The “Preacher” of Ecclesiastes has a relentless message (he doesn’t wait long to tell you, just look at the second verse of the book). The message is this: all our efforts to find happiness apart from God are useless. This life, apart from God, is meaningless, it is hopeless, and it is only filled with despair. Now, that is an important message, because from the very beginning chapters of the book of Genesis, the Old Testament asserts this fundamental truth: that there is a Creator, He is distinct from His creation, we are His…An Empty Life? Asking the Hard Questions (Ecclesiastes)
The “Preacher” of Ecclesiastes has a relentless message (he doesn’t wait long to tell you, just look at the second verse of the book). The message is this: all our efforts to find happiness apart from God are useless. This life, apart from God, is meaningless, it is hopeless, and it is only filled with despair. Now, that is an important message, because from the very beginning chapters of the book of Genesis, the Old Testament asserts this fundamental truth: that there is a Creator, He is distinct from His creation, we are His…
The gathering of the people of God to praise him ought to be a delight – the chiefest of delights, because true Christian worship is filled with delight—the delight of the believer’s heart in God himself. The congregation delights in God because he is God. Jonathan Edwards explains: “True saints center their attention on Christ, and His beauty transcends all others; His delight is the source of all other delight; He in Himself is the best among ten thousand and altogether lovely. These saints delight in the way of salvation…
There is a trend today in some evangelical Christian circles to deny that the New Testament has a category for gathered, public worship like the Old Testament did. The arguments vary. Some point to the lack of Old Testament liturgical language in reference to New Testament gathered worship, or to the application of Old Testament liturgical language to the whole of the Christian life (e.g., Romans 12:1-2). Others argue that one of the redemptive historical changes from old covenant to new, is the fulfillment of Old Testament corporate worship in…
Sinners (and that’s what we are) are incapable of approaching a Holy God directly. We need a mediator, a stand-between, a reconciler, an advocate who will represent us before God, and take our place, and bear our sin, and render us acceptable to…
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Brazil began its work on Saturday evening, July 19. The Rev. Dr. Augustus Nicodemos was elected Vice-Moderator. I had the joy and privilege of hearing him preach on Sunday morning, July 20 at Igreja…
This is one of my very favorite hymns. I love its true and moving words. It is a glorious and realistic and emphatically Christian and spiritual meditation on God’s providence. This one is worth memorizing. “It was composed in 1641 with the…
Sometimes reverence and joy are viewed as mutually exclusive in the worship of the church. I have friends who suspect “reverence” is a code word for austere, cold, somber and dour. So, when they hear someone talking about the need for…
I will be heading to Natal, Brazil soon for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil (in Portuguese Igreja Presbiteriana do Brasil, or IPB). The IPB is the largest and oldest of the Presbyterian and Reformed denominations in Brazil.…
It has just been announced today that Dr. Paul Kooistra, former Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson faculty member, former President of Covenant Theological Seminary and retiring PCA Mission to the World Coordinator has been named the new…