As a co-founder of Cruciform Press, I like to provide occasional updates on news, and tell you about our most recent titles. Our featured title for September is Broken Vows: Divorce and the Goodness of God by John Greco. Broken Vows is a very personal book that opens with a bit of the author’s story.…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by our friends at CBD Reformed. As they always do, they are offering 5 prizes this week. Each of the 5 winners will receive these 3 books: You may also want to take a look at a few of the books they have on sale over the next…
An Ordinary Girl of Extraordinary Faith – Be sure to read this short biography of Lady Jane Grey. “As sixteen-year-old Lady Jane Grey stood on the scaffold on a gray winter morning, she looked calmly out over the crowd of spectators. Then, mustering the strength she had asked God to provide, she spoke with such…
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…
One of the Twelve – “Monday’s Navy Yard shooting ended with twelve innocent people murdered. One of them was Marty Bodrog. Marty, along with his wife Melanie, was a faithful part of Immanuel Bible Church. He was the kind of guy who causes people to conclude that God gives certain men the grace to father…
We are not yet at the point of demise for the printed book. Not yet. Not imminently. However, we do now have a viable and attractive challenger in the electronic book. While we think little of dropping the occasional $2.99 on a discounted Kindle edition of a Christian living title, more serious libraries merit more…
Who Your Children Really Are – It is good to remind ourselves: “Inasmuch as they embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, your children were created to be your brothers and sisters. And so, every child in your household should be seen first and foremost not as your son or your daughter but as a potential…
I often use this blog as a place to think through questions that have been perplexing me or ideas that just need some reflection. I don’t really know what I think or what I believe until I have processed it through the written word. For a few weeks now I have had a note in…
An Open Letter to an Older Woman – Yes! Catherine Parks nails it in this article, an open letter to older Christian women who continue to encounter words like “fresh,” “new,” and “young.” Is there still a place for them? The Preacher’s Besetting Sins – Here’s a good look at the preacher and vanity. “It…
Don’t you just love a good bit of gossip? There is nothing quite like it, though perhaps a good comparison is to a juicy and succulent bit of food. The last mouthful of steak perhaps. You put it in your mouth. You let it sit there for a few moments. You celebrate the flavor. You…
Bizarre Puritan Names – Here is a collection of some of the best, worst, and strangest names the English Puritans came up with. Example: If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned (who himself was the son of Praise-God Barebone). Singing in Church – “It happened again yesterday. I was attending one of those hip, contemporary churches — and almost no one…
John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress and undoubtedly the most famous of all Puritans, was born on November 28, 1628 in Bedfordshire, England. His father was a brazier (a brass worker) and it was intention that his son would take over the family business. But in 1644, when he was 16, both his mother…
Prideful Comparison – “That means the life that you have is a sacred calling. By the grace of God, you are what you are. It also means that the lives others have are sacred callings by the grace of God. And some of those saints have received sacred callings resulting in greater levels of gifting…
When I was in Scotland I spent one day on an impromptu and informal church history tour of the highlands. It was one of the best days I have ever had. We made many stops along the way and saw many relics of days gone by. At one point we parked beside an old graveyard…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by our friends at Reformation Heritage Books. And they are offering a pretty good prize. There will be 5 winners this week and each of them will receive 5 books which together retail for $92! Here’s the package: The Gospel Call and True Conversion by Paul Washer (Recovering…
Six Questions – Here are six questions that will “radically change your marriage.” That may be over-stating the case a wee little bit, but they are still well worth asking. Destroy Your Marriage Before It Begins – This article offers four different ways Satan will seek to destroy your marriage before it even begins. Mysteries…
Yesterday evening I enjoyed a mid-week prayer service at a little Presbyterian church down here on the coast of Scotland. Before prayer the minister spent a few minutes leading a study on Revelation 12, and as is so often the case when I listen to the teaching of God’s Word, there was one idea above…
Why Do Good Things Happen? – “Forget for a moment the question of why there is evil in the world. Ask: why is there good in the world? Bad things happen to people, but have you noticed that good things do too? We’re easily inclined to say that life should be better than it is.…
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…
It is not quite time to return home from Scotland; Aileen and I are first spending a couple of days together in the Highlands. We spent much of yesterday exploring the area, driving the narrow country lanes, visiting churches, graveyards, memorial markers and artifacts, each one somehow significant to the history of the church. At…