A few months ago, a conversation with Joel Beeke went in an unexpected direction. We were talking Puritans (what else do you talk about with Dr. Beeke?) and we tried to think of a way we could team up to help people read A Puritan Theology. At that point I had only just begun reading…
A few months ago, a conversation with Joel Beeke went in an unexpected direction. We were talking Puritans (what else do you talk about with Dr. Beeke?) and we tried to think of a way we could team up to help people read A Puritan Theology. At that point I had only just begun reading…
I told you recently that for the next 8 weeks I will be embarking on a unique reading project–a project I’d like you to join in. Consider this a reminder and a second attempt to convince you to participate. Last year Reformation Heritage Books released A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life. This work by Joel…
For many years now I have been leading a project I call “Reading Classics Together.” Through this program we have read and discussed all kinds of excellent classic works of the Christian faith. But now, for just a while, I want to try something a little bit different. Hear me out and see if you…
It is one of the Bible’s many sweet and powerful promises: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The question is, though, how do we do this? In very practical ways, how do we resist the devil? In Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, Thomas Brooks offers a list of ten ways…
Satan hates God and therefore he hates God’s people, the church. His great plan for the church is to cause Christians–true believers who ought to be together in the gospel–to find ways of disagreeing among themselves, to divide, to be bitter and jealous, and ultimately to “bite and devour one another” (Gal. 5:15). Here are…
Though Satan can never steal the Christian’s crown, though he can never snatch him away from the hand of the Father, he is so envious and malicious that he will leave no stone unturned in robbing the Christian of comfort and peace, in making their life miserable, in giving them reason to live in constant…
Satan wants to keep you from worshipping the One he hates. He wants to keep you from doing the right thing, whether that is spending time alone with the Lord in Scripture and prayer, attending and participating in public worship services, or any other thing that will draw you closer to the Lord. Here, courtesy…
Last week I shared six ways that Satan wants to help you—to help you sin. Satan’s great plan for your life and death is to take you to hell with him. Thomas Books, in his book Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, drew up a list of the devices Satan uses to draw you—yes you!—to sin.…
Satan wants to help you–to help you sin. He is hell bent on taking you to hell with him. Thomas Books, in his book Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, drew up a list of the devices Satan uses to draw you–yes you!–to sin. Here are six of them: He presents the bait and hides the…
Every time I begin to read a new Puritan work I find myself wondering why I don’t read more Puritan works. I always focus on the classics, which means the process of elimination through the centuries has determined that this one book stands above hundreds or thousands of others as one of the few to…
I announced last week that I’ll soon begin reading Thomas Brooks’ classic work Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices. I’d love for you to read this book with me as part of the Reading Classics Together program. In their book Meet the Puritans, Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson say, “This book offers sorely needed lessons on…
It was back in 2007 that I had an idea that genuinely changed my life. I wanted to read some of the classics of the Christian faith, but I knew that without some measure of accountability I would never have the self-discipline to make it happen. I realized that this accountability could come by reading…
Over the past couple of months, I have been writing a series of reflections on Jerry Bridges’ book The Discipline of Grace. This is such an important book–a true contemporary classic–that teaches the centrality of the gospel in the life of the Christian. Bridges was writing about gospel-centeredness long before gospel-centeredness was all the rage.…
A wealthy woman wanted to hire a chauffeur. As each applicant came to be interviewed, she had him drive her along a narrow, winding mountain road with a precipice on one side. All of the drivers, in an effort to impress her with their driving skills, drove as close to the edge of the precipice…
It’s funny where life’s little defining moments can come from. It’s so often through words that are so obvious to other people, but somehow they’ve just never stood out to you. As a young man Jerry Bridges was at a Bible study group and heard this: “The Bible was not given just to increase your…
Morality by consensus. That’s the way so many of us live, avoiding the things we collectively determine are wrong while affirming the things we determine are right and good. By consequence, our morals are in constant flux, constant transition, as they respond and adapt to the spirit of the age. This is true outside of…
The Apostle Paul was fond of using athletic metaphors in his call for distinctly Christian lives. Romans 12:1 is just one example: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” But there is an…
Preach the gospel to yourself! Preach the gospel to yourself every day! I think we are all growing accustomed to being told that Christians need to center their lives upon the gospel and that one of the keys to doing this is to be continually reminded of what is true by preaching the gospel to…
Loving God is not as simple as we sometimes think. Christians are fond of reminding one another that in a biblical sense love is a verb, not just feeling but action. This is true, but there is far more to it than that. Jerry Bridges came to this realization and began to reflect on the…