Communion an occasion of gratitude

To continue to prepare my heart for communion tomorrow morning, I read another chapter this evening from The Puritans on the Lord’s Supper. The chapter, “The Renewal of Our Christian Vows” by Edmund Calamy concludes with these paragraphs: Take care that the deepest thankfulness is a constant concomitant of all your renewed vows [in communion]. […]

The value of communion

At least once per month, most churches practice the ordinance of communion. Some partake of the bread and the cup weekly. For older believers who have been faithful in church participation, it is likely that they have taken communion hundreds of times, if not into the thousands. It might be tempting to wonder, “what’s the […]

“Prof” in the presence of the Lord

A man who influenced generations of students at Dallas Theological Seminary (e.g., he was both my professor and my father’s) — Howard Hendricks, known simply as “Prof” to his students — early this morning entered the presence of the Lord. The article on the DTS website captures the essence of Prof well, and brought numerous […]

She’s his princess, he’s her William

He says she’s his princess. And he also says that he’s her (Prince) William. A remarkable story of God’s grace, the gospel, and biblical love: HT: Challies

Reading the Pentateuch

This year our church is following an Old Testament reading plan — reading through the entire Old Testament chronologically, along with two of the Gospels. So these first months of the year, we are in the first five books of the Old Testament — the Pentateuch. For many books of the Bible, I have put […]

Just as the Lord commanded

Obedience is hard. We tend to do “kind-of obedience” — the kind of obedience that moves towards fulfilling the spirit of the law, but not the letter. Full obedience? That’s rare. Obedience that is complete, exact, to-the-letter, joyful, and non-resistant is unusual. We cut corners — “that’s close enough.” So driving 73 (or 75 or […]

“I don’t do blood”

I don’t do blood. Those real-life operating shows on TV? You’ve never seen anyone flip channels so fast! Dissections in my high school and college biology labs? Someone else had to do them. Emergency room and intensive care visitations? They better be quick — I’ve had more than one hospital room start “spinning” on me! […]

Rescued

Here is a story of rescue and redemption from the former senior pastor at Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Skip Ryan (he’s now an assoc. pastor there). It’s worth 15 minutes of your time to see how God redeems sin for our good and His glory: HT: Dane Ortlund.

Passover and communion

This morning I read again the account of the first Passover in Exodus 12. As Jesus makes clear (Mt. 26:2, 18-19; Lk. 22:15; see also 1 Cor. 5:7), there are obvious connections between the Jewish festival and the Christian church’s ordinance of communion. After reading the biblical account, I further refreshed my mind about the […]

“I am the Lord”

One of the tenets of bibliology is that Scripture is the self-revelation of God. Through the words of the Bible, we discover truth about the nature and character of God. And sometimes, that self-disclosure by God is particularly evident. Consider, for example, the declaration, “I am the Lord.” Though the Lord only makes that declaration […]

Will You Be My Facebook Friend? – Free ebook

For 24 hours only, Tim Chester’s brief ebook, Will You Be My Facebook Friend? (ePub/Kindle) is available for free on this website. Use the code 10ofthosefb during the checkout process, and the charge for the book will be removed. Though brief (I downloaded it this morning and scanned it briefly), the content is helpful. Chester […]

Desiring God Pastor’s Conference

The Pastor’s Conference presented by Desiring God beginning this afternoon will be live-streamed on the DG website. The schedule for the conference: Monday, February 4 2:30 – 3:30 PM EST, Mark Dever (Sponsored by Fidelis Foundation) Centrality of the Church in Disciple-Making 5:00 – 6:00 PM EST, Seminar with Mark Dever Connecting the Dots Between […]

What Did You Expect? – Kindle book price drop!

The book that we have selected as our bookstore’s book of the month this month — Paul Tripp’s, What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage — is also on sale in the Kindle store for $3.74. Pick up a print version or the digital version and benefit from this excellent resource. Marriage, according to […]

A solution for when you fall out of love

One of my favorite statements on love and marriage is from Mike Mason, and it addresses the issue of how to respond when a person falls out of love. He begins by reminding the reader about the importance of the vows that were taken on the wedding day. And then he reminds us of the […]

Pure Life Conference

After I graduated from college, a friend and I took a few days to go camping and hiking in the Great Smokey Mountains. One night as we were setting up camp, a similarly aged young man walked over to us from a neighboring site. Conversation eventually drifted toward faith and Christ and as we talked […]