecclesiastes, I came across this gem in the classic commentary by Charles Bridges, referring to the prayer that the tax collector offers in Luke 18:13 : "The publican's prayer will suit to the very last breath--nothing better--contrition for sin--confidence in the propitiation...
The Calvin 500 is a major international celebration of the life, ministry, theology, and legacy of John Calvin. The event is scheduled for July 5 to 9 in Geneva, Switzerland. A good number of Council Members from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals will be present to teach or to preach at the...
This is the title of Molly Worthen's article on Seattle's Mark Driscoll in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine . It was hard to tell what Ms. Worthen disliked more: Driscoll's masculinity or Driscoll's Calvinism. To her credit, though, Worthen played the piece straight up and largely managed to...
Chris Anderson has launched a website to provide resources for musicians and worship leaders who want to appropriate some of the new work that is being done in the great tradition of hymnody and other church music. Check it out here: http://www.churchworksmedia.com .
Carl Trueman is right about physiology and depression, but will come to regret ordering Franky Schaeffer's book about his father, which is guilty of far more than bad taste. For those who haven't seen it, Os Guinness wrote an appropriately scathing review a few months ago in Books and Culture.
Justin Taylor tells me that in honor of John Milton's 400th birthday he has posted an interview with my father here: http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/12/interview-with-leland-ryken-about.html . As my dad would say, please support your local Milton scholar.
"My beloved Christian brethren, my endearing believers in the Holy Spirit, we cannot remain impotent, indecisive, and mute spectators." Thus said the Governor of Maharashtra -- where Mumbai is located, scene of the recent bombings -- in an impassioned speech at Bangalore. The Governor went on to...
The Reverend Tim Bayly is alleging publicly that I promote women deacons, that I have widely disseminated an error concerning the position of B. B. Warfield on the issue, and that I have refused his personal pleas to correct this error. These allegations are false, as Mr. Bayly should know from our...
The Gospel and Culture Project has launched a new website that will be of interest to most if not all readers of Reformation 21. The website is edited by Chris Simmons, who is an expert in film and who attended Philadelphia's Westminster Theological Seminary the same time I did. To access the...
In case anyone might be interested, here is the link for the remarks I made last month about a Christian perspective on the current economy. The occasion was a gathering of the Wheaton Associates who met for breakfast at Wheaton College during Homecoming. The talk is available at: www.wheaton.edu/...
It was my privilege a few weeks back to speak at the Homecoming Chapel for Wheaton College. The link to my 20-minute address is here: http://www.wheaton.edu/wetn/chapelfall08.htm
I have had the privilege to read the manuscript for Stephen Nichols's forthcoming book, Ancient Word, Changing Worlds: The Doctrine of Scripture in a Modern Age . Here is the endorsement I wrote for Crossway Books: " Ancient Word, Changing Worlds is the best, clearest, and most reliable historical...
I had to smile when I saw the title of C.J. Mahaney's latest book: Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World . Some of us have teased our friend C.J. for writing a book on humility. Apparently this time he didn't want to run the risk of people claiming a lack of personal knowledge on...
The British Humanist Association (BHA) has announced plans to run a month-long series of ads on 30 London buses. The ads read: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Word for word, the ad may contain more ironies than any other eleven-word slogan in the history of...
It was good to see Rick going off on his Wall Street rant -- another indication of the salutary influence that preaching through the minor prophets has had on him. I recently read through his manuscript on Micah and can tell everyone that it will make an excellent contribution to the Reformed...
Special thanks to Iain Campbell for giving us a distinctively Scottish contribution by cautioning against the evils of prodigality! Of course Iain is quite right to say that prodigality is not an attribute of God, per se, and that God's mercy is not wasteful, but commensurate with the economy of...
When I predicted that his book The Reason for God would make the New York Times bestseller list, Tim Keller told me that he was embarrassed for both of us. But as it turned out, I was right (remember, you heard it here first). Dr. Keller's newest book has just been released: The Prodigal God:...
