Alexander Whyte was the great expositional preacher of St. George’s church, and a professor at New College, in Edinburgh during the early 20th century. One of his contemporaries described him in the following way: “While others might defend...
“For I the Lord do not change.” Malachi 3.6a There are two guarantees in this life. First, nothing in this life will ever remain the same. The second is that our God will never change. Change is hard, isn’t it? I remember a Taco Bell commercial from the 90’s. The...
Perhaps it was a TV episode from The Red Skelton Show of my youth. (For those without a clue, Red Skelton was a popular comedian/performer for seventy years and entertained three generations of Americans in film, radio, and television.) It’s the classic comedy routine that begins with a...
One wonders if the cutting-edge church of late-nineteenth-century Scotland could compete with the American church of today. In light of cultural change at 10,000 mbps, could the kilt-wearing Scottish kirk keep up? Sunday morning worship services led by Thomson...
“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,” Proverbs 11.10a While living in Saint Louis, we had a special relationship with our Aldi. As a poor seminary family, we did the majority of our shopping there. Through our persistent presence, we developed some...
The phrase from the Apostles’ Creed, “He descended into hell,” tends to generate a lot of questions. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that the phrase is shocking. The picture of Jesus walking about in a fiery chasm deep beneath the earth’s surface is almost...
“The good news for the members of the graduating class who plan to enter the ordained ministry is that you don’t have to invent your own Gospel. All of the church hopes you will be imaginative and resourceful. It doesn’t expect you to be original. Actually, it rather...
The Centrality of Africa We Americans tend to take a Western view of the history of the Church. And, as Reformed believers, our focus on the Reformation can cause us to view all of Church History through that lens. However, we need to remember the Protestant Reformation took place some 1,500...
Over the past weekend, I joined a large television audience to watch the USGA golf championship taking place in Carmel, California. There was much to admire in the telecast. The course, itself, is stunningly beautiful as it stretches along cliffs adjacent to the Pacific Ocean. Aggressive...
Every aspect of a sermon is of great interest to me: proposition, structure, language, tone, illustration, delivery, even sermon length. Wesley confessed that he preached for three hours on at least one occasion. Jonathan Edwards preached more than a handful of two hour sermons. Calvin, it would...
