2023 was a fun year. Our third daughter was born in April, and I preached through Hebrews in less than a year. Both have been inexpressible blessings, yet the Lord has used both to set my hip out of joint, leaving me with a metaphorical limp to remember this year’s wrestlings. I do have a …
1. Providence | John Piper Although I began reading this behemoth of a book last year, I completed it this year. But really the content, more than the page-count, demands that this book be read carefully and prayerfully. Piper tackles deep theological matters with the heart and skill of someone seasoned by decades of pastoral …
Given how topsy-turvy is our society’s understanding of marriage and sexuality, I very nearly preached a standalone sermon on Hebrews 13:4: "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous." Yet since I intend to teach through Christopher Gordon's excellent …
Brian Sauve's most recent album, Hearth Songs, has been my life's soundtrack for the past several weeks. I still get teary-eyed when thinking about my own wife while hearing: Oh she's awesome as a mighty host.She's an army with its banners flown.Now who is this who shines forth as the dawn,clear as the moon and …
With the season of Advent quickly approaching, I will be giving away two Advent devotionals. The first is my own, and the second is Jonathan Gibson's Advent follow-up to Be Thou My Vision called O Come, O Come Emmanuel, which I am overjoyed to be using this year here at the Newton household! All you …
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, …
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:16 ESV With preaching through the entire Epistle to the Hebrews, my thoughts for sermon-text divisions has been to choose large chunks …
Continue reading Not Ashamed to Be Called Their God | Hebrews 11:16
A few weeks ago, my wife reminded me of an experience early in our marriage that set the stage for my love of catechisms. We were speaking with a husband and wife who were Jehovah's Witness in our home, and the wife shared her testimony of why she left her Methodist upbringing to join the …
School kicked back into session this past week. After thinking through education options, Tiff and I became convinced that the classical Christian approach would be worth trying, and for going on three years, Classical Conversations has been making that hope into a reality. While the task of homeschooling is daunting, we keep ourselves grounded with …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6XoEFi2sI1jxPMsTH2vL8Q?si=M7SLbjX7TZWPM-4v4ARpKQ A couple of months ago, for no particular reason, I grabbed my copy of Tolkien's translation of Beowulf off the shelf and began to read. Having only read bit of Beowulf in high school, I only remembered that Beowulf fights a monster named Grendel and a dragon. While I have since learned that, though …
B. C. Newton 