Here in the days of COVID-19, with many churches are not yet able to gather, Christians are finding themselves increasingly adjusting to the isolation. After all, there are perks to being able to livestream a service and not have to leave the comfort of your home. Yet virtual relationships are hardly conducive to deep relationships. And podcasts and livestream services are no substitute for accountability and discipleship. As we need to be reminded again and again, this cannot be the new normal. Christians have always needed to be connected in meaningful relationships with other believers in the church. A good reminder of this is found in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.
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Owen's Encouragement for Tired Carers
One of my favourite things to do is care for other people. I love seeing a person’s face soften with relief when they realize someone else is looking out for them or sharing their burden, whether it’s a girl in our youth group struggling with a life issue, a library patron struggling with a research question, or an older family member struggling with a household task. I usually jump at the opportunity to help someone out, but once in a while I get tired.
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Is Self-Love a Sin? Owen on Sober Love of Self
Every so often I see inspirational quotes about loving yourself and witness some Christians opposing it and others agreeing with it. Is self-love merely a euphemism for selfishness, pride, and elitism? Or is it a part of the Christian’s calling to love?
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Guiding Principles for Writing a Paper on Women in Church History
When I began studying Puritan women, I felt overwhelmed. There was something different happening in the primary and secondary texts than what I was used to, even after years of studying historical theology and writing papers. Unfortunately, I hadn’t gleaned the type of information needed to analyze these issues from my previous classes, probably because it is the kind of thing that is mentioned by professors in passing or taught through example and is highly influenced by their areas of expertise. Yet, after making many mistakes, I finally began to understand the shape of historical studies on women and found that other students were coming across the same questions I had to work through. This led me to create a list of guiding principles for those writing their first paper on a woman in church history.
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The Tie That Binds: John Fawcett's Decision to Stay
We’ve heard this story before: A small church calls an inexperienced young man to serve as their pastor. The congregation patiently encourages him, bears with his immaturity, nurtures his gifts, sacrifices for his seminary education, and over time the young man grows into a capable minister. But one day, the church learns that the pastor has been called to a larger church for a bigger salary and greater influence. Before long, the small church is back to square one and the future is uncertain.
This is a story that has been told many times, in our day and throughout church history. As success-driven Westerners, it’s easy to admire pastors who leave small churches for wider spheres of influence. But is this the only model for a successful ministry? Why don’t we hear more stories of pastors who have chosen to remain in the small church for decades? For pastors who are contemplating a move, are there any examples of ones who stayed?
Let me introduce you to the story of John Fawcett.
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Expect Great Things. Attempt Great Things.
Sermons can have a powerful individual effect. It is under the hearing of these sermons that people are saved, instructed, and grow in their faith. People will leave the church building saying, “It’s like he was preaching to just me” or “ I needed to hear that today.” However, some sermons go beyond personal effect. Some have the power to move a denomination and, in turn, leave a lasting change in the world.
This is precisely what happened to the Particular Baptist denomination of England when Andrew Fuller and William Carey delivered two powerful sermons to their local association in the early 1790s. God used these two sermons, and these two men, to change the course of history and usher in what we now call the modern-missions movement.
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Encouragement from Church History for the Chronically Ill
Sickness has a way of muddling your brain; it can make you temporarily forget what you believe about God, creation, and yourself, making your suffering worse. In my own experience with chronic illness, I’ve found that it helps to collect small reminders about God’s person, providence, and presence so that on days when thinking is difficult due to fatigue and brain fog, I can read something short to set my mind straight. Many of the reminders I collect come from church history.
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Warning the Complacent and Comforting the Anxious: William Perkins on Faith and Assurance
William Perkins (1558-1602) was a prominent Reformed theologian in the final decades of Elizabeth’s reign. He can be rightly described as a ‘Puritan’, though he didn’t describe himself that way. A Puritan was essentially anyone who thought that Elizabeth’s official religious settlement (1559) ought to be one step in a process of ongoing reform. In contrast, Elizabeth herself stubbornly resisted any change to her church for her entire 44-year reign.
By the 1590s it was clear that Elizabeth’s church would not formally change anything. However, some reformers, such as William Perkins, believed that the solid Reformed theology of the existing religious settlement outweighed its shortcomings. More importantly, the most important reforms could take place within the existing church structure and theological confession. The most important reform is always the human heart.
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A Day of Rest or a Day of Stress? The Purpose of the Lord's Day
Until a couple of years ago, the terms “Sabbath” and “Lord’s Day” stressed me out. I would either hear them used to make me feel bad about eating lunch at a restaurant on Sundays, supposedly against the instruction of the Puritans who I loved, or used to denounce the legalistic Sabbatarianism of the Puritans. The former was from Reformed acquaintances I didn’t know very well and felt shunned by, the inheritors of Puritan theology. The latter came from Baptist friends who I trusted but now felt pressured by to criticize the Puritans on something I hadn’t studied yet . . . In the conversations I was hearing, the Sabbath or Lord’s Day connoted anything but rest.
