I am so thankful that our kids are enrolled in Hamilton Classical Academy, and here’s just one reason. The other day their history book from Veritas Press (Pages of History by Bruce Etter and Alexia Detweiler) introduced this acorn to oak-tree concept of the growth of the promises in the OT from the acorn of …
Category Archives: Discipleship
Denny Burk’s Word in Season: What Is the Meaning of Sex?
You would have to be hiding under a rock to have failed to notice that controversy swirls about human sexuality. You remember that thing Luther is purported to have said about where the battle rages? Well, in our day, the battle rages on the sexual-morality front. Only fools or cowards would urge that we shrug …
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Guest Post from Adam Richardson: 52 Hours with My Son Jon
My friend Adam Richardson and I were students together at DTS. After Seminary, Adam served as a missionary in Russia for eleven years, and he is now pursuing a PhD at the University of Leicester, doing his work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. At the time the events he relates below took place, he was in …
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Update on Beijing Shouwang Christian Church
Some time back there was a lot of interest in what was happening to the Beijing Shouwang Christian Church. I don’t think the interest has faded, but the stream of information has run dry. Recent days have given me the opportunity to see some Chinese friends face to face. With the language barriers and the …
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New Post at Christianity.com: Do You Love Controversy or People?
Some people think it’s either/or. Here’s a bit from (near) the beginning: A few years ago I would have been suspicious of anyone who mentioned the need to engage in theological controversy in a loving way. I would have done one of those mental clucks of the tongue and inched the person toward the “needs-to-firm-up-conviction” …
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The Other 2013 Book I’m Most Excited to See
Tom Schreiner’s New Testament Theology was hailed by Simon Gathercole as “a magnificent acheivement.” What shall we say, then, about his new whole Bible theology, bearing the matchless title, The King in His Beauty? I can say that there’s not a saner, clearer, shrewder, godlier scholar I know. No one humbler or happier, no one …
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The 2013 Book I’m Most Excited to See
Warning, hyperbolic statement ahead: More than any other book that will be published in 2013, I’m excited to see this new one from Brian Vickers. Having already published on imputation (which if you haven’t read it already, you should click right here and get yourself a copy of Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness), and having spent …
On the Eve of the Release of Rowling’s Next Book
I’ve been thinking for a while about what J. K. Rowling teaches us in the Harry Potter stories through her depiction of Remus Lupin, the werewolf who is a good guy. I finally got around to writing up my reflections, and they’re now posted over at Christianity.com. Here’s the opening: I love the Harry Potter …
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In Houston October 1–6, 2012
My sweet wife grew up in Houston, and then when I finished my PhD at SBTS in 2003, the Lord opened a door for me to teach at the Houston campus of Southwestern Seminary. I had the privilege of teaching there from 2003–2008. In January of 2004 I was ordained to gospel ministry by Providence …
Theopologetics Interview on Sex and Gender
Chris Date of the Theopologetics Podcast interviewed me yesterday on sex and gender, mainly in response to Phillip B. Payne’s arguments. The podcast is available in iTunes and Zune by searching for “Theopologetics,” or people can subscribe directly to the RSS feed at www.theopologetics.com/?feed=podcast. Part one of the interview is here. Part two is here. …
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New Post at Christianity.com: How I Mark My Bible
Someone recently asked in a comment on some post or other about how I mark my Bible. I describe the color coding system I use in a post over at Christianity.com. Here’s the introduction: Do you have a system for marking your Bible as you study? Over the years, I’ve found that if I want …
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Review of Phillips, God’s Wisdom in Proverbs
Note: Themelios 37.2 has just appeared, in which this review is published. I would note also that what Dan Phillips does in this book, especially with Proverbs 22:6, goes very well with the previous post on child-training in the OT. Dan Phillips. God’s Wisdom in Proverbs: Hearing God’s Voice in Scripture. The Woodlands, TX: Kress, …
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An Old Testament Theology of Child Training
As I read Tim Challies’ review of To Train up a Child, this paragraph jumped out at me: What is this training? Before I answer that question, let me tell you what the training is not. Pearl’s training is not moral or spiritual, which means he believes that the mandate of Proverbs 22:6 is not …
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A Biblical Theology of Motherhood
The editor of the Journal of Discipleship and Family Ministry, Timothy Paul Jones, has generously granted me permission to post my essay from the most recent issue (table of contents). Here’s a taste of “A Biblical Theology of Motherhood“: What is a biblical theology of motherhood? A biblical theology of anything seeks to describe both …
What I Learned in My First Pastorate
A few years ago Towers invited me to reflect on what I learned in my first pastorate at Baptist Church of the Redeemer. I now post what I wrote then in this space. —- A small group of nobodies in a big room seemed really unimpressive, but I confess vanity and pride. To be honest, …
Are We Training Parrots or Making Disciples?
In a guest post on the Crossway blog I discuss the relationships between exegesis, biblical theology, and historical theology in the process of disciple-making. Are your assumptions about the people who hear you preach and teach an affront to the reality that they are made in the image of God? Here’s the intro: Solid exegesis, …
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Read a Great Book with Leland Ryken
I love literature, and when I read Albert Camus’ The Stranger and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot they shook me to the core. I read literature looking for truth, and these books challenged the truths I believed. By God’s grace he caused a faith that could not be shaken to remain in me, and as …
Use the Right Tool for the Right Job: Gospel Maturity for Seminary
In my humble opinion, seminary students should seek from the seminary what the seminary exists to give them, and the seminary exists to give them the Bible. Let me be quick to add that the seminary’s main purposes include systematic theology and church history, but God has revealed himself in the Bible. Let me say …
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The Rhetoric Companion by Doug and N. D. Wilson
Do you want to be a better preacher or public speaker? Do you want to be a better writer? If so, you’ll want to check out The Rhetoric Companion from N. D. Wilson and Douglas Wilson. I’m not saying that reading this book will enable you to write a book like N. D. Wilson’s Notes …
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Can A Presbyterian Join a Baptist Church?
How does one’s stance on baptism affect membership decisions? If a person is a convinced paedobaptist (i.e., one who holds to infant baptism) and declines to be baptized (i.e., immersed) as a believer, should that prohibit him or her from being a member of the church? My attempt to answer these questions is on The …
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