Christian Living

Let's face it, in common parlance pastoral means practical. What is more, people want the practical. I don't blame them. I just had the joy of reacquainting with a young woman who has recently experienced conversion. The next day I gave her Alistair Begg's, Pathway to Freedom: How God's Law Guides...
How do you explain to yourself why you are a Christian? Why do you think your life is a Christian life and not some other kind of life? Do you tell yourself you have a Christian life mostly for social reasons? It’s good for the children. Your parents raised you in a Christian church. Your...
Perhaps the most disturbing sign of the impoverished condition of many professing Christians, Christian congregations and denominations is their inability to recognize and self-consciously live in the practicality of the doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is the distinguishing...
The Christian doctrine of the Triune Godhead is often thought more in terms of an intellectual puzzle to be solved than a truth to be adored . But the fact of the matter is that the truthfulness of this Scriptural teaching is of immense practical comfort for the child of God. It is the Triune God...
If, as we believe, God is Triune, what difference does it make in our daily Christian lives? If God is Triune, how does this shape our Christian lives and our church life. First, the value of the Trinity is not primarily the benefits that we receive or how it shapes us. God’s glory and majesty are...
Another echo of Calvin’s continuing influence can be seen in the works of Benjamin Colman (1673-1747). Colman was an esteemed preacher who was offered the presidency of Harvard in 1724. He declined, however, preferring to devote himself to pastoral ministry. But in a 1730 sermon, Colman preached...
Enos Hitchcock (1744-1803) was a Harvard graduate (1767) and a chaplain for several brigades in the Colonial militia (seeing battle at Ticonderoga, Saratoga, Valley Forge, and West Point). He also served as chaplain of the Continental Army from 1779-1780. He preached in other New England churches...
The task of theology is multi-layered and multifaceted. Behind its obvious component of exploring the Bible’s teaching on the major doctrinal loci there are many other factors that influence the task and its outcome. At the most basic level there is the issue of our presuppositions about Scripture...
I have a question for you. Can existence be separated from attributes? Perhaps a definition or two is in order. My guess is that you know what it means to exist. But what is an attribute? An attribute is a quality, feature, or characteristic about a person or thing. So, for example, think of a fire...
Why does my church - the mourning widow, the lustful high-school jock, the overworked dad, or the tired homeschooling mom - need to relish in the doctrine of God’s Simplicity? Why do I as a pastor have a duty to ground my people in this seemingly obscure doctrine? Before I answer I want to briefly...