High up on the list of some of my life’s greatest ministry privileges has been the opportunity to serve at Placerita Bible Church for twenty-four years as a lay elder. During that time I have been allowed to share the pulpit ministry many times. Reformation Sunday 2021 (October 31) was the most recent such opportunity. […]
The Supremacy of Scripture Read More »
One of the newest books to come into my possession in 2020 (thanks to my good colleagues at Zondervan) is Karin Spiecker Stetina’s How to Read Theology for All Its Worth (Zondervan Academic, 2020). Yes, its title purposefully associates the volume’s intended audience with its predecessor, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth:
Reading Theology in the New Year Read More »
Caesarea Maritima / Caesarea Palestina Intertestamental Period In the 3rd century BC the Persians gave the area to the Phoenicians who built a small anchorage here and named it Strato’s Tower. The site had been controlled by the Sidonians, but the Romans under Octavian (who later became Augustus Caesar and the first emperor of the Roman
Israel Research Trip, Post #4 Read More »
OK, I admit it — I have favorite authors and theologians. When it comes to the New Testament and the doctrines of grace, Schreiner never disappoints. Thomas Schreiner’s Faith Alone: The Doctrine of Justification lives up to my lofty expectations. This volume addresses the issue with thoughtfulness, clarity, biblical exegesis, and theological insight. It is part
My Recommendations: Book of the Week, November 5 Read More »
History informs the wise. Those who do not consider history’s lessons are doomed to repeat those same mistakes and failures. In the Christian church we often feel like we are the first to face certain theological issues having a significant bearing upon how we live for Christ in today’s world. Nothing could be farther from
My Recommendations: Book of the Week, October 29 Read More »
On September 5 Dr. Stanley D. Toussaint entered glory and the following day Dr. Robert L. Thomas went to heaven as well. Interestingly, both men were born in 1928 (Dr. Toussaint in Minnesota and Dr. Thomas in Georgia). Both also were New Testament scholars majoring on the Gospels, the Book of Revelation, dispensationalism, and eschatology.
My Recommendations: Books of the Week, September 17 — Drs. Thomas & Toussaint Read More »
Academics have dominated the realm of Christian theology (both systematic and biblical) for several centuries. This source for the Church’s theology has led to a degree of stagnation as well as a lack of true spiritual passion in the queen of sciences–resulting in theologically anemic churches. Great theologians like Augustine, Irenaeus, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Owen,
My Recommendations: Book of the Week, July 2 Read More »
Pastoral leadership in corporate worship requires both passion and wisdom. John Newton was just such a pastor. He not only pastored his church through his sermons and letters, he also wrote worship-filled hymns. Beyond Amazing Grace: Timeless Pastoral Wisdom from the Letters, Hymns, and Sermons of John Newton, compiled and edited by J. Todd Murray,
My Recommendations: Book of the Week, June 26 Read More »
Wyclif’s legendary status as “the Morning Star of the Reformation” fails to survive Gillian Evans’ vigorous professorial investigation. Her portrait of Wyclif in John Wyclif: Myth and Reality reveals a complex and conflicted man — an irascible academic as well as a contrite cleric. His academic setting at Oxford forms the dominant background for Evans’ portrait of both
My Recommendations: Book of the Week, June 5 Read More »
Christ Alone: The Uniqueness of the Gospel and Its Impact on the World (Xulon Press, 2017) collects seventeen essays together in one volume. The authors (more than 20 of them–many who sat in my classes at The Master’s Seminary) serve as faculty in The Master’s Academy International in South Africa, Italy, India, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Spain,
My Recommendations: Book of the Week, May 15 Read More »
