“True piety consists in a sincere feeling which loves God as Father as much as it fears and reverences him as Lord, embraces his righteousness, and dreads offending him worse than death.” How is piety obtained? “Piety is always built on knowledge of the true God and knowledge requires instruction.” “That which can educate a man’s piety demands sane doctrine.” – Quoted in David B. Calhoun, Knowing God and Ourselves: Reading Calvin’s Institutes Devotionally (Banner of Truth: Edinburgh, 2016), 16-17.
Read MoreWhen I finish a book, I add it to my list of books read. At the end of this post are the books I completed in 2017. The year was marked by celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Although I’ve used it as a reference and resource for lectures on the English Reformation, until now, I had never made time to read from cover to cover Diarmaid MacCulloch’s The Reformation: A History. Perhaps there’s a more comprehensive single-volume work on the Reformation, but I’m not aware of it. Over the past several decades, a number of young and intelligent Reformed folk have left Protestantism for Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Their concern is the shallowness of Protestant worship and…
Read MoreI’m delighted to participate in Jackson Public School’s Adopt-a-School Program. It gives me the opportunity to serve alongside the wonderful leaders and volunteers at Raines Elementary School, Reformed Theological Seminary’s neighbor on Flag Chapel Road. Attending this morning’s Partners in Education Awards Breakfast was Dina Brown-Owens (principal), Calandra Daniels (music teacher), Cathy Barnett (vice principal), and Kenny Bryant of the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department.
Read MoreOne hundred years ago today the largest man-made explosion prior to World War II devastated Halifax, Nova Scotia. Two ships collided in the harbor, one carrying 2,300 tons of wet and dry picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 10 tons of gun cotton and 35 tons of benzoyl. The subsequent blast killed 1,900 people, and left 10% of the city’s population injured. Holiday visitors to Boston enjoy the beautiful Christmas tree at the Prudential Center, an annual gift from Halifax citizens, grateful for the many Bostonians who fought their way through a raging blizzard to come to their city’s aid. I first learned of the disaster from an obituary in a Boston area paper. The deceased lost her sight as…
Read MoreAME Pastor and Reformed Theological Seminary student, C.J. Alexis, serves as a chaplain at the Federal Correctional Complex in Yazoo City. Tonight he gave me the opportunity to preach at the prison’s revival service and to share joy-filled worship with the men who attended.
Read MoreThree days of stirring messages from Rico Tice encouraging our students to do the work of evangelists. His John Reed Miller Preaching Lectures concluded Thursday, and will be posted soon to the RTS Jackson website.
Read MoreThree days of stirring messages from Rico Tice encouraging our students to do the work of evangelists. His John Reed Miller Preaching Lectures concluded Thursday, and will be posted soon to the RTS Jackson website.
Read More“If asked what I consider the qualifications for a good expositor of Holy Writ, I would answer these three: (1) a heart seasoned with grace; (2) a head filled with good common sense; (3) a mind stored with all that liberal education which aids exposition in general, and that of these holy books in particular.” – John Duncan in John M. Brentnall, ed., ‘Just A Talker’: Sayings of John (‘Rabbi’) Duncan (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1997), 12.
Read MoreSince 2014 I have volunteered at Raines Elementary School, RTS Jackson’s neighbor on Flag Chapel Road. What a joy today to have Jessica O’Banner (Guidance Counselor) and Calandra Daniels (Music Director) speak in chapel and, afterward, to enjoy their fellowship at lunch! I am grateful for their dedicated leadership in our neighborhood.
Read MoreSince 2014 I have volunteered at Raines Elementary School, RTS Jackson’s neighbor on Flag Chapel Road. What a joy today to have Jessica O’Banner (Guidance Counselor) and Calandra Daniels (Music Director) speak in chapel and, afterward, to enjoy their fellowship at lunch! I am grateful for their dedicated leadership in our neighborhood.
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