The 119th Psalm is probably my favorite section of Scripture. Over the years, I have spent hundreds of hours poring over its contents. It is a Psalm that, as Matthew Henry would say, will either ‘warm’ a man’s love to…
The following 12 questions, by John Fletcher of Madeley, were first composed in the 18th century. Even today, they are useful as you examine your spiritual life. While self-examination is not something that modern Christians are often taught, it is…
The past was very different. No one would disagree with that. Even people who know little about the past (think: most modern Americans) understand that the past was different. What they don’t understand is how different things once were. I…
The following is a letter from George Washington to his nephew, George Steptoe Washington. While written to a single individual, it contains advice that would be valuable for many young men. Washington wrote in an eloquent (we would say ‘unnecessarily…
Mark, the shortest of the four Gospels, is a remarkable literary creation. As it follows the life of Jesus, the ‘Son of Man’ is gradually revealed to be the ‘Son of God’ with an extraordinary power over the physical and…
In this selection from John Owen (1616-1683), the Puritan theologian describes how he approached theological viewpoints different to his own. While this example uses the question of church governance (‘presbyterian’ versus ‘independent’), Owen’s approach is useful whenever we find ourselves…
What would happen if Paul visited the modern American evangelical church? This brief excerpt from No Place for Truth: Or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology by David Wells presents one possible scenario: “We can only guess how well the apostle Paul…
The shortest of the four Gospels, Mark, is also perhaps the earliest. It contains a fast-paced narrative of Jesus powerful works, presenting an intensely human Messiah who wields remarkably divine power. Surprisingly, Mark is also one of the most neglected…
One day, I decided to answer the question: “What makes America different?” Do we have any distinctive viewpoints or characteristics that we can offer to the world? In other words, what makes America more than a place on the map?…
Whether you are an atheist, an agnostic, a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, or anything else, the statement holds true: what you think about God determines who you are. Just by knowing your theology (beliefs about God), I know plenty…
