Dr. Pentecost’s memorial service

Here is the video of the memorial service that was held for Dr. P — J. Dwight Pentecost — at Dallas Theological Seminary on Wednesday afternoon: J. Dwight Pentecost Tribute (1915–2014) | Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS).

John Calvin’s last will and testimony

I give thanks to God that, taking compassion on me whom he had created and placed in this world, he delivered me by his power out of the deep darkness of idolatry, into which I was plunged, that he might bring me into the light of his gospel, and make me a partaker of the […]

Sermon: “If Jesus Had Been Here…”

“If Jesus Had Been Here…” John 11:17-46 April 6, 2014 I was 15 the first time I remember looking into a casket and standing at a graveside. It was my grandfather and he died suddenly and without warning and I didn’t understand the implications then of what happened. It was my first funeral and I […]

Grab bag

Seen recently on the internet: Fred Phelps, leader of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, died this week. There have been numerous responses to both his life and death. Al Mohler, in “Fred Phelps and the Anti-Gospel of Hate — A Necessary Word” offers this wise insight: We must be very clear about the fact that […]

50 years ago today

You are well aware that 50 years ago today, President Kennedy was assassinated and entered eternity. It is fitting to reflect on the life of a President (aside: I highly commend the book Character Above All, edited by Robert Wilson as an examination of the 10 presidents from FDR to George H. W. Bush; it’s […]

Think often of your death

Thomas Watson: Oh, meditate on the transience and brittleness of life! Think often of your tombstone. Question: What advantage will accrue to us by often thinking of our short time here? Answer 1. Meditation on the shortness of time would cool the heat of our affections for the world. [“Time’s Shortness”]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from around the internet: Jon Bloom offers “Seven Ways to Pray for Your Heart.” David Murray reminds us, “All things for good.” Sin too? All sin is evil. No sin is worth it. It’s always better that we not sin. However, sin is also part of the “all things” that God works together […]

Consider your own death

What would you do and how would you act if you considered your imminent death? Specifically, what kind of evangelist would you be if you were convinced of your soon physical demise? Such a consideration would likely stimulate you and me to greater boldness in evangelism, which was the point of Joseph Alleine, a Puritan […]

“May God be as good to you as he has been to me…”

What does a husband say to his wife when he knows death is imminent? Even more, what does a husband say to his wife when he has been falsely accused of a crime and has been sentenced to death through the injustice? In 1944, pastor Helmuth von Moltke was accused, tried, and convicted of conspiracy […]

Trusting God, redux

After a man and a woman say, “I do,” they often spend the next days and weeks dreaming of what life might be like in 50 or more years. When a husband and wife get pregnant, they not only spend hours tossing names back and forth at each other, testing them to see if they […]

When children die while serving the Lord

How do you respond when your child precedes you in death? And what do you say when they die in a vicious act of martyrdom. The father of John Stam give an example when he wrote a letter after his son and daughter-in-law were martyred in China in 1934. Our dear children, John Stam and […]

Learning to number our days

According to the latest statistics from the Social Security Administration, I have 29.84 years left to live. That leaves me with approximately 10,899 more days, which sounds like quite a few until you consider that I’ve already lived 18,195 days. By statistical probability, my life is well more than half over, and I am rapidly […]

A benefit of sickness

There are benefits to sickness, according to the puritan, Jeremy Taylor [Holy Dying]. Consider: Truth is, there are but two great periods in which faith demonstrates itself to be a powerful and mighty grace; and they are persecution and the approaches of death…By the faith of the promises we learn to despise the world, choosing […]

Thinking about…death

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been slowly making my way through Nancy Guthrie’s O Love That Will Not Let Me Go: Facing Death with Courageous Confidence in God. I’ve been encouraged by the biblical thinking of godly men about death. This morning I read this from John Eaves, a believer who was diagnosed […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from around the Internet. This week’s articles focus mainly on the topics of technology and counseling: Timothy Raymond has a list of “20 Things Pastors Hear in Counseling.” How many of these are you equipped to help people address biblically? John Piper reminds us why the Psalms are so significant in counseling […]