Baptism is the washing with water. Of course, different denominations practice different modes of baptism. As a Baptist, we practice baptism by immersion. But whatever denomination one might belong to, baptism always involves water. It is a washing with water that represents the spiritual washing in Christ. The waters of baptism do not literally wash …
Today is the official start of Advent, which we love to celebrate in our home. Now, I have already written a post about whether or not you should observe the liturgical calendar (Advent, Lent, etc.), and I also recently discussed it again in my sermon on Leviticus 23. You can read both of those to …
Continue reading How Our Family Celebrates Advent and Christmas
The catechism now turns from the disciplines of prayer and Scripture to the sacraments or, as we Baptists most commonly call them, the ordinances. These two practices, baptism and the Lord's Supper, were instituted by Christ Himself and given to His church as what Thomas Watson calls visible sermons that proclaim the gospel. They are …
Continue reading Question 43: What Are the Sacraments or Ordinances?
After addressing how we are to speak to God in prayer over the past four questions, the catechism now turns to the other chief spiritual disciplines: the intake of Scripture, hearing and reading the Word of God. Don Whitney rightly calls it Scripture intake because, while we often only think of reading the Bible, hearing …
Continue reading Question 42: How Is the Word of God to Be Read and Heard?
In the Great Commission, our Lord commanded us: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of …
Many Christians have the Lord's Prayer memorized, but few take the time to regularly meditate and prayer from it. Our familiarity can so easily become our peril. We cognitively know the prayer's contents, but has it entwined itself into our very DNA? When considering this most excellent of all prayers, we should note three things. …
Now that we have learned how to pray with reverence and confidence. Now comes the question: What should we pray? The answer rightly sets our sights upon the Scriptures: The whole Word of God directs and inspires us in what we should pray. Praying in accordance with God's will ought to be our supreme desire, …
Martin Luther once wrote of theological education, saying: And further, if I could bring it to pass among you I should like to ask that you do not neglect the languages but, since it would not be too difficult for you, that you have your preachers and some of your gifted boys learn Latin, Greek, …
Continue reading Resources I’m Using to Learn Biblical Hebrew
2024 was certainly something! If you have followed my writings here for some time, you may have noticed that my posts for the past several months have been fairly sparse. That has largely been for two reasons. First, broadly, life has weighed heavily (although not altogether negatively) upon our family. Inflation has greatly compounded the …
1. The Liberal Arts Tradition | Kevin Clark & Ravi Jain You will notice a decent number of education related books on this list. That is largely because I am haunted by the question how I can best use the next ten years to equip my seven-year-old for whatever the world looks like in 2035. The …
B. C. Newton 