Archives for September 2022

Find last Lord’s Day’s evening sermon, titled, “Peter’s Heartfelt Confession of Faith in Christ” from Mark 8:27-30 and Matthew 16:15-16 here.

I am excited about Reformation Heritage Books release of “Faith Working Though Love: The Theology of William Perkins,” edited by Matthew Payne, Stephen Yuille, and me. Intended to be a companion volume to the recent RHB reprint of the 10 volumes of his magisterial “Works,” this volumes contains essays on Perkins’s views of the Triune God, the work of Christ, grace and free will, the order and the experience of salvation, eschatological glory, the nature of the church, the ministry and the means of grace, the ethics of Christian conduct, the nature of vocation, the one flesh principle, and Ramism. Written for both scholars and lay people by theologians who have studied Perkins carefully, I can vouch as an editor that many of the chapters in this book are worth the price on the book on their own. Get this book to whet your appetite for Perkins, and then read through, as enabled, the ten volumes of his writings! You won’t be disappointed by this so-called “father of Puritanism.”

Find last Lord’s Day’s sermon, titled, “The Christ Will Be Crucified” from Mark 8:31-33 here.

Here is a picture of my Queen taken in a museum in Indonesia a few weeks ago. Today I want to wish her a warm and blessed 63rd birthday:Mary, next to Christ Himself, you are God’s very best gift to me. You model Christlike servanthood, integrity, godliness, and kindness. You are more special than special; you are my better ¾, my tender-hearted, God-fearing, help-perfectly-meet for me woman. You pack our days, weeks, months, and years with love, understanding, wisdom, and pleasure.

Your unflagging support and undying loyalty are treasured. You are the sunshine of my life in winter’s cold blasts. Even the simple things of life—like talking and walking—are pure pleasure when I am with you. I’m afraid that I have become almost totally co-dependent on you! Thanks so much for being by far and away my best friend and confidant, and my spiritual partner.

Thanks too for being my traveling partner and for never getting tired of my sermons! I am unworthy of you, but I want you to know that I love you—your soul and your smile—more than you know. I love you more than yesterday and less than tomorrow. I’m so very glad you are Mary Beeke.

Today is the last day to sign up for the premier Puritan Conference in Los Angeles, October 5 to 7. You won’t want to miss this conference with its rich topics and gifted speakers, but you must sign up before midnight today!

Learn more and register here.

We are grateful that Dr. Bruce Baugus is now teaching systematic theology, ethics, and apologetics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary on a full-time basis. Pray that he will be a great blessing to Puritan Reformed and that we will be a blessing to him.

Providentially, I am also grateful that Reformation Heritage Books has just published Dr. Bruce Baugus’s groundbreaking work, “The Roots of Reformed Moral Theology,” which traces the story of the development of moral theology from its biblical roots up to the time of the Reformation, showing how a distinctively Reformed moral theology arose. I found this book to be a fascinating read, and so will you if you are interested in the ethics of Reformed theology. Highly recommended!

Learn more here.

I am grateful that Reformation Heritage Books has just released “The Excellencies of God” by Terry Johnson, friend and pastor of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah, Georgia. I love this book. It expands the mind and lifts up the heart with the best of topics: the doctrine of God. Just as the Lord both reveals Himself as the I AM and promises “I am with you,” so Dr. Terry Johnson’s book helps us to see both who God is and who He is for us in Christ. So take up and read about the excellencies of your God, dear Christian, but do not just read—meditate, marvel and worship!

Learn more here.

This morning I gave two more addresses (“Ten Ways to Enrich Your Marriage” and “Leading Family Worship”) for the “2022 Springfield, Illinois Bible Conference” on the subject of “The Christian Family,” organized by the pastor of Faith Bible Church, Dr. Curt Daniel. In photo 1, I am with Curt (with whom I have a 30-year friendship) in his outstanding study, and in photo 2, with pastor Brandon Richie who wonderfully survived a stroke some months ago and is now nearly fully recuperated. In addition to shepherding his flock, he is taking some long-distance courses from Puritan Reformed Seminary. Mary and I enjoyed time with him and his wife Liz.

After a flurry of book-selling with Mary that followed my last address, we packed up the remaining books this afternoon, and made the 7 hour trek back to Grand Rapids, arriving home just a few minutes ago. On the way home, the Queen insisted that I take a picture of an old car that passed us which reminded her of the Volvo that she owned (and loved!) when we were newlyweds (photo 3).

Every blessing to you and yours for the Lord’s Day tomorrow.

On the road again! A quick drive down to Springfield, Illinois to do a conference for my good friend Curt Daniel at Faith Bible Church. Our van is loaded with books to sell on this beautiful September day!

Yesterday I preached twice for the Westminster Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Hamden, Connecticut (photo 1) on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of their church. I preached in the morning on “Cherishing the Church Militant” and in the evening on “Cherishing the Church Triumphant.” It was great to see one of our PRTS alumni in the evening with his wife, Pastor Charles and Lilian Oliveira (photo 2). Charles pastors an OPC church in New York, an 80-minute drive from Hamden, and came with several office-bearers and members of his flock. We enjoyed our Lord’s Day with this appreciative flock, particularly with the pastor and his wife, Jon and Sherry Holst (photo 3), who were exceedingly gracious to us.