This is blog number six in the series on why I am not a dispensationalist. In short, as I hope has become clear, I believe dispensationalism to be based upon an inadequate hermeneutic which leads to unbiblical theological conclusions. In my previous blogs, I outlined why a dispensational hermeneutic and the dispensational view of Israel and the Church as two separate people of God are both in error. In my last blog, I explored the implications of moving away from these two di

Let me remind you of where we have come now that we are 5 blogs into this series. In my previous blogs, I outlined why a dispensational hermeneutic (point 1), the dispensationalist view of Israel and the Church as two separate people of God (point 2-3, 6) and the place ethnic Israel is given in God’s eschatological program (point 5) are all in error. In this blog, I want to explore the implications of moving away from dispensationalism and its core values. It is not easy to l

In my last two blogs, using Christ’s Prophetic Plans as my guide, I outlined why a dispensational hermeneutic (point 1) and why a dispensationalist belief in a hard distinction between Israel and the church (points 2, 3, 6) are in error. In this article, I will show that the dispensationalist view of the restoration of ethnic/national Israel (point 5) is also in error. Before we get too far I want to remind you, once again, that there are several different flavours of dispens

In my last blog, I outlined why a dispensational hermeneutic is in error. In this article, I will show that the dispensationalist view of Israel and the church (point 2-3, 6) as two separate peoples of God is also in error. As stated before I will be using Christ’s Prophetic Plans as my primary, but not only, source for dispensational arguments as it is a popular and easily accessible text written by the faculty of The Master’s Seminary and edited by John MacArthur. Before we

Discipleship involves a personal commitment to sanctification, involvement with a church that preaches and teaches the gospel, and relationship with other people that goes beyond Sunday morning. These relationships are as unique as the individuals involved, but they do must have certain elements present. There are some principles that can guide us in developing healthy discipleship relationships, but only as we recognize that uniqueness and the freedom to adapt to the needs o

Over the next three blogs (which will take us to 10) I want for us to explore the ‘How-to’ of discipleship. We have already talked about the necessity of the body of Christ for our continued sanctification; a church that faithfully preaches teaches and ministers the gospel. We have also understood that a disciple of Christ needs to develop relationships that are focused on sanctification; relationships that allow us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour

Once again it has been far too long between blogs. Once again, I apologize to all of you who have been waiting. Due to the distance between blogs as of late, let me summarize briefly where we have been. We have come to understand that when we believe in Christ for our salvation we have become his disciples. In fact, we have seen that disciple and Christian (if we are genuine believers) are really the same thing; a true follower of Christ is a disciple. A disciple is one who i

It has been a while since I have written a blog in this series. I apologize. I have been working extensively on the “Hearing God?” seminar coming up on May 26-27 (more details to follow this week!). If you have forgotten where we have come from in this series let me refresh your memory. We have come to understand that when we believe in Christ for our salvation we have become his disciples. In fact, we have seen that disciple and Christian (if we are genuine believers) are re

Remember Siegfried and Roy? For my younger readers, probably not. They were big cat trainers who played to sold-out shows in Las Vegas for many, many years. Their show involved various large animals, mostly big cats like lions and tigers. They performed various obedience tricks with these animals, but one particular stunt was the show-stopper; unfortunately, on one fateful night in 2003, it stopped the show for good. The big trick involved Roy putting his head in the open mou

I hope that by now, three blogs into this series, you have come to an understanding of what a disciple is, why the church and fellow believers are absolutely necessary for discipleship and the many, many benefits of being a disciple Christ. My prayer is that you desire to leave superficial Christianity behind and embrace the call of God to true discipleship. In the first post of this series we described a disciple thus, A disciple is a person who is in an intimate relationshi

There are some very real, tangible benefits to being a disciple of Christ (this is primary), and to being part of a discipling relationship (this is secondary) that should motivate you to want to get involved in this type of relationship. Remember, we are talking here about a two-fold relationship: a personal commitment to be a disciple of Christ - this occurs individually. a commitment to be a disciple of Christ within a relationship with another believer(s) - this relations

