The pastor’s thorn

Paul David Tripp writes: “I was a failure and I was running. I couldn’t imagine a life of pastoral ministry anymore. It had once been a passion, a dream that seemed too good to be true but that passion had now morphed into a burden, one I no longer wanted to bear.”[1] I’m sure that… Continue reading The pastor’s thorn

(Not Quite) The making of Biblical Womanhood

The most recent contribution to the conversation about the role of men and women in the church and in the home is The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr. Barr argues against complementarianism and claims that it is in fact a modern attempt to re-impose patriarchy. Furthermore she argues that complementarianism is a… Continue reading (Not Quite) The making of Biblical Womanhood

“I don’t just want you to survive ….”

The other day, I talked about how the stand out thing I’d learnt from Mike Ovey was to allow God to disagree with me through his word. Well, one way that God disagreed with me came through Mike’s teaching, though in this case posthumously. After Mike’s untimely death, I remember one former student sharing that… Continue reading “I don’t just want you to survive ….”

How much application?

We are usually told that we need “more application” and that our sermons shouldn’t become boring technical lectures, so this article from Chris Thomas may prove a surprising read to many. For balance, you may want to read this from Steve Kneale showing that there are still people arguing for more application. I also want… Continue reading How much application?

Justified (Romans 4:1-12)

If you were to list the top 3 doctrines you believe first of all in terms of what is necessary to salvation, what would you list look like? Now how would you draw up your list a second time, this time with the focus on how doctrine affects the Christian life and the nature of… Continue reading Justified (Romans 4:1-12)

Paedo-baptism and covenant membership

The other day I highlighted three of the big arguments for paedo-baptism, here is the fourth. This has particularly become associated with the Federal Vision thinking of Douglas Wilson, Peter Leithart and James Jordan, however it is not exclusive to them, rather you find it present in a lot of contemporary paedo-baptist arguments and particularly… Continue reading Paedo-baptism and covenant membership