Archives for June 2022

From the sermon last Lord’s Day morning on the “Defiled Heart” from Mark 7:14-23.

Find the whole sermon here.

Today I received John Fesko’s “Galatyalilar” in Turkish (published by Ahit Yayinlari)—that is his “Lectio Continua” series of sermons on Galatians, edited by Jon Payne and me, and published in English by Reformation Heritage Books. Pray that this book will reach many Turkish people and do them much good.

Tickets are now available for the 2022 Puritan Reformed Conference. Register today and pay a discounted rate of $115. This $35 off discount is active through Aug 16, 2022. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to attend the Puritan Reformed Conference at this amazingly low price.

Click here for more details.

Last evening Mary and I had a great time taking Henk and Margaret Kleyn out to eat at PF Chang’s for Henk’s retirement from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary after 17 years of faithful service. The thoughtful waitress brought out a free chocolate-with-ice-cream dessert with four spoons and a flaming torch in honor of his PRTS-retirement. Pray for him and Margaret as he continues to spend the bulk of his time now doing pastoral work in their church.

God’s biblical design for marriage is totally contrary to the world’s ideas, so don’t try to blend them together. The world says, “Marriage is supposed to make me happy. I want my spouse to please me. I will stay in this marriage as long as I am happy, but when the joy is gone, I am gone.” This is the essence of a me-driven, self-centered marriage. It’s like walking in quicksand. Each spouse tries to keep from sinking, sometimes by dragging the other down to do so. The more they struggle, the deeper they sink. But when Jesus Christ reaches out His hand and pulls them out of the mire and sets their feet on the solid Rock, they begin to thrive together. A gospel-driven marriage begins with self-denial, putting God first and your partner second. The believer says, “I was a lost sinner; now I’m a saved sinner redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus. My spouse is too. I love God because He first loved me. He gave me my beloved spouse. I am so grateful to God for His gifts that I want to love and serve Jesus Christ and my spouse for my whole life. I have deeper joy from loving and serving God and my spouse than I ever did when I served myself.”

Learn more about How Can We Build a Godly Marriage? here.

Today the continuation of the HRC Synod took place (the last sessions will be on October 25-26 later this year). The highlight today was the acceptance of Andy Gruswitz as a Heritage Reformed denominational student to be trained at PRTS for the ministry. Here he is with his very supportive wife, Trish. They are blessed with five children and are a family with many musical gifts. Andy feels a heavy burden for evangelism in our churches’ neighborhoods and for training our own church members in how to evangelize. Pray that God will bless his family, his studies, and his evangelistic efforts abundantly (Eph. 3:20-21).

Last evening Mary and I thoroughly enjoyed the Christ-centered wedding and outdoor homestead reception (replete with a horse-drawn carriage, photo 1) of two of our young church members, Ethan Thies and Julia Engelsma (photos 2 and 3). Their uncle, Dr. Jerry Bilkes (also my good friend and colleague), delivered the wedding message from 1 Corinthians 13:8a on love that never fails. Pray that God will bless them abundantly with Christ-centered love as they strive to serve the triune God in a hostile world.

When Christ taught in Jerusalem, the Jews marveled at his teaching because Jesus had not been educated in the rabbinic schools (John 7:15). The Lord replied, “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him” (vv. 16–18). God the Son came with supernatural revelation from God the Father. No man can discover these truths by rational deduction or empirical observation. God must reveal them through Christ. Therefore, the work of learning true theology is more than an intellectual enterprise; it requires faith in Christ, submission to God’s will, and pursuit of God’s glory.

Learn more about Reformed Systematic Theology Vol. 1 here.

This quotation has been selected from my sermon last Lord’s Day evening titled “Paul’s Sublime Doxology about God’s Able Grace” on Ephesians 3:20-21.

Find the whole sermon here.

Some very good news from our Heritage Reformed Synod which met for 25 hours in two days: The first three brothers from left to right on the photo below—Darryl Dedert, Isaac Epp, and John Byl—after completing their four year MDiv program at Puritan Reformed Seminary, and preaching a trial sermon before Synod and being examined by Synod in a variety of subjects, have been accepted as candidates for the ministry and are declared callable by the churches. The brother on my right, Luis Llano from Colombia, has completed his MDiv as well, and has been accepted as a HRC theological student and preached his trial sermon before Synod, so he hopes to preach for the HRC churches now and pursue his ThM degree as he waits on the Lord for further direction. To the right of Luis, is Hao (Daniel) Xue, a HRC student, who preached his trial sermon before Synod and has received permission to preach in the HRC churches. Please pray for all five of these brothers that God will use them mightily to the building up of His church, the salvation of the lost, and the glory of His name.