The Malawi Files - 2022
Hi all. The schedule is in reverse order, so that the most current updates will be nearest the top. We will be adding news and updates as the days go by. Please use this as a prayer guide. All dates and events are “if th...
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View all topicsThe Malawi Files - 2021
Hi all. The schedule is in reverse order, so that the most current updates will be nearest the top. We will be adding news and updates as the days go by. Please use this as a prayer guide. All dates are Lord willing (Pro...
Starving Your Soul or Treasuring God as Supreme
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, In his book "Old Paths," J.C. Ryle describes three ways a person can ruin his or her soul, this being the third: "For another thing, you may starve your soul to death by triflin...
"God loves these people!"
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, Though known as "the Prince of Preachers," Charles Spurgeon would famously say to himself "I believe in the Holy Spirit" as he mounted each step into the pulpit of Metropolitan ...
Heaped Upon
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, As we embark on the final chapters of John, on Sunday I said I would be framing each sermon between now and the crucifixion of Jesus with 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For He [God the Fa...
M'Cheyne to Fellow Pastors
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, The biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Scottish pastor, 1813-1843, by Andrew Bonar, begins with a biography of his life, and then includes many of his letters and some of his ...
Then Why Study?
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, I am finishing up "The Passionate Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones" by Steve Lawson, and Lawson addresses the relationship between the essential help of the Holy Spirit in preach...
The Family Life of an Elder
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, In March 2018, the NCFIC hosted a conference in Montgomery, AL, where I gave a message entitled "The Family Life of an Elder". I try not to be star-struck, but this was a thrill...
What We Are in General
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, We are now in John 17 in our study of the Gospel of John. Martyn Lloyd-Jones has written a very profitable book on this chapter, a compilation of his sermons on it, and in one o...
What's So Heavenly About Heaven?
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, A friend and I are reading John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" together, and finding it very worthwhile. Check out this exchange between the characters Prudence and Christian...
God's Merciful Appointment
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, The NCFIC has published a great copy of the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, and in the preface of Chapter 22, "Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day," this phenomen...
What Exactly Is the Bible, and Why Does that Matter?
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, I am reading an interesting little book on the preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, arguable the most prominent English-speaking preacher of the last century. In it, he is quoted on...
The Day of Divine Moral Scrutiny
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, A few weeks ago, Hensworth Jonas preached three wonderful messages on holiness at Hope Baptist Church. Here is what he said about that great Day when God will judge the living a...
A Paul Washer Insight on Modern Evangelicals
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, Continuing on the theme of modern Evangelicalism, I came across this insight from Paul Washer while reading his third and final book in his “Recovering the Gospel” series, “Gosp...
A Comparison of Evangelicals
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, So far, I have posted: - An introduction, in which I stated the premise that the term "Evangelical" has become increasingly meaningless. - A baseline, providing J.C. Ryle's defi...
A Definition of "Evangelical" by J.C. Ryle
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, If you want the full version - which is the best version - you can read it here. But if you aren't ready to invest that amount of time at the moment, here is a summary of how J....
Evangelical: a Bygone Definition
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, What do I mean by "a bygone definition"? That what "evangelical" means today is very different than what it meant more than a century ago. To make the point, I offer the first c...
Evangelical: an Increasingly Meaningless Term
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, A generation or more ago, the term "evangelical" was a highly significant and meaningful term. Today it means little more than "not-Catholic-and-also-not-mainline Protestant," w...
Prophets Exiled, Spiritual Life Coaches Raised Up
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, I have been posting a few quotes from Paul Washer’s “Gospel Assurance & Warnings,” and here is a very hard-hitting one: "...we live in the midst of a twisted romanticism where p...
Perseverance, or Better, Preservation
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, Another nugget of gold from Paul Washer’s “Gospel Assurance & Warnings”: "The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is not a license for sin or a means of giving false assu...
Smitten with God
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, A brother and I are reading Paul Washer's "Gospel Assurance & Warnings" together, which is essentially a great exposition of the marks of a true Christian from 1 John. Here is a...
Christian Friends, Holding the Rope
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, We are handing out a short book - "The Missionary Fellowship of William Carey" - to every family. It is timely, since it involves a group of Christian friends who bonded themsel...
False Hopes
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, I have been reading J.C. Ryle's "Old Paths" with some young men in the church, and this week we read Chapter 4, titled "Our Hope." In it, Ryle gives five marks of a well-founded...
A Husband's Love for His Wife
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, This is a fantastic message Jeff Pollard delivered at a recent marriage conference sponsored by the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches (NCFIC). The original linked M...
The Question of Questions
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, From J.C. Ryle's book, "Holiness," Chapter 18, titled "Unsearchable Riches": "Last of all, what do you think of Christ himself? Is he great or little in your eyes? Does he come ...
The Righteous Appeal
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, In last week's sermon, the following was quoted from Matthew Henry in relation to Queen Esther's appeal to the king in Esther 8: "Even when we have the utmost reason and justice...
June Outreaches
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, We are hosting outreaches in the Griffin's parking lot on three consecutive nights: - Thursday, June 22, 7:30-8:30 p.m. - Friday, June 23, 7:30-8:30 p.m. - Saturday, June 24, , ...
The Ruby Rule
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, I want to coin a new term: "The Ruby Rule". And what is The Ruby Rule? It is a rule for Christian husbands. Everyone knows The Golden Rule. Our Moms taught it to most of us as s...
Malawi Updates
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, One week from today - Monday, September 5 - Jason Dohm and Michael Templeton will be leaving for Malawi, Africa. Here is the schedule, as best as we know it at present, and here...
Getting Started with Family Worship
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, I occasionally field an inquiry from a father with young children about getting started with family worship. Here are some thoughts that I invariably pass along. - Starting now ...
The Gross and Muddy Pleasures of Sense
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, The old writers can be difficult to read, but even so they make use of language in ways virtually unknown to the last few centuries. The unusual word choices drive the meaning h...
Aristocrats in Our Own Righteousness
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, Aristocrat: a member of elegant nobility. With that definition in mind, consider this quote from Charles Spurgeon. “We are all aristocrats in our own righteousness; we do not li...
Practical Atheism
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, A request that I made in the introduction to my sermon on Psalm 5 this past Sunday was this: Keep in mind the term "practical atheism". Atheism, of course, is the denial of the ...
Never Means Never
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, In late July, 2013, I (Jason) authored a post titled “That Will Never Be Marriage,” chronicling the breathtaking speed of change with regards to homosexual marriage and bringing...
Introduction
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends, This blog exists primarily as a way to get what we hope will be timely, encouraging content into the hands (and hearts and minds) of our local church. To whatever extent these t...