The Riddleblog

A Very Blessed, Happy, and Prosperous New Year to You All

A Prayer for New Year’s Eve (The Year’s End)

Almighty and most gracious God, as we close the year with this day, we thank You for all Your tender mercies bestowed upon us during the whole course of our lives, and especially during this past year. Accept our thanksgivings for all Your blessings; fill our hearts with humility and love, with gratitude and trust. [Specific thanksgiving may be offered.]

For all these blessings we offer to You the sacrifice of our praises, and we acknowledge that through Your great goodness and help we are enabled to live our lives in peace, even though we have offended You in countless ways. O merciful God, pardon all who sincerely repent of their sins. Grant that, while our years are passing away, we may work out our salvation with fear and trembling in the time You give to us.

Enable us to press onward, always towards the end of our heavenly calling, even that blessed eternity, which Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Lord, has prepared for us. Amen.

New Year’s Day

Eternal and almighty God, we humble ourselves in Your presence to dedicate to You the beginning of this year by adoration, prayer, and praise.

We come before Your Supreme Majesty and acknowledge with gratitude the manifold blessings which You have freely bestowed upon us through the whole course of our lives. We thank You that, having preserved us to the present time, You have permitted us to enter upon a new year. You have not ceased, O most gracious God, to give to us the abundance of Your loving-kindness.

But You have especially sustained us with every spiritual blessing by keeping in our midst the light of Your gospel. You have granted us repentance through Your mighty help, through Your great goodness, and through the warnings of Your Word and Spirit, and have mercifully given to us favorable opportunities to grow in grace. Despite our unworthiness, for the love of Jesus Christ, take not away from us Your protection and favor.

Moved by Your grace, we devote ourselves to You at the beginning of this year, desiring to employ it better than we have done in the years that are past. And since this day also warns us that our years pass away like a flood, like a dream, give us grace that we may seriously number our days, that we may have a heart of wisdom, that we may discern the vanity of this life, and that we may aspire to that better life, when days and months and years shall be counted no more, forever.

While we continue in the flesh, may we more and more live, not according to its desires, but according to Your will. And grant, O God, that when our years shall come to an end, and the day of our death arrives, we may depart in the peace that passes all understanding and in the sure hope of life everlasting.

Favorably hear us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

From the Liturgical Forms and Prayer of the URCNA

Riddleblog Publication, History and CultureKim RiddlebargerDecember 31, 2025Happy New Year!Comment

“Jesus — The Lord of History” Some Thoughts in Anticipation of the New Year (Ephesians 1:3-14)

The New Year — A Time of New Beginnings?

In the minds of many Americans, New Year’s Day is an occasion for parades and college football—until NIL and CFP ruined the latter. But the first day of the New Year is also a time of new beginnings. It is the first day of 2026 after all. As we enter a new year, it is customary to look back and reflect upon all the significant events of the past year. Various media outlets have spent much of the past week recounting the names and faces of those influential figures and celebrities who died in 2025. Christians lost a number of faithful saints as well. I am always amazed at how many of these people are already largely forgotten within a year of their death. It is a stark reminder that life is fleeting—we are but vapors after all (cf. James 4:14). The calendar keeps rolling on.

And then there are the poignant reminders of significant events of the past year including a host of human tragedies, natural disasters, and significant geopolitical events–including wars, and rumors of wars. But looking back is not all we associate with the new year. As is the custom, we are challenged to make a series of New Year’s resolutions about what we will do better next year or not do, as the case may be. Such resolutions too are but vapors which do not last. Nevertheless, this combination of things makes New Year’s a great time to consider the events of the recent past, as well as the nature of our hope for the future. In fact, this has been the historic practice of Reformed churches. Article 37 of the URCNA Church Order lists New Year’s Day (along with New Year’s Eve, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, and Ascension Day) as occasions when the consistory may call the congregation together for worship.

Too Many Think Like Henry Ford

As with most things, the Christian take on the events of the past and our expectations for the future stands in sharp contrast to that of non-Christians around us. One place where the contrast between Christian and non-Christian thinking is most striking is in how we as Christians view the importance of history. Most Americans, I think, would agree with Henry Ford (the founder of the automotive company which still bears his name) who is widely quoted to have said, “history is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s ____ is the history we make today.”

