There are few books that have profited me more – especially in moments of existential crises of faith – than Martin Luther’s Commentary on Galatians. It can be downloaded for free here if you have a Kindle or the app or the like. To whet your appetite: The world bearsContinue Reading
From an essay entitled “Hungering and thirsting after righteousness” by the late Princeton Seminary theologian Geerhardus Vos: The Sermon on the Mount is rightly accorded a chief place in the teaching of our Lord. It carries a weight of authority, sets an ethical standard, and reveals heights and depths ofContinue Reading
In Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 65 we confess: 65. Since, then, we are made partakers of Christ and all His benefits by faith only, where does this faith come from? The Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts1 by the preaching of the Holy Gospel,2 and confirms it by the useContinue Reading
Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend; That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new. I, like an usurp’d town to another due, Labor to admit you, butContinue Reading
In his essay entitled “Industrial or pastoral?: The Techniques of Church Growth,” church historian and elder DG Hart begins by asking the probing question: Can measurements of “customer satisfaction,” which have largely been borrowed from the industrial and mechanical world, be helpfully appied to something that is fundamentally organic andContinue Reading
One of the distinguishing marks of the Reformed tradition is its insistence that God’s law (commands) be carefully distinguished from his gospel (promise). The fundamental reason why there was a Protestant Reformation in the first place is because the Medieval Roman Catholic Church had confused or conflated the gospel withContinue Reading
One of the best books I have read on the subject of Christian and Reformed worship is D.G. Hart and John R. Muether’s With Reverence and Awe: Returning to the Basics of Reformed Worship. One of the insights that I find most valuable about this volume is the connection itContinue Reading
Reformed minister and church planter with the United Reformed Church, North America, Rev. Danny Hyde, shares in an essay a question that he often gets from visitors to his church: “Why is the worship in a Reformed church so different from the worship at almost every other church I haveContinue Reading
Pastor and President of Westminster Seminary, CA, Robert Godfrey, once wrote: One area in which the differences between evangelical and Reformed can be examined is the matter of worship. At first glance, we may see more similarities than differences. The orders of worship in Reformed and evangelical churches can beContinue Reading
So, I am engaging in a business transaction in the Cape Town market today and find myself befuddled… Why is it that I must extend grace to a service provider that repeatedly fails to complete the job I have paid for and then pleads for a (false-)positive performance evaluation? ForContinue Reading
Reformed Church Southern Suburbs 2025