I really appreciated this excerpt from Spurgeon, finding that it both challenged and encouraged me personally and expressed what I am aiming for in teaching and preaching. It is so easy to become the overly cautious person he rebukes here. I think he is exactly right that the failure to be loving and gracious often [...]
Archive of posts tagged love
Zwingli on Love & Useless Quarreling
This is a challenging word from Zwingli. He roots this in 2 Timothy 2:23. “[Those] who bring hatred upon the gospel are those who are more inflated with knowledge of the gospel than ignited with love. They exercise themselves more with quarreling than with gentle Christian living. They see in others what is lacking in [...]
John Gill on a Pastor Loving His People
John Gill in his commentary on Titus 1:5-9 speaks of the love a pastor should have for his people. He writes: “if he is not a lover of them, their company will be disagreeable to him, and he will be of no advantage to them; and if he does not love the souls of men, [...]
Bonhoeffer’s Life Together
Last month I finished reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s little book, Life Together. It is truly a spiritual classic. There is so much depth and wisdom here about living the Christian life, particularly living in communion with fellow believers and living in light of the truth having been freely justified in Christ (the imprint of Luther is [...]
Ortlund on Marriage
Valentine’s Day puts me off because of what is done with it. The world around us does not know what love is and so many of the attempts are sad and tragic. However, the love between a husband and wife is a beautiful thing, supposed to mirror the love of Christ for His Church. Ray [...]
Paul and Pastoral Love
Yesterday Lee Tankersley preached a great message on Galatians 4:12-20 and how the gospel develops a deep love between members of the church. Before the sermon ever began, I was gripped simply by the reading of this text, and the heart for the Galatians which Paul exhibits. It is so important in this, perhaps the [...]
Gerald Bray at Union University
Gerald Bray is the Scholar-in-Residence at Union University this Fall. It is a great privilege for us to host Dr. Bray who is an amazing scholar and good friend. His intellect and wit are both legendary! He will give a series of public lectures on the theme, “God is Love.†All the lectures will be [...]
Calvin on God’s Promises to Individuals
Recently I have in a number of settings felt the need to stress that God’s promises in Scripture to the church apply to each individual who is redeemed. This has at times come up in situations where God’s love for his people is mentioned, and some struggle with thinking, “I know God loves His people [...]
Calvin on Trusting the Love of God
In looking through the recently published new English translation of Calvin’s sermons on Luke’s infancy narratives, I came across this quote which connected with my previous posts on trusting the love of God despite our feelings or circumstances. This is another example of pastoral preaching, of which Calvin is a great example. He is known [...]
Believe the Love of God
Following on from my previous post, here is my recent attempt to proclaim the reality of God’s love for His people from Isaiah 43. I read from and alluded to Isaiah 42:18-43:21, but focused the exposition on 43:1-7 which says: 43:1 But now thus says the Lord,he who created you, O Jacob,he who formed you, [...]
