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  • Sermon Follow Up, 1 Samuel 13-16

    1 Samuel 14:47ff might make it sound like Saul was a great warrior. And he did have a measure of success, obviously. But his ongoing wars have to be understood as a mixed blessing to Israel. V. 52 tells us he fought the Philistines “all his days.” The problem is that the never actually won. … Read more

  • Worship Exhortation, July 14, 2024 (and other notes) 

    Worship Exhortation, July 14, 2024 (and other notes) 

    This is a slightly expanded version of the opening exhortation given at TPC on July 14, the day after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump: Presidential candidate Donald Trump dodged a bullet yesterday, and that means our whole nation dodged a bullet yesterday. I think it’s fair to say that our nation was just a… Read more

  • Happy Presbyterian Rebellion Day (and other notes)

    Happy Presbyterian Rebellion Day (and other notes)

    I wanted to provide some follow up to my sermon from last Sunday. In the sermon, I developed the pattern of the three falls/three heroes in Genesis, then showed how Saul recapitulated the three falls in 1 Samuel 13-15. This is a pattern I learned from that master Bible teacher, Jim Jordan. Jim develops the… Read more

  • Baptismal Exhortation, June 2024

    Baptismal Exhortation, June 2024

    One thing conservative and Christian people do a lot these days is talk about how over several generations evil has progressed. It seems evil is growing stronger in our culture, year by year right now. Darkness is getting darker and covering more ground. Things that were once unthinkable and even illegal are now celebrated in… Read more

  • Progressives Will Not Make Very Much Progress, and Other Worldview Notes

    Progressives Will Not Make Very Much Progress, and Other Worldview Notes

    I was teaching a Bible study on Judges 9 the other night and it occurred to me just how relevant this chapter is to many of our current issues. (We will eventually get audio up on our website.) First, anyone who wants a so-called “strong man” to rule should pay close attention to the beginning… Read more

  • Odds and Ends, June 2024

    Odds and Ends, June 2024

    I wanted to give a little follow-up on my sermons on 1 Samuel 14 from the last couple of weeks: A few links I want to share: At some point, we will have conference video from the “Courageous Church, Hostile World” conference we held at TPC back in February. In the meantime, I wanted to… Read more