Category: Reformed Spirituality
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The Awakened Sinner
O my forgetful soul, Awake from thy wandering dream; turn from chasing vanities, look inward, forward, upward, view thyself, reflect upon thyself, who and what thou art, why here, what thou must soon be. Thou art a creature of God, formed and furnished by him, lodged in a body like a shepherd in his tent;…
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Brokeness, Contrition, and Repentance = Marks of a Growing Christian
“So Repentance begins with an attitude of brokenness over our sin. But true repentance will be followed by an earnest desire and a sincere effort to put away the sin we are repenting of – to put on the Christlike virtues that we see missing in our lives. These efforts often seem to be characterized…
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The Difference That Makes All the Difference
Francis Schaeffer, of his own testimony, writes: “I became a Christian once for all upon the basis of the finished work of Christ through faith; that is justification. The Christian life, sanctification, operates on the same basis, but moment by moment. There is the same base (Christ’s work) and the same instrument (faith); the only…
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Resurrection
O GOD OF MY EXODUS, Great was the joy of Israel’s sons when Egypt died upon the shore, Far greater the joy when the Redeemer’s foe lay crushed in the dust. Jesus strides forth as the victor, conqueror of death, hell, and all opposing might; He bursts the bands of death, tramples the powers of…
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Crucifixion & Resurrection
Here is a reflection, taken from Valley of Vision, for Good Friday: O Lord, I marvel that thou shouldst become incarnate, be crucified, dead, and buried. The sepulchre calls forth my adoring wonder, for it is empty and thou art risen; the four-fold gospel attests it, the living witnesses prove it, my heart’s experience knows…
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Revised Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards
As a young man – a teenager, really – Jonathan Edwards set down on paper a series of thoughts and practices to help cultivate growth in grace. (See 2 Peter 3.18) Edwards then re-read this list at least once a week to keep his mind focused and renewed. The result: A man of humble godliness,…
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The Old Man and the Flesh
by Robin Boisvert What actually changes when one becomes a Christian? Confusion about this is common, especially when we realize that we continue to struggle with sin and temptation even after conversion. Paul tells us in Galatians that we have a war that goes on within us after conversion: “For the desires of the flesh…
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Appropriating the Justifying Work of Christ
Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. Many have so light an apprehension of God’s holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin, that consciously they see little need for justification. Below the surface, however, they are deeply guilt-ridden…
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Poem of Your Life
The Bible tells us that each of our lives tell a story. We are like masterpieces of God’s artistry. The greek word is poiema, from which we get our English word “poem”. We are God’s poems. (Ephesians 2.10) We are living epistles (2 Corinthians 3.3). In this video Phil Keaggy joins Michael Card to play Poem of Your…
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Introduction to Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
I have benefitted tremendously from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, from the depth and richness of the writings and the broadcasts of several of the members. So I thought I would post this introductory video for anyone who may not be familiar with this network. Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is a cross denominational organization in…
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A Paradox of God’s Intentions
A paradox of the Christian faith worth pondering, from John Flavel: When God intends to fill a soul, he first makes it empty. When God intends to enrich a soul, he first makes it poor. When he intends to exalt a soul, he first makes it sensible to it’s own miseries, wants, and nothingness.
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The Original Missional Calvinist
John Calvin often gets a bad rap. But David Mathis offers us another perspective. In the Introduction to a book he co-edited with John Piper, With Calvin in the Theater of God, Mathis writes: “Calvin so believed in the importance of the everyday activities of Christian life and mission that he had a strange but…
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Revival: The Restoration of the Holy Spirit to This Place
To understand aright what this teaching of the Spirit is, there are three things we must specially remember: The first, that it is all from within. It is by influencing, by renewing, by purifying the life, that the Spirit gives the experimental knowledge of God’s truth. Out of the light of life, wrought within our…
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Elect or Elite?
A few years ago, soon after coming to Bristol, I was asked by a godly woman in our church: “What does it mean to be Reformed?” She had been talking with someone from another church who had snidely claimed that their church did not associate with our church because we were not Reformed enough. What…
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Practical Importance of Doctrine
If there was one thing I could impart to the members of our church, or to other pastors, it would be an appreciation for the practical importance of doctrine. I think it was R.C. Sproul who pointed out: “We are all theologians… the question is whether we are good theologians.” Sprouls’ point is valid. Everything…
