Archives for November 2021

Last night, in Pensacola, Florida, we had a wonderful time of fellowship over dinner at the home of a precious family with ten children (photo 1), ranging in age from 16 years to 5 months. Afterward, I gave my first sermon of four on the riches of Christ at the annual conference of Mount Zion Baptist Church (photo 2), pastored by Jeff Pollard and Clarence Simmons, and home of The Chapel Library.

Afterwards, we sold a good number of RHB books to the attendees and fellowshipped with a number of them. I particularly enjoyed speaking with a NT student studying for his PhD at Oxford, a young couple in the military who are very dedicated to giving away sound literature to a variety of people, and a prisoner who was wonderfully and soundly converted a few years ago and is now filled with love for Christ. God is amazing!

God-fearers experience meaningful lives that glorify God. That’s the concluding message of Ecclesiastes 12:13. Here we see that the childlike fear of God (unlike slavish fear) is reverential, heartfelt worship of God as a way of life. In this message, I define what the fear of God is biblically, and seek to explain the importance of it in the Christian life.

https://churchandfamilylife.com/resources/60ca757523fa965169a3c99f/why-is-fear-so-important

All the meetings between representatives of different Reformed and Presbyterian denominations at NAPARC were completed by noon in Raleigh, North Carolina today. From there I flew to Charlotte and landed a few minutes before the Queen did! She was staying with our daughter and son-in-law the last few days in New Jersey, so she flew in from Newark. I missed her terribly—no surprise there! In photo 1 below her plane is rolling into its gate in Charlotte, in photo 2 she is walking toward me off the plane, and photo 3 is a selfie of us back together—I feel whole again! In an hour we fly on to Pensacola, Florida to do a conference for our good friend, Pastor Jeff Pollard of Mount Zion Baptist Church, over the weekend. Please pray for God’s blessing on NAPARC and on the upcoming conference at Mount Zion.

I am presently attending the 3-day annual meetings of NAPARC (North American Presbyterian and Reformed Churches) at the Shiloh Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina with delegates from more than a dozen federations. The first two days have gone well—including reports on the various denominations and prayer times, as well as an edifying sermon on Psalm 93 by Rev. Matt Holst, the local pastor of the host church, and a presentation of an exploratory report on the possible commencement of what is hoped will turn into a sound and reliable 4-year college/university that will offer accredited academic degrees from a Reformed, confessional, experiential, and practical perspective.

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=116211829133654

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit today with our oldest church member (Janna) who is celebrating her 100^th birthday this week. I love this 100-year-young child of God. Her mind is still quite sharp, and we can still have great conversation with her. She is often busy making large, heavy, beautiful shawls for her many relatives. She told me that she is now working on her 15^th shawl of late and that it takes her only two weeks to make one! Her daughter requested me to take selfie with her, so I’m throwing that in for good measure.

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:10–16 that membership in the church is all about Jesus Christ. All of what we are called to do, and to be, is summed up in Christ and will work itself out in every area of our lives.

In this message I discuss five aspects of Christ’s connection to the church that reflect faithful church membership: Christ’s Word, His person, His people, His cause, and His image.

https://churchandfamilylife.com/resources/60ca7f4323fa965169a3cd08/how-to-be-a-faithful-church-member

Exciting news:

The Puritan Documentary package, which consists of a 2-hour video, 35 lessons on the Puritans, a workbook on those lessons, and an introductory volume on the Puritans by Dr. Michael Reeves and me, is now all available in Portuguese!

The first two items (the video and lessons) you can purchase on-line at: https://academiadefesadoevangelho.com.br/puritanos/ and the last two items (the two books I’m holding) you can purchase at: https://www.livrariadefesadoevangelho.com.br/produto/livro-puritanos-licoes-sobre-o-puritanismo.html and https://www.livrariadefesadoevangelho.com.br/livro-puritanos-toda-a-vida-para-a-gloria-de-deus.

Pray with me that God will bless this introductory course on the Puritans not only to correct the caricatures that many have of the Puritans but also to help many people understand their zeal for God’s glory and the eternal welfare of never-dying souls so that we may follow them insofar as they followed Christ.

You are welcome to join me tomorrow, Friday, November 5, 2021 from 9:00 am – 11:00 am ET (9:00 pm – 11:00 pm Philippine Standard Time) as I am interviewed by some friends in the Philippines on the theology of the Puritans and how it relates to us today.

Streaming link: www.idisciple.ph/D21

While in Brazil a few days ago, I was presented with three new books in Portuguese that I edited: “A Beleza e a Gloria do Pai” (“The Beauty and Glory of the Father”); “A Beleza e a Gloria de Christo” (“The Beauty and Glory of Christ”); “A Beleza e a Gloria do Pai” (“The Beauty and Glory of the Father”). They consist of helpful addresses given at our Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary conferences three years in a row. If you read Portuguese and truly want to get to know God better, I highly recommend that you obtain and read these books prayerfully. You can get them from the publisher Editora Cultura Crista at www.editoraculturacrista.com.br.