“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent for his Son . . .” Galatians 4:4a For my family, living in a community with a coal-mining heritage has been a new experience. Since we didn’t grow up hearing the stories about the days when “coal was king,” we have found that taking […]
“Sometimes, when I watch, as I do now, my beloved wife Sonia and our most beloved Matteo as they sleep, I wonder, how can he grow, as a true believer, in a country like Italy, in such relentless spiritual, social, and political decline? These are the thoughts of a new daddy, which become subjects of […]
Considering that Robert Schuller pioneered the current megachurch movement, the recent bankruptcy of the Crystal Cathedral is no small issue. Are we getting a glimpse into the near future for those megachurches that have followed Schuller’s paradigm for ministry? Just what is the current state of the megachurch movement? If the Crystal Cathedral is any […]
Some time ago I was at an outdoor flea market in North Carolina. The sky was getting darker; thunder could be heard in the distance. Many of the shoppers, as well as the vendors, were beginning to pack up to leave. I was about to do the same when a particular item caught my eye. […]
Reformed young people may sometimes feel as though they are a minority in the world. However, after attending the Reformed Youth Services Convention in Newberg, Oregon, perhaps they felt like Elijah when he discovered that there were seven thousand that were still like him (1 Kings 19). Just fewer than seven hundred Reformed people gathered […]
The Beast from the Earth As if the dragon in Revelation 12 were not enough—that great fiery red dragon who makes war with the saints of God, we were introduced in the opening verses of Revelation 13 to the beast from the sea. And as if the beast from the sea in Revelation 13:1–10—that beast […]
Thus far my treatment of Bavinck’s view of election and covenant has been largely based upon what he teaches explicitly regarding these subjects in his principal theological writings, the four-volume Reformed Dogmatics and his popular summary of his dogmatics in Our Reasonable Faith. However, further light is shed upon Bavinck’s conception of the relation between […]
By J. I. Packer and Mark Dever Published by Crossway Books, 2007 188 pages, $16.99 Available on Amazon.com One of my friends always makes fun of me for my hyperbolic tendencies. I’m always saying that “this book is the best ever” or “he’s my favorite person in the world” or “this is the best coffee […]
By Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington Published by Crossway Books, 2009 160 pages, $14.99 Available on Amazon.com This little book is truly a great treasure. Weighing in at only 160 pages and attractively bound in a compact, pocket-sized volume, The Bookends of the Christian Life might not look like much at first. But it sure […]