Christ desires his followers to be disciples. Actually, that's not entirely right. True followers of Christ ARE disciples. As we discovered in our last post there are not two categories of people who follow Christ - Christians, and disciples. There are only to be disciples. Somehow we have bought into the idea that we can be merely Christians, have public and private convictions that are Christian, without sacrificing what is needed to become disciples of Christ. In this usag

In the previous post I articulated 5 reasons why we, as a Reformed Church, practice credobaptism (CB) and, therefore, do not baptize infants. The simple reason is that we do not believe it to be a practice that is mandated in Scripture. Here are 4 more reasons why we do not practice paedobaptism (PB). [Note: many of my arguments have been gleaned from a myriad of sources. I am particularly indebted to work done by John Piper, Sam Storms and the volume edited by Thomas Schrein

It is clear that the New Testament teaches believer’s baptism. This is such a plain reality that both credobaptists (those who practice only baptism upon confession of faith; hereafter CB) and paedobaptists (those who also practice the baptism of the children of believers; hereafter PB) recognize this fact. Both sides agree together that we are to preach “believe and be baptized” and extend that baptism to those who have made a profession of faith. The Bible is perfectly clea

The following blog post is an adaptation of a sermon preached on May 24, 2015 and adapted June, 2017. Much of the ideas of this post arise from the following works – Albert Mohler Jr, “Homosexual Marriage as a Challenge to the Church: Biblical and Cultural Reflections” in Sex and the Supremacy of Christ; Denny Burk, “Is Homosexual Orientation Sinful,” JETS, Volume 58, 1 (March 2015); Kevin DeYoung, What Does the Bible Teach About Homosexuality?; Robert Gagnon, The Bible and H

The following blog post is an adaptation of a sermon preached on May 17, 2015 and adapted on June 25, 2017. Much of the ideas of this post arise from the following, and other, works – Albert Mohler Jr, “Homosexual Marriage as a Challenge to the Church: Biblical and Cultural Reflections” in Sex and the Supremacy of Christ; Denny Burk, “Is Homosexual Orientation Sinful,” JETS, Volume 58, 1 (March 2015); Kevin DeYoung, What Does the Bible Teach About Homosexuality?; Robert Gagno

Much of the ideas in this post arise from the following, and other, works – “Homosexual Marriage as a Challenge to the Church: Biblical and Cultural Reflections” by Albert Mohler Jr. in Sex and the Supremacy of Christ; “Is Homosexual Orientation Sinful,” by Denny Burk, JETS, Volume 58, 1 (March 2015); What Does the Bible Teach About Homosexuality? by Keving DeYoung; The Bible and Homosexual Practice by Robert Gagnon. Albert Mohler Jr. is surely correct when he reminds us that

This is a blog on one of the most controversial issues to hit the church in some time. It is a needed blog, but it is one that I approach with fear and trepidation. My desire in these posts is to be, as Albert Mohler Jr. says, a compassionate truth teller. The following 4 blogs are expansions of the sermon on this topic. This first blog is intended to introduce the need for discussion of, and the difficult nature of this topic. It will set the stage for the discussion as well

The role of the pastor is something about which everybody seems to have an opinion or belief. Unfortunately these opinions and beliefs are often based on personal preference, tradition, and unwritten rules rather than gleaned from Scripture. This has led to much frustration and conflict for both pastor and church. As Carson and Woodbridge observe, "The modern pastor is expected to be a preacher, counselor, administrator, PR guru, fund-raiser and hand-holder. Depending upon th

Before we get into the details of Reformed theology, I want to debunk a few of the stereotypes, misnomers and flat out errors that have a tendency to pop up whenever Reformed theology is mentioned. People have a tendency to fear that which they don't understand, or to oppose that which they only know via stereotypes and unfair and biased characterizations. This whole series of blogs is intended to waylay those fears. We begin this series by dealing with a few general statemen