On my visit to Wheaton College for homecoming this past week, I saw notice of Carl Trueman's participation in the upcoming conference Reading the Decalogue through the Centuries (November 6-7). Doubtless Carl is contributing in the area of the Reformation, but perhaps he could let us know the exact...
Several readers have asked for comment on Europe's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) -- the atom smasher located near Geneva at CERN (the European Centre for Nuclear Research). The new facility, which started operations earlier this month (although some recent electrical problems could lead to a two-...
Like Carl, I have a warm appreciation for Machen's Christianity and Liberalism . On a personal and biographical note, the book had a very important influence on my father's theology and discipleship when he was in college and trying to sort out his own beliefs about Scripture. I would demur, though...
In case some of our readers may have missed it, the August sermon series at The Oaks Fellowship in Red Oak, Texas, featured four messages on four books by Theodor Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss). "Sometimes we get way too serious as adults, and sometimes we just need to relax," the preacher says...
According to The Sunday Times (9/14/08), the British government has incorporated Islamic law into the British legal system by establishing five sharia courts. The judgments of these courts are now enforceable with the full power of British law, running all the way up through the High Court. This is...
As some readers may know, the role of women in the mercy ministry of the church is a live issue in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). At Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church, where I serve as senior minister, our practice is to commission (not ordain) women as deaconesses. A full...
For my first post since June (so long I could hardly remember how to find the window for posting), I share a couple of apt turns of phrase from my friend and colleague Paul Tripp, who is just finishing a summer series in the Psalms. In describing the consumeristic approach that many Americans take...
Summer vacation (as well as a teaching trip to Regent College in Vancouver) begins next week. As I anticipate laying down many of the burdens of pastoral care, at least for a little while, here is a salutary reminder of my calling, from Bishop Daniel A. Payne's "The Christian Ministry: Its Moral...
Writing in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society , David Wells explains what our church and our culture need: "The renewal of which we stand in need, I believe, is of both the understanding of truth and of our knowledge of the God of that truth. It is not one or the other but it is the...
As promised, a gem from The Beauty of God . Here is a stanza from Jill Pelaez Baumgaertner's "Nunc Dimittis" -- part of a series of post 9/11 poems based on a funeral liturgy: We will follow the coffin back down the aisle trusting the dead to the extravagance of dust from which they came, knowing...
Alas, things have been so busy that I have not really entered into the mode of summer reading yet -- at least what I would call summer reading. But I did have some long airplane flights last week, so I have done some reading. Completed so far are James Tunstead Burtchaell's The Dying of the Light...
Over the past week I have had the opportunity to review advance proofs of the ESV Study Bible that is planned for publication in October of 2008. Although I have not participated in this project, I have watched it unfold with great interest and anticipation. From what I have seen so far, I believe...
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...
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...
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."
Like Ligon, I am spending most of the week at the Pastor's Colloquium sponsored by The Gospel Coalition -- 40+ pastors from across the country who are committed to evangelical essentials and who gather once a year to encourage one another in ministry. One of today's highlights was Tim Keller's...
I'm grateful for Ligon's reminder of Ezra 7:10 as providing an ABC for basic discipleship (study, live, teach) -- especially since this is one of my life verses for ministry. To take the thought one step farther, it is only the grace of Jesus that enables us to follow this life pattern. In Jesus we...
Recent rumors to the contrary, Ligon Duncan is still a member in good standing of the Presbyterian Church in America. I can vouch for him, having recently heard him referred to in the Philadelphia Presbytery as one of the "modern-day fathers of the church."
The body of my friend Tim Eimer is weakened by what may be a fatal cancer. His spirit is finding strength in the gospel. Recently he wrote this practical exhortation: "In recent years, God has taught me not to hold on to my life so dearly. For what we cling so desperately to, we soon begin to fret...
In a March 18 report, Christian Aid reports that nearly 5000 Buddhist monks (location undisclosed) have recently turned to Christ. A worker reports: "It appears that the Holy Spirit had urged these monks and nuns to call our evangelists to come and share the gospel of hope and love. After several...