Tag Archives: Reformed spirituality

Do Small Group Bible Studies Help Us Understand the Bible?

Ages ago, while a young Christian in college, I attended quite a few Bible studies over the course of four years. Some were better than others. The studies invariably fell into one of two categories. In the first type, one … Continue reading

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Charles Spurgeon on Christmas

Over the years I’ve seen various Reformed websites that purport to quote Charles Spurgeon’s views on Christmas. While Spurgeon’s repudiation of Christmas as an ecclesiatical holiday is oft-cited, his accompanying assertions that it is never wrong to reflect on the … Continue reading

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Lost Art of Logic: Irrelevant Reasons to Believe

Earlier this month, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced for crimes committed while in office. Prior to sentencing, his attorneys were permitted to present arguments in favor of a lenient sentence. Among their pleas was a letter from one … Continue reading

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On Commentaries

In the preface to his final volume of Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of John, J. C. Ryle offered the following reflections on his extensive examination of commentaries on John’s Gospels: I freely confess that, with increasing years and experience, … Continue reading

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The Best Evidence of Love to Christ

“If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, that he may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees … Continue reading

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Burger King Spirituality

Recently I stumbled across an article that I first read years ago. The piece, by John Ortberg, was entitled “Happy Meal Spirituality;” in it, he notes that the success of the McDonald’s Happy Meal reveals something important about the American … Continue reading

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In Memoriam: Roger Nicole

In the summer of 1981, while living and working outside of Chicago, I worshipped in a small Reformed Baptist congregation in Wheaton, IL. As I prepared to leave for graduate school in Boston, one of the elders of the church … Continue reading

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Love and Sound Doctrine

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. – John 15:12 In this verse our Lord returns to the old lesson which He has taught before: the great duty of love towards other Christians. … Continue reading

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On Not Being Conformed to This World

Somewhere in the distant past, I discovered the “Lake Wobegon” monologues of Garrison Keillor. Despite the fact that my personal background includes no connections to Norwegian bachelor farmers or lutefisk, over the years I’ve found resonance with some of Keillor’s … Continue reading

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A Real New Testament Church

Imagine that you are the husband in the following scenario: You, your wife, and your two small children have just moved to a new city. On the first Lord’s Day after you arrive, you set out to worship in a … Continue reading

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