Posts by William Boekestein

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WCF Chapter 4 | Of Creation

William Boekestein
May 30, 2023
Have you ever told someone, “I must have missed the first part of your story. I don’t understand”? Without a context most stories lose meaning. So it is with the story of humanity. Ignorance of our beginning breeds confusion and purposelessness. Even the drama of salvation by grace makes sense only...

WCF Chapter 3: Of God’s Eternal Decree

William Boekestein
May 22, 2023
When studying God one quickly has to answer challenging questions. How far does God’s authority extend? How much of what happens in this world is God responsible for? For those who take Scripture seriously God’s eternal decree cannot be avoided. Paul sums up what the entire Bible reveals: God “...

WCF Chapter 2 | Of God, and of the Holy Trinity

William Boekestein
May 14, 2023
Most theological and moral failures can be traced back to a wrong view of God. We charge God with being unfair only if we think he must submit to our concept of fairness. We will contentedly live one way in public and another in private only if we believe him to be local and limited like us. We can...

WCF Chapter 1 | Of the Holy Scripture

William Boekestein
May 8, 2023
If you were going to introduce Christianity to someone where would you begin? You might start with God and his holiness. The first fact is that “there is one simple spiritual being, whom we call God.” [i] Or you might lead with our need for God to deliver us from Satan’s tyranny. [ii] Both...

The Westminster Confession: Learning from the Past

William Boekestein
Apr 23, 2023
Is there any use in studying a summary of Scripture that is pushing 400 years of age? Before answering that question let’s think about what the question supposes and what it says about our thinking today. We are suspicious of old things. Of course, not everything older is better. But truth doesn’t...

Turning the Tables on Unbelief

William Boekestein
Dec 31, 2021
Apologetic conversations aren’t about hypothetical truths, but about life’s most important matters. We mustn’t simply stick to the scripts of critics; we must see ourselves as God’s prophets “anointed to confess his name” and reveal the mysterious “counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance...

You're All Hypocrites!

William Boekestein
Dec 27, 2021
Christian apologists give reasons that substantiate the faith. But sometimes Christians are the reason people find the Christian message implausible. People object to Christianity because of their sense—accurate or not—that the gospel doesn’t make people better and, in fact, seems to make some...

Can Science and Faith Be Reconciled?

William Boekestein
Dec 17, 2021
Statistics indicate that scientists are three times less likely to attend weekly religious services than non-scientists. [1] Less than ten percent of American scientists believe in a personal God. To atheist Richard Dawkins these statistics prove “that the more intelligent, rational, and...

Answering the Problem of Pain

William Boekestein
Dec 10, 2021
The people of Israel were starving. Their land was rich, but their enemies devoured the produce (Judges 6:4). A young man named Gideon summed up the crisis: “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” (6:13). That is the problem of evil. And it is one of the most obvious...

Doubt Need Not Be Disastrous

William Boekestein
Dec 7, 2021
Apologetics requires certainty and confidence. Its basic purpose is conquering doubts cast on the Christian faith. But what about the doubts of Christians? How do we defend a faith that we are not always certain of? Doubt is not a virtue; it is a serious problem. Doubt is dishonorable. God wants us...

The Bible Is Reliable

William Boekestein
Nov 29, 2021
One of Billy Graham’s early crises of faith was over whether he could totally trust the Bible. After much struggle he prayed to God, “I’m going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word.” [1] Graham’s conclusion sets a good...

You Can Know God

William Boekestein
Nov 19, 2021
Apologetics is often associated with the so-called proofs of God’s existence: ontological, cosmological, teleological—and already my head is spinning. But the quest to prove God has several problems. First, it ignores that all people already know God. Even animals can tell us that God created the...

What Is an Apologist?

William Boekestein
Nov 12, 2021
All Christians are apologists. All of us must be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). But God not only demands that we defend the faith, he also defines how we must defend it. By demanding confidence, love, and holiness (1 Peter 3:...

Why Do We Need Apologetics?

William Boekestein
Nov 5, 2021
Note: This article kicks off reformation21's latest series, "Christian Apologetics." Join us each Friday as William Boekestein outlines how we can prepare to make a defense for the hope that is in us. From the earliest days, Christians needed to defend not worshiping like their neighbors. The...

Courageous Christian Sexuality

William Boekestein
Jul 16, 2021
Popular opinion concerning sexuality is changing rapidly. “It took more than a century for the homosexual movement to win cultural affirmation. Transgenderism’s acceptance happened much more speedily, partly due to the path carved out by the homosexuality movement.” [1] The traditional boundaries...

Are You Sick? Call Your Elders

William Boekestein
Mar 11, 2021
Struggling Christians should get in the habit of calling their elders for prayer. “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders” to pray for God’s healing (James 5:14). Do you? Or do you treat this invitation as a throw-back to a pre-scientific era in which a “spiritual cure” was a sick...

