Archives for November 2021

On the way home from preaching in Kansas City yesterday, David Woollin asked me to stop at our new RHB store, where I was happily surprised to see that our 5,000 ordered copies of “Reformed Systematic Theology, Volume 3: The Holy Spirit and Salvation” (1,170 pages), coauthored by Paul Smalley and me, had arrived from the publisher (Crossway) (photo 1 with David Woollin and Steve Renkema and half of the shipment on pallets on our left). RHB then asked me to do a short video on the new title (see below), and then I immediately took two copies to my faithful co-author to share the joy and our gratitude to God for His grace in completing this volume (photo 2).

Volume 3 not only offers the traditional order of salvation that the Holy Spirit works in the souls of God’s people from effectual calling through perseverance in several hundred pages, but it also considers the Spirit’s work in a variety of ways (such as in creation, in common grace, in old covenant Israel, in the incarnate Son, as well as baptism with the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, the signs and wonders of the Spirit, and the Spirit in relation to the new creation), in a few hundred pages, and then deals with a number of experiential aspects of the Spirit’s work that is often not included in systematic theologies, such as the Spirit’s indwelling, leading, and filling; assurance of faith; and the marks of grace spelled out in the Beatitudes and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. The volume concludes with a few hundred pages of spiritual and practical ethics that flow out of the doctrine of salvation, including four chapters on how the Christian lives out of the Ten Commandments as a rule of life and various additional themes such as the fear of God, self-denial, sober watchfulness, and recovery from backsliding. In some ways, I feel like this is the most important volume we have written, due to its experiential emphasis on the saving work of the Holy Spirit and its focus on living the Christian life so as to grow in holiness.

Order your copy here: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/reformed-systematic-theology-volume-3-spirit-and-salvation-beeke.html

We had a wonderful weekend with the church family of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Kansas City. On Saturday evening, the assistant pastor, Nathan Currey and his wife Janey, as well as the youth director, Phil Taylor and his wife Emily, took us out for a delightful time of fellowship at Jack Stack BBQ.

On the Lord’s Day, I preached three times for the Redeemer church in their beautiful building (photo 1)—the same sermon twice in the morning to a few hundred people at each service (photo 2), and then again in the evening for a larger audience attended by the Kansas City Alliance of Reformed Churches (KCARC), which consists of six churches that gather for evening worship together about once a year (3 PCA churches, and one church each from the RPCNA, URC, and RCUS).

The senior pastor, Tony Felich and his wife Shari (photo 3), couldn’t have been more hospitable to us. We also enjoyed an afternoon meal at their home with their three sons and daughter (photo 4). After the evening service, I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with some of the ministers from the visiting churches, as well as meeting a brother who has translated one of my books into the Urdu language and is working on several more, and visiting with Bob Reymond, son of the well-known theological professor, Robert Reymond. This morning we had an excellent time over breakfast with one of our alumni, Michael DeWalt, who now works for Ligonier Ministries, before getting on the plane for home.

Today the Queen and I flew to Kansas City as I am scheduled to preach tomorrow for Tony Felich at Redeemer PCA here. We were picked up at the airport by Phil Taylor, the church’s associate pastor of the youth, who took us for a nostalgic 1.5 hour visit to the beautiful Spurgeon Library, home to 6000 books that formed about half of C.H. Spurgeon’ s library. Our tour guide there was Dr. Geoff Chang, who is curator of the library and church historian for the surrounding Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

In photo 1 above, I am standing in Spurgeon’s pulpit of the first church he preached for as a teenager (Waterbeach).

In photo 2, I am standing before a large oil painting of Spurgeon masterfully done by Don Whitney’s wife, Caffy, who has also done oil painting work for some of our book covers.

In photo 3, Mary and I are in front of another oil painting of Spurgeon and his dear wife Susanna.

In photo 4, the curator is giving me a wonderful gift of volume 5 of Spurgeon’s “Lost Sermons.”

And in the last photo, you can see the best section of Spurgeon’s library—his collection of Puritan writings!

I am pleased to announce that PRTS has just launched our Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling (MABC) program. We have anticipated this program for some time, recognizing the great need there is in the church for competent biblical counselors. Everywhere I go there are churches who are asking for help in this area and our own graduates repeatedly have sought after this as well. We have started to accept applications for enrollment beginning in the Fall of 2022.Dr. Mark Kelderman, who recently graduated with a Doctor of Ministry in Biblical Counseling, is heading up this program. He will teach several of the foundational courses along with several well qualified adjunct faculty who will teach various intensive courses in their specialized areas of expertise.

Dr. Kelderman has walked alongside many counselees during his nearly 25 years of ministry and grasps a proper balance of how to practice biblical counseling in light of our secular counseling culture. It is our hope that we will be able to train men and women who will be fit instruments of blessing to people within and outside of the church, to both believers and unbelievers.

If you interested in learning more about our MABC please visit our website: https://prts.edu/curriculum/master-of-arts-biblical-counseling/

The program will take two years to complete and will include a number of hands-on counseling situations and discussion components that will form a collaborative setting of training. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Kelderman.

Please share this post if you know of others who might be interested in hearing about this exciting new development.