If Ford is right, then the past is unimportant and irrelevant. What is important is the present, the here and the now. As a very pragmatic man and quintessential American, this makes perfect sense coming from someone like Henry Ford. Although he died in 1947, Ford’s sentiments still reflect the thinking of many of our contemporaries. This glib dismissal of everything which has gone before helps to explain why many Americans have little regard for tradition and institutions, why everything in this culture must be new and improved, and why so much of American life caters to those who demand instant gratification.

This is surely one reasons why so many of our contemporaries want little to do with serious thought or careful reflection. This anti-historical sentiment is reflected throughout American evangelicalism as well. People who think like Henry Ford will be much more interested in the local mega church with its garage band worship and all the bells and whistles than they will in a confessional Reformed or Presbyterian church. And from the usual comparative size of the these two types of congregations, it is obvious that very many of our contemporaries think like Henry Ford.

History Has No Goal or Purpose? Really?

This thoroughly pragmatic and utilitarian view of the world–all that matters is what works or what is useful–is also apparent when Ford reportedly defined history as “the succession of one ____ thing after another.” History has no goal or purpose. All that matters is the present. But this is where we as Reformed Christians must disagree. Why? Because Christianity is a religion necessarily grounded in history. We base everything we believe about the here and now in light of several very specific things which occurred in the past. As Christians, we see the present as but part of the larger story of redemption. We don’t believe that history is bunk, or the mere succession of one random thing after another. We believe history to be the outworking in time and space of God’s eternal decree–his eternal plan for the ages. Whatever happens in human history is part of God’s purpose, no matter how difficult this is to see in the midst of trial and tribulation.

Therefore, it is vital that we grasp the notion that history is the outworking of the will of God in our world because this is what gives everything that happens—good or bad—meaning and purpose. The events we recall from the past year are not simply random or disconnected events, one after the other. Rather, in these things we witness God working all things according to his will and purpose. He will bring all things to their divinely appointed ends—the telos. This is why “right now counts forever” as one famous Reformed thinker (R. C. Sproul) liked to remind us.

To read the rest, follow the link below

Biblical Theology, History and Culture, Riddleblog PublicationKim RiddlebargerDecember 29, 2025The New YearComment

A Very Blessed Christmas to You and Yours!

Merciful Father, You so loved the world that You gave Your only begotten Son.

He who was rich became poor for us, the eternal Word made flesh, a great Light shining in the darkness.

Only because of Your Word and Spirit have we seen that Light and been drawn into its brightness.

Give us the grace humbly and joyfully to receive Your Son, even as the shepherds and princes who welcomed Him, and to look no further for our redemption than to this child lying in a manger.

This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

From Liturgical Forms and Prayers of the URCNA

Well-worth considering—B. B. Warfield on the celebration of Christmas (redux)

“My Father Assigned to Me a Kingdom”- An Advent Sermon (From Daniel 7 and Luke 22:24–30)

The Great Christmas Hymns—Why We Love Them

You are no doubt familiar with the well-known hymn, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” which includes the phrase in the first stanza and again in the refrain, “glory to the new born king.” Many of us know these words from memory. We sing about a coming king with great gusto and emotion. But what do these words truly mean? What exactly is implied when we sing of Jesus as this newborn king, yet who is to be received by all the earth? How can we speak of that ruby-cheeked babe in a manger scene as the King of kings and Lord of Lords?

Christmas in America—Tough for Christians to Navigate

Christmas is a surprisingly difficult time to be a Christian in America, because Christmas as traditionally understood–the celebration of the birth of Jesus–has been transformed into a secularized shopping event known simply as “The Holidays.” During the four Sundays before Christmas (Advent) many Christians use each of these Lord’s Days in sequence to focus upon one aspect of the coming of the Savior on that first Christmas. Advent is intended to be an annual reminder of who Jesus is and what he has come to do for us. The very fact that a Savior must come to earth to save us from the guilt of our sins forces us to consider the reality that we are sinners in need of a savior. This is but one reason why the Christmas story is so compelling. The German Reformer Martin Luther’s best sermons were arguably his Christmas sermons. This story stirred many a Christian heart to compose the great music and hymns packed with rich theological content, which we love to sing when Advent comes each year.

