Paying the Preacher

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“Okay, it’s time to pay the preacher.” Those words made me cringe every time I heard them in my early years of pastoral ministry. Just the mention of the Sunday offering seemed to immediately spawn quips about paying the preacher. I was not sure how to take it—whether they gladly gave to “pay the preacher”…



Finney’s Theology as Self-Worship in the Bud

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  In The Memoirs of Charles G. Finney he presents his theological differences with the confessionalist stream of Congregational and Presbyterian ministers as having begun early. His recollections from 1866-68 imposed on that time forty-five years earlier may have presented his doctrinal system more defined and clearly stated than it actually was. That his spirit…



Early Puritan Sabbatarians (Part 2)

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*This post is the latest in a series looking at the Sabbath. Previous posts include: Early Puritan Sabbatarians, Pre-Puritan Sabbatarians? Martin Bucer’s De Regno Christi, Pre-Puritan Sabbatarians (Part 3), Pre-Puritan Sabbatarians? (Part 2), Pre-Puritan Sabbatarians? Henry Bullinger on the Sabbath (Part 1),  Where is the Sabbath in the Early Church (Part 3), Where is the Sabbath in…

  

Heart Faith and Deep Change

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Both in preparing to write these blogs and in preparing to teach a course on American revival, I have spent some time with the sermons, theology, and revival lectures of Charles Finney. He is a fascinating read. I find some things well said and edifying—truly and clearly put in the defense of truth. He had…



The Majestic Christ

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Persecution, suffering, and trials take their toll upon believers. Christians under the harsh, brutal treatment of Islamic terrorists feel a weight that few of us can imagine. The loneliness of a prison cell in Iran or North Korea battles to rob the disciple of the sweet sensible presence of Christ. Believers walking through constant pain…



A Response to Mark Jones’ post: A Plea for Realism

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Mark Jones recently wrote an article about whether Baptist ecclesiology acknowledges Presbyterians as “Christians” to which Michael Haykin responded. Jones then wrote a reply to Haykin today. I’d like to weigh in briefly on this discussion. Let me say at the outset that I consider Mark Jones a dear brother in Christ and co-laborer in gospel….



2nd London Confession and Moral Law

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By the end of the 1670’s, both General and Particular Baptists began to reach the pinnacle of clarity regarding their beliefs about the Moral Law of God and its perpetuity.[1] The Particular Baptists, in the wake of much persecution, decided to “show their agreement with Presbyterians and Congregationalists by making the Westminster Confession the basis…