Let's Study Together

William Boekestein
Jan 11, 2021
It's six o'clock Wednesday evening. Your church's mid-week Bible study starts in one hour, but you don't feel like going. The trouble is, you can't think of a fresh excuse and you don't dare to say what you, (and several others) would like to say: "Is this really what a Bible Study is supposed to...

The Key to Contentment

William Boekestein
Jun 11, 2020
How is it that our perceived contentment can fluctuate so dramatically? The new clothes we used to love now seem hopelessly out of date. We appreciated that pay-raise until we acclimated to new spending habits. We thought we had a fine home until we visited that friend’s house that makes ours feel...

Join, or Die?

William Boekestein
Feb 20, 2020
In 1754, Benjamin Franklin published a cartoon called “Join or Die.” It pictured a snake cut into eights representing the British colonies in the New World. Franklin argued that unless the colonies formed one body, they would never be able to resist the powerful threat of the French and their...

How Not to Fall Away

William Boekestein
Aug 8, 2019
"I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is 'deconstruction,' the biblical phrase is 'falling away.' By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian." So was the recent confession by former pastor, Joshua Harris...

Broken Pieces and the God Who Mends Them

William Boekestein
Feb 16, 2019
Lois Lowry tells a story about how a utopian state required that all of the community's memories going back through the generations be committed to a single person, a receiver. The elders engineered a society where no one but the receiver had to feel or remember. Life was safe and comfortable. The...

Broken Pieces and the God Who Mends Them

William Boekestein
Feb 16, 2019
Lois Lowry tells a story about how a utopian state required that all of the community's memories going back through the generations be committed to a single person, a receiver. The elders engineered a society where no one but the receiver had to feel or remember. Life was safe and comfortable. The...

Broken Pieces and the God Who Mends Them

William Boekestein
Feb 16, 2019
Lois Lowry tells a story about how a utopian state required that all of the community's memories going back through the generations be committed to a single person, a receiver. The elders engineered a society where no one but the receiver had to feel or remember. Life was safe and comfortable. The...

Broken Pieces and the God Who Mends Them

William Boekestein
Feb 16, 2019
Lois Lowry tells a story about how a utopian state required that all of the community's memories going back through the generations be committed to a single person, a receiver. The elders engineered a society where no one but the receiver had to feel or remember. Life was safe and comfortable. The...

A Beautiful Scandal

William Boekestein
Oct 17, 2018
There is a lot to like about the story of John Newton . And Simonetta Carr and Amal tell and illustrate it beautifully (Reformation Heritage Books, 2018). Newton first told the story himself in an 18 th century best-seller. A young man with a dead mother and hard-to-please father pursues riches and...

A Beautiful Scandal

William Boekestein
Oct 17, 2018
There is a lot to like about the story of John Newton . And Simonetta Carr and Amal tell and illustrate it beautifully (Reformation Heritage Books, 2018). Newton first told the story himself in an 18 th century best-seller. A young man with a dead mother and hard-to-please father pursues riches and...

A Beautiful Scandal

William Boekestein
Oct 17, 2018
There is a lot to like about the story of John Newton . And Simonetta Carr and Amal tell and illustrate it beautifully (Reformation Heritage Books, 2018). Newton first told the story himself in an 18 th century best-seller. A young man with a dead mother and hard-to-please father pursues riches and...

Six Benefits of Studying Church History

William Boekestein
Jul 23, 2018
Many of us may struggle with the feeling that the church is already too old-fashioned. If so, why should we study church history? Shouldn't we stop looking backward to the 16th century and start living in the 21st century? Contrary to our concerns, the church has always realized that a forward-...

"Join or Die?" The Necessity and Gift of Church Membership

William Boekestein
Feb 21, 2018
In 1754 Benjamin Franklin published a cartoon called “Join or Die.” It pictured a snake cut into eights representing the British colonies in the New World. Franklin argued that unless the colonies formed one body they would never be able to resist the powerful threat of the French and...

8 Marks of True Reformers

William Boekestein
Dec 14, 2017
The reformation anniversary confetti has all been swept up. Some of us have heard a lot lately about the reformers and how God used them to help move the church toward greater faithfulness in their day. But what will it look like to be a reformer today? Perhaps we can learn from Swiss reformer...

Do They Know You By Your Suit?

William Boekestein
Jun 22, 2017
Speaking on the matter of Christian freedom John Calvin said, “This is a slippery place, and there is great danger of falling on either side.”1 Too true! Christians face the duel temptation of excessive rule-making and inappropriate freedom-flaunting when it comes to matters that the...