Since the transformation of Advent into the secular gift-giving season, the traditional focus upon the birth of Jesus is almost completely lost. Given this continual barrage of a secularized “happy holidays” replete with a now svelte Santa and his reindeer, it is easy to reduce Christmas to a sort of “birthday party” for Jesus. The justification for the giving of gifts is tied to the imitation of the wise men from the east who brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Because these changes to the biblical Christmas story can be so subtle, and distort the biblical account of Christ’s birth so badly, this is but one of the reasons why the Puritan side of the Reformed tradition views the very idea of Christmas/Advent with an understandable suspicion

Biblical Events, Biblical Theology, Riddleblog PublicationKim RiddlebargerDecember 23, 2025Advent from Dan 7Comment

A Pastor's Secret Fears

It should not come as a surprise that when pastors get together (at denominational meetings, joint services, or conferences) we talk shop. The usual topics are the three “Bs” — buildings, bodies, and budgets— along with discussions about the latest doctrinal controversy, who is teaching what, and current cultural and political trends which impact church life for good or ill. Since so much of what ministers do is intangible, it makes sense that we would look for ways to evaluate how our particular part of Christ’s vineyard is performing. One of the ways to do this is to compare numbers and talk about trends. Motives here are mixed, of course, but much of this is merely routine chit-chat and part of catching up with other friends in the ministry.

I was ordained in 1988 and have spent much time around other ministers in the years since. What follows (offered in a spirit of informative good humor) are things ministers admit to worrying and fretting about while chatting with their fellows. We tend to keep this stuff to ourselves, but truth be told, most of us have dealt with these fears, worries, and frustrations at one time or another.

So see these “secret” fears, follow the link below

Just having some fun, Riddleblog PublicationKim RiddlebargerNovember 28, 2025A Pastor's fearsComment

May You All Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

A Thanksgiving Prayer (from the URCNA’s Forms and Prayers):

Our Sovereign God, who created all things for your pleasure and who gives to all life, breath, and every good thing, we praise you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life. For rain and sunshine, in abundance and in lack, we acknowledge that our times are in your hands. You supply all of your creatures with your good gifts: the just and the unjust alike. Nevertheless, we especially give you praise for the surpassing greatness of your saving grace that you have shown to us in Christ Jesus our Savior. For our election in him before the foundation of the world; for our redemption by him in his life, death, and resurrection; for our effectual calling, justification, sanctification, and all of the blessings of our union with him, we give you our heartfelt thanks. And we look with great anticipation toward that day when you will raise us to life everlasting, glorified and confirmed in righteousness, so that we may sing your praises without the defilement of our present weaknesses, distractions, and sins. As you have served us with these gifts, we ask that you would give us grateful hearts so that through us you may serve our neighbors. In the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, Amen.

There is so much for which to be thankful! May you and yours have a very blessed Thanksgiving!

Current Events, Riddleblog PublicationKim RiddlebargerNovember 26, 2025Happy Thanksgiving!Comment

“Shall Christ Be King of the Nation?” Ask My Great, Great, Grandmother

My longstanding interest in family history has been a rewarding and interesting endeavor. As genealogists often quip, “if you shake the family tree hard enough, the nuts will fall to the ground.” Yes, there are a few “nuts” in my family lineage (Rufus Riddlesbarger— tax dodger, inventor of birth-control devices, all around scoundrel), and a murderer (Raymond Bernard Finch), whose notorious crime and trial in 1960-1961 became the basis for a Perry Mason episode. There are also several notables including a US Senator (Harrison Holt Riddlebarger). But I get that a post like this could quickly turn out to be the equivalent of watching someone else’s family home movies. I’ll spare you.

There is one direct ancestor on my maternal line whose story may be worth consideration. My great, great, grandmother, Jenny Bland Beauchamp [hereafter JBB] (1833-1914), was a Baptist preacher’s wife, and an author (she wrote a book on Christ’s second advent, Our Coming King in 1895, as well as an earlier book, a polemic against the Church of Christ, Maplehurst; or Campbellism not Christianity in 1867). She was a prominent prohibitionist and activist in Denton, TX. The entry about her in the on-line Handbook of Texas is remarkable. By all accounts, she was a force with which to be reckoned.

