“If men through vain ambition are so set on fire that they spare not their very lives, what shall we do? What cowardliness is it and how can it be excused if any may spare himself, when God sets not before us any temporal wages, any piece of silver, and fleeting and brittle possession, but …
Years ago, when I was a teenager, a seasoned, well-intentioned Baptist deacon gave me an explanation. I was bothered by the apparent arrogance of a pastor, directed towards this deacon and not me. The deacon explained, “Well, you have to expect a certain amount of arrogance from preachers. That’s just the way they are.” Without …
In most of the Christian circles I know, people are accustomed to saying a prayer of thanks before their meals- “returning thanks,” “saying a blessing,” “saying grace.” I have also found that many like me who grew up with this practice also somewhere along the way began to wonder where this practice came from. I …
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Preaching on 1 Timothy 3 Calvin expounds proper teaching of the Scripture as a distinguishing mark of a proper church and the considers the great privilege of hearing the word of God, recognizing that it is through His word that God abides with us. And it is a singular comfort to us, so oft as …
In expounding Paul’s comment on people desiring the office of overseer (1 Timothy 3:1), Calvin deals extensively with sinful (arrogant) and proper desire for such a position. He notes the difficulty of the work and that in Paul’s day as in his own, a man could not be a Minister of the word of God …
I continue to be blessed by Calvin’s exposition of 1 Timothy (see previous post). While preaching 1 Timothy 2:15 Calvin took considerable space to reflect on how this text shows God’s approval of the state of motherhood. His words are strikingly contemporary as today we are also needing to re-assert the value of this wonderful …
A main reason some people are adverse to John Calvin is that all they know of him is his teaching on predestination, and they fear this teaching destroys evangelism. But, whether or not one agrees with Calvin, it is only fair to note that he did not see predestination as an impediment to or negation …
It was my privilege this past Sunday to preach the ordination sermon for Eric Smith, a young man who has just finished his work here at Union and has begun a pastorate here in West TN. Eric is an encouragement to me as I see him pursuing the task of overseeing the souls of his …