No Fruit on the Fig Tree or in the Temple

On Sunday, May 15, it was my privilege to preach Mark 11, “No Fruit on the Fig Tree or in the Temple,” at Kenwood Baptist Church. Jesus is remarkably humble in this so-called triumphal entry. He enters the temple, which essentially belongs to him, and he finds no fruit there. That is, the temple custodians …

How Should the Books of the OT Be Ordered?

English translations need to revisit the way that the books of the Old Testament are ordered. Let me put it another way: The only basis for the way that English translations order the books of the Old Testament is modern convention. The order we use today seems to have arisen with the printing press. There …

Kingdom Greatness

On Sunday, May 8, 2011, it was my privilege to preach Mark 10:32–52 at Kenwood Baptist Church, “Kingdom Greatness.” An excerpt: What are some characteristics of Christ-like service, servant-greatness, slave-first-placeness? It doesn’t do this to get attention, and in doing it, doesn’t draw attention to itself. The consideration of the interests of others outranks the …

Summer Reading Plans

Thinking about reading through God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology this summer? Maybe it would help to gather some friends and go through it as a group, discussing things along the way. If you don’t have a quorum where you are, a group from Kenwood Baptist Church will be going through it …

Piper Endorses GGSTJ

These words on the Crossway blog have me saying Soli Deo Gloria: “I was riveted. Never do I sit down and read sixty pages of ANY book that I get in the mail. But I could not stop—could not stop reading and could not stop rejoicing over God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment. It is …

Do You Preach the Superscriptions of the Psalms?

For some reason unbeknownst to me, English translations of the Psalms decided not to number the superscriptions of the Psalms. This breaks with other printed practice, since the superscriptions are numbered in printed editions of the Hebrew text as well as the Greek and Latin translations. The verse numbers are not original to the authors …

Dante Says Love Built Hell

Consider the warning on hell’s gate in Inferno: “Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye. Justice the founder of my fabric moved: To rear me was the task of Power divine, Supremest Wisdom, and primeval Love. Before me …

How Often Should a Church Take the Lord’s Supper?

How often should a church take the Lord’s supper? Let’s cut straight to the chase: I think the New Testament indicates that the early church took the Lord’s supper every Lord’s day, that is, every Sunday. My key piece of evidence for this is in Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week, when …

Ishmael Describes the Pulpit

As Ishmael, the narrator of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, describes the Whaleman’s Chapel, he says this about the pulpit: Nor was the pulpit itself without a trace of the same sea-taste that had achieved the ladder and the picture. Its panelled front was in the likeness of a ship’s bluff bows, and the Holy Bible …

Does Jesus Really Want You to Hate Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Wife, and Children?

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:26 ESV Since a man is to love his wife as Christ loves the church (Eph 5), and since I …

Do Flowers Make You Feel Guilty?

Have you ever looked at a flower? This week we went down to Bernheim Forest, and we saw this Quiet Garden full of Peonies. Have you ever thought about how delicate, transient, gratiuitous, and useless flowers are? God has lavished his creativity, resources, energy, mental ingenuity, and power on these things that serve no other …

Hear Flannery O’Connor Read “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”

I saw this on Andrew Peterson’s twitter page, and even though I think I re-tweeted it I felt it warranted a post. At this link you can hear Flannery O’Connor read aloud her short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” This is a tale worth pondering. I recommend you do the save as …

The Chiastic Structure of Revelation: Limited Time Offer

And here is the fifth and final Table from God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology that will be posted here. This one lays out the chiastic structure of Revelation. I think this structure is key to understanding the book. My sermons on Revelation are here, my Preaching the Word commentary on the …

The Chiastic Structure of Psalm 38

In Psalm 38 the righteous sufferer calls on and hopes in the Lord to deliver him. Note that this Psalmist is righteous not because he is sinless but because he confesses his sin and repents of it. The one in whom the Psalm finds typological fulfillment bears the sins of his people but has none …

Dan Phillips Reviews “God’s Glory in Salvation Through Judgment”

Ever wondered how to make an author really, really happy? Call his book terrific, then refer to its distinctives as sparkling! He’ll be smiling with a great smiling. Trust me. If you want to make it even better, say this as one farther along in the faith, from a big platform with a reputation for …