If you live in a current or former dry county in Texas, you have her to thank. According to the Handbook of Texas History,

During the final year of her presidency, Mrs. Beauchamp traveled more than 5,000 miles lecturing and organizing for temperance; by the close of her administration Texas had 1,600 WCTU members, organized into about 100 local unions. Jenny Beauchamp was elected to a fifth presidential term in 1888 but declined to serve because of ill health. Like her husband [Rev. Sylvester A. Beauchamp], she was also an active worker in the state prohibition movement in the 1880s.

What brought her to my recent attention is the current debate over Christian Nationalism. Her essay in the Union Signal of February 6, 1890, wrestled with the question “Shall Christ be King of the Nation?” and provoked a snarky critical review in the Freedom Sentinel penned under the initials A.T. J.

JBB opens with the question, “Shall Christ Be King of the Nation?” She affirms that “every loyal Christian heart must answer this question in the affirmative,” which she qualifies with a follow-up question. “But in what sense will Christ be King of the Nation?” Her explanation affirms the complexity of the question as well as that of her proposed answer.

To read the rest, follow the link below

"Liberation of the Will" -- My New Tabletalk Essay

My piece on the liberation of the will, is published in the October 2025 Tabletalk magazine.

If you don’t already subscribe, I highly recommend it.

Our Current Political Turmoil -- The Cause and a Cure

Yuval Levin’s American Covenant is an important and timely book. If you are wondering what is wrong with American politics and our government’s ongoing failure to address and attempt to solve pressing political and societal issues, Levin has your answer—our Congress is failing to fulfill its proper function according to the Constitution. Once that domino falls, so too come the downstream consequences which seriously impact both the executive office (Congress has ceded far too much power to the President—hence the constant stream of executive orders) and the judicial branch of government (the federal courts and the Supreme Court) has far too often become a determinative body in disputes over legislative matters which should be addressed and debated in the Congress, but which are not.

Levin calls our attention to something quite easy to overlook but vital to understand. The Constitution was never designed to secure complete national unity and full agreement of the citizens. The Constitution was intended to give America a political framework from which to work through our inevitable disagreements by forcing elected officials (Congress) to negotiate over legislation and then compromise to get such legislation enacted. As Levin puts it, “a more unified society would not disagree less, but would disagree better” (3.)

Levin’s purpose statement is clear and capably unpacked in subsequent chapters. He writes,

I begin from the premises that the self-evident truths to which our country has been often imperfectly dedicated from the start remain as true as ever; that the Constitution has enabled us to work toward governing ourselves accordingly (and increasingly so in some important respects) and that the hard work involved in its preservation, improvement, and repair is, therefore, worth our best efforts (8-9).

The Constitution provides the framework for a renewal of public life since it is the supreme legal authority of the land, providing our nation with a rule of law. It provides the means by which our government can address pressing problems through enacting legislation, not by moralizing, pontificating, and social media peacocking.

To read the rest, follow the link below

Preaching and Biblical Theology

Lecture Three–Preaching and Biblical Theology

In our third and final lecture, I will discuss the benefit of placing the “box-top” of redemptive history before a congregation in order to provide the “big picture” categories needed to interpret the Bible correctly. Teaching these big picture categories to our hearers will better enable them to resist the pull toward the subjective turn associated with contemporary American spirituality, a turn which renders the Bible irrelevant, pulls biblical passages out of context, or which understands the Bible as something other than revelation from God. Reading and understanding the Bible through the lens of a well thought-out biblical theology goes a long way toward helping us draw proper conclusions about what the kind of book the Bible is, as well as guiding us to the proper application we ought to draw from those doctrinal dots we have connected together.

The Panorama of Redemptive History

Building upon the previous lectures, I will focus upon an interpretive framework developed along the lines Dr. Michael Horton describes as the internal architecture of Scripture–God’s covenants.[1] God’s story as revealed in his word is tied to specific historical events which make up that story. As such, this story is true and comes to us in words and sentences with subjects, verbs, and objects, thereby summoning us to listen and look outside ourselves, not turn within. Telling God’s story challenges all personal and subjective mythologies, and is actually far more interesting than anything we can dream up.

