Satan’s Strategy #3: Downplay the Danger
Satan downplays the seriousness of sin so that we think it poses no danger to our soul. “But it’s such a harmless sin,” he tells us, “It’s so small. No one will be hurt. It’s just a little pride, a…
Tag Puritans
The One Book: The Pilgrim’s Progress
I was once asked what I considered the best theology text. I took a breath and as I did the person reiterated, “The best.” Their emphasis on the definite article reminded me that they wanted one and only one. It…
David Clarkson and Soul Idolatry
David Clarkson and Soul Idolatry, Part 1: The Problem Identified Recently, I was preaching from 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, where we learn of the church turning “to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for…
Satan’s Strategy #1: Bait and Hook
This is Satan’s most common scheme: He presents the bait and hides the hook. Satan presents sin as fun, satisfying, profitable, and pleasurable, while concealing the miseries and pain that always accompany sin. Surely this is part of what Scripture…
Lights for God’s Glory
How can we be salt and light in our world, so that instead of being “trodden under foot” or “hidden under a bushel” (vv. 13, 15), we can resist evil and do good, and moving unbelievers to glorify God as…
Book Review: God’s Ambassadors
Chad B. Van Dixhoorn, God’s Ambassadors: The Westminster Assembly and the Reformation of the English Pulpit, 1643-1653, Studies on the Westminster Assembly (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2017). 215pp. Hardcover. $40. There is a growing interest in the history—and…
Proto-Puritan William Tyndale (10)
His Sacramental Theology – The Lord’s Supper In our last post, we started on Tyndale’s theology of the sacraments first generally and then specifically with baptism. We will now finish up on Tyndale with his convictions on the Lord’s Supper. …
Peeking Into the Devil’s Playbook
Temptation is an issue that Christians rarely talk about these days. Even the word itself has quietly slipped out of religious use, becoming instead a term used to boost sales of perfume and chocolates. Attempting to create an electrifying name…
The One Book: Gospel Fear by Jeremiah Burroughs
Rare is that jewel of a book that alters one’s life, perhaps changing a perspective on some particular topic, or perhaps more importantly, altering one’s views about God or His unfailing Word. A book that causes us to reevaluate something…
Assurance Made Possible
Anthony Burgess (d. 1664) was a “sound and orthodox divine,” distinguished for both his theological prowess and personal piety. Like many Protestants in his day, Burgess highly esteemed the doctrine of assurance, particularly as it played-out in the local church.[1]…