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

William Boekestein
Apr 14, 2017
“They don’t write songs like that anymore.” It is not uncommon to hear an elderly man or woman utter these words whenever he or she thinks back on the “good ol’ days” of music. In a sense, this phrase is every bit as applicable in the church as it in the secular...

Delighting in Deacons

William Boekestein
Mar 2, 2017
How do church deacons help establish God’s kingdom? Many of us might struggle to answer that question. For a number of reasons, the diaconate is often viewed as a non-spiritual administrative committee. Because deacons oversee church money and property we might mistake them simply for...

Welcoming Your Minister

William Boekestein
Dec 22, 2016
When Jesus sent out his twelve disciples to minister the gospel he told them how they should conduct themselves as kingdom servants (Matt. 10:5–15). But he also spoke of the responsibility of the people to receive these ministers as his official representatives. Jesus insists that the way...

Resisting Traditionalism

William Boekestein
Sep 20, 2016
The woman had conspired with her husband to commit a slew of treasonous murders. Now, as she looked at her hands, she wondered if she would ever again have a clear conscience. “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” She asked. “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All...

Little One Lost: Living with Early Infant Loss

William Boekestein
Oct 4, 2014
"Little One Lost" by Glenda Mathes (Reformed Fellowship, 2012) is greatly needed today precisely because there doesn't seem to be a great need for it. I certainly wouldn't have felt its importance if not for a personal trek through the valley of the shadow of infant death. When our son was born my...

The Doctrines of Grace

William Boekestein
Sep 3, 2014
Shane Lems, The Doctrines of Grace: Student Edition. Phillipsburg , NJ : P&R Publishing, 2014. 143 pp. $9.99/₤6.99 In recent years the so-called Five Points of Calvinism have received increased attention and adherence. The Five Points seem to have a growing number of defenders, or at least...

The Doctrines of Grace

William Boekestein
Sep 3, 2014
Shane Lems, The Doctrines of Grace: Student Edition. Phillipsburg , NJ : P&R Publishing, 2014. 143 pp. $9.99/₤6.99 In recent years the so-called Five Points of Calvinism have received increased attention and adherence. The Five Points seem to have a growing number of defenders, or at least...

Lady Jane Grey

William Boekestein
Dec 26, 2012
Simonetta Carr, Lady Jane Grey (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012), $18.00, hardcover. One of the most encouraging trends in Christian children's literature is the publication of more stories that our kids will not like. If our children like all their books in the same way they like...

Weight of a Flame: The Passion of Olympia Morata

William Boekestein
May 21, 2012
Simonetta Carr, Weight of a Flame: The Passion of Olympia Morata (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2011). In the interest of disclosure this review was written by a thirty-something-year-old man with the help of two young ladies under age five and a six year old boy. I mention this because...

Good Friday: Christ our Great High Priest

William Boekestein
Apr 6, 2012
In 1941 Winston Churchill stood before an eager audience at an all-boys school in war-torn England and spoke these famous words, "Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in." (1) Churchill's words echo the thrust of the...

Good Friday: Christ our Great High Priest

William Boekestein
Apr 6, 2012
In 1941 Winston Churchill stood before an eager audience at an all-boys school in war-torn England and spoke these famous words, "Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in." (1) Churchill's words echo the thrust of the...

Effective Group Bible Study

William Boekestein
Jan 23, 2012
It's six o'clock Wednesday evening. Your church's mid-week Bible study starts in one hour but you don't feel like going. The trouble is, you can't think of a fresh excuse and you don't dare to say what you, (and several others) would like to say: "Is this really what a Bible Study is supposed to be...

Effective Group Bible Study

William Boekestein
Jan 23, 2012
It's six o'clock Wednesday evening. Your church's mid-week Bible study starts in one hour but you don't feel like going. The trouble is, you can't think of a fresh excuse and you don't dare to say what you, (and several others) would like to say: "Is this really what a Bible Study is supposed to be...

A Model Sermon:

William Boekestein
Mar 21, 2011
Learning from Peter's Preaching If you have young children or grandchildren in your family, perhaps you've seen the Disney-Pixar film, A Bug's Life . The movie imaginatively portrays life in an ant colony which is visited annually by a group of marauding grasshoppers who consume the food...

Avoiding Chronological Snobbery

William Boekestein
Oct 13, 2010
A Call to Add Church History to a Healthy Spiritual Diet Many of us may struggle with the feeling that the church is already too old-fashioned. If so, why should we study church history? Shouldn't we stop looking backward to the 16th century and start living in the 21st century? Contrary to our...

Avoiding Chronological Snobbery

William Boekestein
Oct 13, 2010
A Call to Add Church History to a Healthy Spiritual Diet Many of us may struggle with the feeling that the church is already too old-fashioned. If so, why should we study church history? Shouldn't we stop looking backward to the 16th century and start living in the 21st century? Contrary to our...

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