The panorama of the redemptive drama flows out of this covenant history taking us from the moment of creation, to Eden, to Adam’s creation and fall, to the person and work of a second Adam, Jesus, including his death, resurrection, and ascension, to a new creation when our fallen universe becomes the home of everlasting righteousness. This panoramic view provides the “big picture categories” (the box-top of a many-pieced puzzle), the importance of which we will discuss in the balance of our time.

As we turn to the relationship between preaching and biblical theology, again, we are reminded of the connection between the facts of God’s redemptive word and deeds and essential Christian doctrines connected to them. The father of Reformed biblical theology, Geerhardus Vos, writes,

If we can show that revealed religion is inseparably linked to a system of supernatural historical facts at its culminating epoch in Christ–as we think can be done, we can see that the faith of the Apostles and the faith of the Apostolic Church revolved around the great redemptive facts in which they found the interpretation of the inner meaning of the Savior’s life. To the earliest Christian consciousness doctrine and fact were wedded at the outset.[2]

The key event in the Bible–Jesus’s messianic mission–takes place in a specific context, one foretold throughout the Old Testament in the words of Moses and the prophets. Promise becomes fulfillment because God’s self-revelation is inseparable from historical events. There is a definite and discernible progress in the biblical narrative toward a final and ultimate goal–the renewal of the cosmos and the redemption of God’s people.

In our first lecture I addressed the importance of preaching apologetically–grounding our preaching in the fact that Christianity is at its heart a truth claim, a claim tied to specific historical events. When looking at the box-top we see a succession of such events–the period before and after Noah, the age of the patriarchs, the Exodus, the Conquest, the exile and return, Christ’s life and messianic mission, his death and resurrection, Pentecost, and the Ascension, all pointing ahead to our Lord’s return and the final consummation.

In our second lecture, we discussed the importance of preaching from the biblical text through the lens of a system of theology. This enables us to lay out the dots, so to speak, and then connect them for those in our congregations who otherwise might not make the connections. A biblically based systematic theology provides the proper theological categories through which to understand the Bible as the revelation of God’s story in history. Doing so exposes the futility of the turn toward subjective and self-referential epistemologies typical of contemporary American spirituality. Pushing our hearers to consider “what God said and did” is a powerful antidote to focusing upon subjective “feelings,” self-justifying opinions or that misguided question we hear far too often, “what does this verse mean to you?”

The “Big Picture” Categories

In this lecture, we continue to consider “big picture categories,” but this time from the perspective of their historical development in Scripture (the historica salutis). We are looking at categories as they develop throughout the course of redemptive history (a line) not topically as in systematic theology (a circle). We already know many of the proof-tests for our doctrines, so the challenge is to look to see how these doctrines extend throughout the whole of Scripture and which challenge those who have taken the subjective turn.

To read the rest, follow the link below

Preaching and Apologetics

This is an edited version of my den Dulk Lectures given at Westminster Seminary California in April, 2021. The content of the lecture has been edited for publication here.

Preaching and Apologetics

“Like A Lion”

You may have heard the quip from the ever-quotable Charles Spurgeon: “The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.”[1] There is much truth in Spurgeon’s comment. The pulpit is not the place from which to prove to your hearers that the Bible is the Word of God. The preacher’s job is to let the lion loose.

Before we proceed further let me briefly address the debate over apologetic method within the Reformed tradition and its impact upon my topic. I am of the opinion that B. B. Warfield was correct when contending that apologetics is a distinct theological discipline which belongs in theological prolegomena (the preparation for the doing of theology). This is contrary to the opinion of Abraham Kuyper and Cornelius Van Til who both understood apologetics to be a subset of theology proper.

But Warfield did contend that the theologian (or the pastor in the pulpit) must assume the truth of God’s Word because, presumably, the apologist has already done their work and passed along to the minister the Bible as the authoritative Word of God. Despite a disagreement about where apologetics belongs in the theological encyclopedia, Warfield, Kuyper, and Van Til were in full agreement about one thing–the minister enters the pulpit assuming that he’s about to let the lion loose and no defense of the Bible is needed — hence Spurgeon’s vivid metaphor. There is no disagreement between Reformed evidentialists and presuppositionalists on this point.