As we approach Thanksgiving Day, there are thousands of things for each of us to be thankful for—especially, of course, for the Triune God Himself and for His salvation in Christ Jesus. High on my list of thanksgivings is what this photograph reflects: reading to our precious grandchildren four books in a row written by my wife and me on the way of salvation for children with the prayer in my heart, “O God, save every one of our dear grandchildren. Pass not one by. Fulfil my father’s constant prayer: Let us be an undivided family reserved for the heavenly mansions above.”

You can order your copies here:
https://www.heritagebooks.org/beeke-joel-r-and-beeke-mary/

Congratulations to Dr. Rick Gamble, my former professor at Westminster Seminary nearly 40 years ago and now my friend, who just received his copy today at ETS of his third and last volume of “The Whole Counsel of God.” This is definitely his magnum opus—an innovative biblical–systematic–historical theology that he signed a contract for with P&R 21 years ago! This third volume is his capstone—and in my opinion, the best volume of all. You will be able to order it soon at a discount rate from heritagebooks.org.

God has heard all of our prayers and done exceedingly, abundantly above all that we have asked and even thought (Eph. 3:20). Both liver surgeries—for our nephew Jason and his mother Nellie—went even better than the doctors had hoped for!

Jason’s surgery was over by late afternoon. He woke up singing God’s praises and asked his wife Hannah to read Psalm 138! The doctor said that his liver was big and beautiful! His mother’s surgery was over before midnight. The 2/3 liver she received from her son is bigger than her own liver—which should help reduce post-surgery complications going forward!

Hannah just wrote us this amazingly good news:   

Jason and Mom both did VERY well. Jason lost almost no blood and his pain level is low. Mom’s breathing tube is already out! Most recipient patients aren’t stable enough to take theirs out until a day or two after, but Mom was well enough in recovery to have this done. Jason got up and walked over to see Mom this morning. He gets tired very quickly, but other than that, they are amazed at how well he’s doing and he’ll most likely move out of ICU today and onto the transplant floor. Mom’s blood labs, which have been way out of normal levels for years are already stabilizing with Jason’s liver and it’s pretty incredible to see.

God is amazing! Continue to pray for the full recovery of both mother and son please even as you praise the Lord for what He has done so far.

Our nephew Jason and his mother Nellie (photo 1) are both undergoing serious surgery in Madison, Wisconsin right now. Jason (photo 2, with his wife Hannah) went into surgery at 8:30 this morning. The surgery, which involves removing 2/3 of his liver and perhaps his gallbladder, is expected to last about 8 hours. His mother Nellie (married to Mike, pastor in the HRC at Plymouth, Wisconsin), who has suffered from a poorly functioning liver for many years, entered a 10-16 hour surgery at 10:30 this morning, which involves replacing her liver with Jason’s and recreating bile ducts from parts of her intestines.

If all goes well, both will spend a day or two in ICU, and then go to the regular transaction floor for about five days for Jason and up to 2 weeks for his mother. Thanks in advance for your prayers!

I am excited to announce that we have released two more significant titles at Reformation Heritage Books: “The Spiritual Marriage Between Christ and His Church and Every One of the Faithful,” by the well-known Reformer, Girolamo Zanchi—the first time this beautiful, spiritually rich volume has been translated from Latin into English (150 pages); and one of Octavius Winslow’s classics that has been out of print for some time now—“The Glory of the Redeemer in His Person and Work”—one of the most uplifting books I have ever read on the fullness and exaltation of our worthy, inimitable Savior and Immanuel. Both of these titles are treasures. You can order them here:

The Spiritual Marriage Between Christ and His Church: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/the-spiritual-marriage-between-christ-and-his-church-and-every-one-of-the-faithful-zanchi.html

The Glory of the Redeemer: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/the-glory-of-the-redeemer-winslow.html

I pray that God will richly bless these gems to your mind and soul.

We had a blessed Saturday and Lord’s Day at the conference for Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. Our friend from Antigua, Dr. Henworth Jonas, delivered three beautiful messages: one on Christ’s sufficiency, the second on Christ as the perfect representative, and the third on Christ and the Holy Spirit working together as a partnership in saving sinners. The second sermon was the richest message I’ve ever heard preached on Christ’s intercessory work. I gave two messages on Christ from Hebrews 12:1-3, dealing with how to endure and how to handle affliction in the Christian life, and a concluding message on Christ as King and Lamb in Gethsemane.

Conference attendees were very responsive throughout both days. I enjoyed speaking with one of the most responsive listeners who was wonderfully converted in prison from a troubled past and now is absolutely convinced that “Christ” is the only way to live (photo 1). We sold all the books that RHB sent down for the conference by Saturday evening.

After the sessions were completed on Saturday, we enjoyed a delicious dinner and good fellowship at the home of Pastor Jeff and Myra Pollard (photo 2 on the right) together with the Jonas’s (photo 2 in the middle). On the Lord’s Day, we enjoyed a noon meal with the entire conference at the church, and in the evening we enjoyed a meal with a few dozen people from the flock at the home of one of the families that has ten children (photo 3). We had great fellowship there. I also had a great talk with a brother, Taman, who is studying for a New Testament PhD at Oxford (photo 4)

Today we are flying home. Your prayers for divine benediction are coveted.