One hundred and seventy years ago the first sanctuary on this site was completed. The building which stands here today is a near replica of that first one, destroyed by fire in l889, and rebuilt in 1892. The question which I would like to pose for our consideration is this: why did those responsible for this edifice build as they did? Why is the architecture as it is? Are there reasons for the arr...  Read More

Marriage is a wonderful thing. Nearest thing to heaven, I think. This is why we find it difficult to imagine heaven without marriage (see Mt 22:23-33). The deepest, warmest, most passionate, and most enduring human love is marital love.Yet marriage is not heaven. A bad marriage can be more like the other place. Even good marriages require work, by which I mean, the good in them does not always com...  Read More

Sociologists are warning that parents are facing heretofore unprecedented challenges. Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School, has documented the challenges in his book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic of Mental Illness. He warns of a mental health crisis among youth due to the effects of social media and gaming. H...  Read More

The number that is bandied about is 50%. The average man has 50% greater brute strength than the average woman. She is a “weaker vessel,” as the Bible pointed out 2000 years ago (1 Pet. 3:7). Watch a WNBA game and observe the players struggle to get off the ground as they leap for the basket. Or go to an exercise facility and compare their lifts with men in the military or bench presses. The diffe...  Read More

It has been said (by me and others) that marriage is the most sanctifying of all relationships. Put together two sinners, saved sinners, redeemed sinners, and even sanctified sinners, and there will be trouble. The Taylor-Johnson temperament analysis test that Emily and I took before marriage resulted in flashing red lights for our counselor Howard Eyrich. The analysis predicted conflict between t...  Read More

The maternal instinct in our wives makes better men of us husbands. It pushes us to be moreconscientious as protectors and providers. It forces us to pay attention to the needs of wife and family. It punishes us when selfishly we neglect our duties and pursue our own narrow interests. Most of us are better men because we are married. Our wives’ maternal-driven demands have forced us to grow up, to...  Read More

Classical, Christian, and Covenantal Education...  Read More

Louise Perry, author of The Case Against the Sexual Revolution, a 30-something United Kingdom columnist, feminist, and host of a podcast with the title of this article, has written insightfully about the three stages of a woman’s life. Here is her analysis. A woman is first a maiden: young, single, at the peak of her physical beauty. To one degree or another she is admired and sought for her physi...  Read More

Women are not men and men are not women. We state the obvious for the sake of a civilization that no longer grasps the obvious, denies the obvious, and is at war with the obvious. God made us male and female (Gen 1:28). There are distinctive qualities of maleness not shared by femaleness, and distinctive qualities of femaleness not shared by maleness. What are they? The visible ones are physical. ...  Read More

As I progressed through my seminary education (ca. 1977-81), I began to notice an interesting phenomenon. As men became more reformed in their doctrine, they tended to become more demonstrative in the exercise of Christian liberty. This was particularly true of those who were reared in conservative Protestant traditions which tended to be careful or legalistic (depending upon your perspective) reg...  Read More

I am increasingly aware of a problem in marriage that no doubt has been an issue all through the centuries. It is a problem, however, that has been compounded by changing technology. Of what do I speak? The problem of married couples living under the same roof but living separate lives.Start with a couple that is allowing some emotional distance to grow between them. They are busy with the childre...  Read More

Dr. Johnson was a guest on the Jonathan Master podcast, Theology on the Go" discussing his recent publication, "Who Needs the Church". After listening, return to the bottom of the original article where you can win a free copy. See link at the bottom of this article.“I’m a Christian, but I don’t need a church. Nature is where I find God.” Whatever the stated reasoning, those who avoid church atten...  Read More