When I speak of the relationship between preaching and apologetics I too am affirming that it is not the duty of the pastor to use the pulpit to convince a congregation that the Bible is the Word of God. That discussion can and should be done in catechesis, Bible study, or in venues such as conferences or other forms of focused apologetics training. The minister preaches God’s word assuming every word in the Bible is true because that word was breathed forth by the Holy Spirit through the agency of human authors (2 Timothy 3:16).

Christianity Is a Truth Claim

Therefore, when I speak of preaching “apologetically,” I do not mean trying to convince people that the Bible is the word of God. What I do mean is preaching to a congregation in such a way as to show forth the lion’s huge fangs and sharp claws when the biblical text requires it. Preaching apologetically entails two points which I will raise to reinforce my thesis. The first point is that Christianity at its heart is a truth claim. When Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” his words echo YHWH’s declaration in Isaiah 43:11, “I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.” Jesus is telling his disciples, among other things, that he is God in human flesh, that he is truth incarnate, and that salvation from the guilt and power of sin is found in no one else. Jesus declares himself to be the source and author of life. This is a truth claim. If that which Jesus says of himself is true, then necessarily all other religions and religious claims are false. There cannot be two ways, two truths, or two methods of finding life eternal.

To read the rest, follow the link below

The Release of the JFK Files, Conspiracy Theories, and the “Deep State”

My Interest in the Kennedy Assassination

I was nine years old on Friday, November 22, 1963. I was in class with my chums at the local elementary school when our winded and red-faced principal rushed in and pulled the teacher aside. When he whispered in her ear, she turned ashen. What had happened? The principal hurried out, and soon returned with a huge, clunky TV and awkwardly rolled it to the front of the class. By the time the TV was on and the antenna properly adjusted, Walter Cronkite had just announced that JFK died in Dallas from an assassin’s bullet. Our teacher huddled outside the classroom with the principal and other teachers—many of whom were openly crying. The sight of teachers crying was a shock to elementary school kids. The school’s parking lot and the curb along the street were filling up with distraught parents arriving to pick up their confused and frightened children. My parents both were at work (they ran our family business), but the school was close to home so I quickly made my way there and turned on the TV. I’ve always been a news junky—even at age nine.

Not long after, my dad arrived and I was completely taken aback by his reaction. The Riddlebargers did not like, nor support the Kennedys. The Kennedys were Roman Catholic and democrats. My dad had a comedy record mocking Jackie Kennedy’s famous 1961 tour of the White House—he played it frequently and laughed uproariously. I didn’t know what to expect since the President was usually the object of criticism and scorn in our house. How would my dad feel about all of this? He had been an FBI agent during World War Two, and was a Nixon fan, more so after Nixon lost the 1960 presidential election to JFK. Nixon was a local boy and very supportive of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI.

My dad was very calm and stoic by nature, but when he came through the door, he too was red-faced and alarmed by what had happened. He was appalled that JFK’s security had failed. He worried about foreign involvement and the possibility that this might lead to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. To my surprise, I noticed his eyes welling up with tears as he blurted out, “no one has the right to take the life of our president.” And so the Riddlebargers grieved JFK’s death like most Americans. The TV was on constantly that weekend and we watched it all unfold in real time. I had not seen my parents react like this before—with such sadness and concern for the Kennedy family. That made a huge impression on me. This was a national and not a partisan trauma.

To Read the Rest, Follow the Link Below

My Article, "The Whole Counsel of God" -- Featured in this Month's Tabletalk

The good folks at Ligonier are featuring my article, “The Whole Counsel of God,” in this month’s Tabletalk.

According to Luke’s account of Paul’s third missionary journey (Acts 18:23–21:16), Paul arrived in Ephesus in the spring of AD 52. Paul’s three-year ministry in the city bore much fruit. Luke informs us that the word of the Lord was increasing and many people were coming to faith in Jesus Christ (19:20). But the increasing number of Christians in the city also created “no little disturbance” among the city’s merchants (19:23), leading to the riot described in Acts 19:21–41.
Paul soon left Ephesus for Macedonia to meet with the churches that had been founded during his second missionary journey, returning to Asia Minor by way of Miletus, a seaport near Ephesus (20:17). Knowing that he would eventually go on to Jerusalem, Paul summoned the elders from Ephesus to meet with him in Miletus to say goodbye to those men with whom he had labored in ministry for several years and from whom he had to depart.

