Tony Reinke recently interviewed Ligon Duncan (MP3 [14.4 MB]) on patristics. Here's an outline of the questions (with time markers):[00:00] – Intro [01:30] – Define for us patristics or patrology. [04:28] – Why should busy pastors read patristic literature in the first place? [09:29] – What hurdles do pastors face in reading and benefiting from patristic writings? [14:13] – For the busy pastor, recommend a few specific patristic titles covering history, biography, and primary sources. [26:52] – What contemporary debates reflect controversies addressed by the patri... [read more]

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Waiting for new site to appear?  Be patient! Some teething problems and Jeremy has been without power for several days following last Saturday's tornado in Jackson. I managed to escape to sunny (actually, rainy) Spain for a conference with MTW missionaries in Europe. A memorable quote from David Meredith (Smithton, Scotland), speaking on 1 Kings 17 on Jezebel: "she's a bit like an Old Miss sorority girl without the common grace: high maintenance and incredibly self-absorbed!"

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We had a great weekend in Atlanta for round 2 of this year's Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology.  The messages were simply great and, well, it was PCRT.  The spiritual intensity was at its usually high pitch.  My thanks to Bob Godfrey, Joel Beeke, and Phil Ryken for their contributions this weekend, and especially to David Hall and Midway Presbyterian Church, who hosted us.We touch down in Grand Rapids in a little over a week.  If you are not registered, you need to be!  Our conference theme this year is Precious Blood: The Atoning Work of Christ.  Th... [read more]

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Ronald Marshall, writing in Touchstone:Jonah is a horrifying book, with its raging storm and fierce sea-monster, a suicide attempt and near drowning, and, at the end, a confrontation with a massive enemy city. But in American children’s literature it is largely a harmless adventure story, all about travel and intrigue, underwater hideouts, success and fame. Jonah may not have been eaten alive in the Bible, but he has been in the children’s books. In the nineteen versions I examined for this essay, the horror of the story has been extracted and removed from sight, and with ... [read more]

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C.J. and Carolyn Mahaney give practical, biblical advice on the issue.

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I greatly enjoyed attending the Twin Lakes Fellowship outside Jackson, MS last week.  Seeing that the audios are on-line, I thought I would make the information available to our readers.  I came late and so missed half of the messages.  But Derek Thomas's sermon on Jesus' temptation was simply outstanding, and Terry Johnson's seminar on the leading of public prayer was worth the drive in itself.

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The longer I live as a Christian and serve as a pastor, the more impressed I am with the value of careful attention to Jesus’ teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, commonly known as The Lord’s Prayer. Many, if not most, Christians struggle with prayer. Two reasons come to mind. The first is that we live in a time when prayer is not strongly emphasized, in part because most of us do not have great troubles in life, at least outwardly so. The second reason is a perennial one, namely, the warfare between the flesh and the spirit. Prayer simply is difficult and it requires attentio... [read more]

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I drew attention to the mp3 downloadable addresses that Sinclair Ferguson gave recently at RTS Charlotte (available from iTunes). Steven Hall has kindly informed me of his own summaries of the "choicest bits" on his blog, here.

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I’m in Scotland for a few days, catching up with European news in today’s edition of The Times. The big splash news item, on several pages, is the case of Max Mosely, president of the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) – that’s “Formula One” racing cars for the uninitiated. Mosley (whose father was a renowned Fascist and professional Jew-hater) has been secretly filmed taking part in a sadomasochistic orgy with five prostitutes, he dressed as a Nazi and the women as Jewish slaves. I’ll spare the details. As of today, Mosley’s position as president of FIA is u... [read more]

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For staff devotions this week, my colleague Marion Clark shared the following proverb, which is good counsel for every Christian, but especially for anyone in ministry: "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe" (Prov. 29:25).  Ironically, it is our desire to feel safe that often tempts us to be people-pleasers, not saying what needs to be said, for fear of what others may think.  But in fact our fear of other people will trap us in the end.  Only trusting in the Lord and pleasing him is perfectly safe. 

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