Theology has fallen on bad times. In one sense, it always has. The image of the guy with an insanely long beard, surrounded by books, looking like my guy here… …is just not appealing to us. It’s too cerebral, too based on the brain, too intellectual. “Christianity is not intellectual, it’s faith, the heart, the [...]

As you may gather when you read this blog, I am unashamedly Reformed in my theology. I fully affirm the teaching of the Second London Baptist Confession, commonly called the 1689 Baptist Confession and its five main areas of assent with classic Christian theology (you can listen to Greg Nichols’ fine lecture on this subject, [...]

This post was written late last night in commemoration of Reformation Day 2011. Realising I attached an hour’s worth of video, I figured it would be better to post this in the afternoon when folks could benefit b It’s 10:20pm on Reformation Day. October 31, 2011. 494 years after Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to [...]

As a confessing Reformed Baptist, I fully affirm its teaching regarding the three use of the laws. The Reformer Reader explains what the three uses are: When the Reformed and Lutheran scholastics talked about God’s moral law (lex moralis), they taught that there are three basic uses of the law (usus legis).  They are: 1) [...]

Well, if you have no idea what I am talking about, allow me to help you catch up. James MacDonald, founding pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, has invited T.D. Jakes, pastor of The Potter’s House and charismatic superstar, as a guest for the second round of his Elephant Room round-table discussions. The response has been [...]

If you’re familiar with the reformed blogosphere, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the big discussions that have happened in recent months regarding the relationship between justification and sanctification. As I read the material and hear the discussions, I will admit that I’ve not been at ease with the conclusions reached. Thankfully, I am not [...]

I’m honoured to be a member at the Metropolitan Tabernacle here in London, where Dr. Peter Masters serves as Minister. This past Wednesday, Dr. Masters taught from 1 Tim 4:13-14 in our midweek Bible study on the subject of Exercising Gifts. Particularly edifying was the defense of cessationism (the Biblical teaching that the sign gifts [...]

For years, I’ve taken myself too seriously. I’m the oldest of four kids – my three siblings supposedly watching and learning from my every step. Weight like that is hard enough. As if life had been designed to be this difficult, Dad was – and is – a pastor. Oldest son of a preacher, the [...]

R. Scott Clark, professor at Westminster Seminary California and author of the book Recovering the Reformed Confession, has a phrase called QIRE – the Quest for Illegitimate Religious Experience. By that, Dr. Clark refers to the desire to experience God outside of the “ordinary” means of grace in the preaching of the Word and the [...]

I begin this piece with a question. Could John Calvin, the (in)famous Genevan Reformer, Biblical scholar and theological powerhouse actually get a job (for lack of a better expression) in the pastorate today?   Before you answer, we’re talking about a man who preached pretty much every day across Geneva and was so dedicated to [...]