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John Smyth: The Danger of Haste
John Smyth won fame from himself when he established the first English Baptist Church in 1608. Yet, few Baptists know of Smyth’s contribution to the Baptist faith because he undermined his own legacy, rapidly changing his theological convictions.
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Are You Schismatic? Examining Your Heart for the Sin of Schism
Schism is a scary, serious word. We often think of a schismatic as someone who has caused a split in a denomination over a hot topic issue or walked away from the church entirely, and these never include ourselves. But John Owen’s teaching on schism reminds us that schism can be much less dramatic than this and thus much easier to fall into without realizing it.
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Discipline Done for Love: Owen on the Loving Purpose of Church Discipline
No one enjoys conducting or receiving church discipline. At best, it’s awkward, and if there is no repentance, it can be devastating for individuals and families. The difficulty of addressing these situations can cause believers to shy away from initiating discipline. Yet, this must not stop believers from properly addressing sin in the church. One way to take back your courage is to remember that discipline is not an unloving thing to do, but the most loving thing to do, both for those who have sinned, and those who have been affected by their sin. In fact, there is such a close connection between discipline and love that John Owen lists love as a main purpose of discipline in his Inquiry Concerning Evangelical Churches.
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How to Measure Your Growth in Godliness: Thomas Goodwin on True and False Growth
One of the questions I always get asked about the Christian life is some variation of, “how do I know if I am growing in godliness?” Even if you are doing your best to pay attention to your spiritual growth, it can be difficult to measure because it is somewhat abstract. This is a common concern for all believers, both today and in centuries past. For Thomas Goodwin, it was so common that he decided to write a short case of conscience about it, titled “The Trial of a Christian Growth,” based on John 15:1-2.
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Girls, Body Image, and Theological Poetry: Lucy Hutchinson on the Beauty of the Human Body
Sometimes in an attempt to counter messages about self-esteem and body-shaming that ignore God we forget to acknowledge the beauty and goodness of the human body altogether. This kind of accidental Gnosticism can be especially harming for teenage girls who are constantly thinking about their bodies but are only taught two responses: one that makes them obsess even more about beauty by telling them to find meaning in themselves, and the other that makes them feel silly or sinful for struggling with body image in the first place but with no way to move forward other than trying to ignore their bad feelings and hope they go away.
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Lucy Hutchinson’s Theological Reflections on Motherhood
Years ago I worked as a full-time nanny for newborn twins during the first year of their lives. When I think back to this time, I remember being so tired and stressed and alone—not just because taking care of twins can be hard, but also because my anxiety and depression were starting to get worse at this time—and I wonder how much it would have helped to read quality resources on nurturing children. I’m not a mother myself, but so much of what I see seems too cliché to do justice to the deep and complex emotions and decisions involved in motherhood.
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“Love One Another”: Bunyan on Christian Behaviour in the Home, Workplace, and Community
In 1663 when Bunyan was cooped up in prison and expecting to be executed, he wrote a little conduct manual called Christian Behaviour. Though Bunyan’s fear of execution was based on a misunderstanding of the law, it was not unreasonable for him to be concerned for his well-being because the conditions in prison were horrible. If you were in the same situation, what would you write about?
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The Puritans for Today
This summer I had the privilege of taking Dr. Tom Schwanda’s class on Puritan Spirituality at Regent College. What struck me most about Dr. Schwanda was that it was obvious he really believed and practiced what he taught. Just like I’d never trust a hairdresser with bad hair and always pass by the makeup artists in the Bay with weird makeup, so am I suspicious of those who have a lot to say about the Christian life but don’t really seem like they’re striving to do it.
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Jeremiah Burroughs on Contentment
A couple of years ago at a conference in Vancouver, one of the speakers was asked in a Q&A session, “what are some of the greatest struggles facing North American Christians today?” I usually find these types of questions too broad or vague to be interesting, but because the speaker was my favourite theologian, J. I. Packer, my ears perked up.
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“The greatest honor…is to be like Jesus Christ, and to excel in charity”: Baxter’s List of Motivations and Practical Tips for Loving All People
In my previous article, I showed that the Puritans believed that loving all people was a hallmark of the Christian faith. Though some may be surprised that these summative and forceful statements came from the Puritans, many would not be surprised to hear that the greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor. However, actually doing this in real life is hard.
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Pascal, Anselm, and the State of Communicating Deep Ideas to an Unsuspecting Public
In this struggle, we see our own quest to relay history and theology to students in both classroom and pew. We must not evacuate all deep thoughts and become shallow. To this end, we must value the simple not the simplistic. Further, the most eloquent tidbit of knowledge is nothing if left sitting in the corner of our academic minds. As Anselm’s students knew, his ideas had immense value if they could be taken out, dusted off, and made to see the light of day. In the same way, the most priceless antique is failing to pursue its purpose if left wrapped in the attic. The best ideas must be given eloquent legs that allow them to walk beyond their speaker and indwell the lives of future generations.
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