You can read the article here: The Whole Counsel of God

Reformed Resources, Riddleblog PublicationKim RiddlebargerOctober 3, 2024Tabletalk, The Whole Counsel of GodComment

The Legacy of John Warwick Montgomery (1931-2024)

Above — Dr. Montgomery as a Guest on the White Horse Inn (2007)

Dr. John Warwick Montgomery died in Christ on Thursday, September 25, from various complications associated with old age. He was 92. Dr. Montgomery had a huge impact on me, and I look back on my time with him as the major turning point in my life and career.

The first time I heard the name John Warwick Montgomery was when a salesman from Bethany Fellowship Publishers told me about Montgomery’s books on apologetics. He suggested that we carry them in our Christian bookstore. I did, I read them, and found them to be far superior to other Christian apologists I had been reading (i.e., Josh McDowell). When Walter Martin announced on his popular Bible Answer Man radio program (broadcast live on Saturday nights in the early 1980s) that he would be teaching at a new law school to be opened in Orange County by Dr. Montgomery, The Simon Greenleaf School of Law (SGSL)[1], I was one of the first to sign up. The school was named for the famed American jurist, who had written a masterful case for Christ’s resurrection marshaling evidence along the lines of a legal argument in a court of law—The Testimony of the Evangelists. Both A. A. Hodge and B. B. Warfield referred to Greenleaf’s work quite favorably. Montgomery used much the same method to defend the faith in the face of rejuvenated critical scholarship.

Montgomery’s massive list of accomplishments is simply amazing, and I won’t recount them here. But please do check out his Wikipedia entry and you’ll see what I mean. Absolutely mind blowing—eleven degrees including three earned doctoral degrees, and more than forty books on a variety of subjects—mostly apologetics. Shane Rosenthal, as well as the folks at 1517, have written eloquent pieces offering their take on Montgomery’s life, influence, and legacy. For a more exhaustive memorial, see Craig Parton’s Full Obituary. I encourage you to read them.

To read the rest, follow the link below

In Times of Worry, Uncertainty, and Fear, God's People Pray!

We live at a point in time characterized by an unfamiliar uncertainty of a sort which generates great unease, worry, and far too much catastrophizing.

There are plenty of reasons why this is the case.

The most obvious is that there is an upcoming national election. Whichever candidate wins, about 35% of Americans will be thrilled, another 35% will be incredibly disappointed and deflated, the rest will ignore the outcome as same ole same ole and return to their daily lives as though nothing earth-shattering actually happened. The losing side may threaten civil disobedience, the courts will be overwhelmed with litigation, and more Americans will lose faith in our system of government. Many will despair that the American dream is but a mirage.

Many will retreat to social media where truth telling is increasingly rare, clever folk with no expertise or training use their cleverness to pass themselves off as experts to spread all kinds of nonsensical historical revisionism, personal attacks, bad advice, and “foil-hat level” craziness. Social media (which the vast majority of Americans thankfully ignore) is now a place for the “very on-line” where treating others as divine image-bearers is taken as a sign of weakness (or unmanliness).

And there are too many bad actors in the world. In many places on the globe, war is a reality and an increasing threat to our national peace and security (with possible escalation and American boots on the ground). Think of Putin’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine, the Middle East situation (Iran and Israel, particularly), and the looming possibility of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

To read the rest, follow the link below

On John Wesley's “A Plain Account of Christian Perfection”

John Wesley’s vexing book, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (London: Epworth Press, 1952), is an altogether miserable read, and known by its critics for its glaring imperfections (pun intended). Written in 1766, you can find it in its entirety here: A Plain Account of Christian Perfection.

John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of Methodism, was for a time an evangelical luminary—people in such circles often spoke of him on a par with the Protestant Reformers. But Wesley has fallen out of favor of late—no doubt due to the rigorous obedience tied to his “Methodist” system. The Methodist church which he helped to found has for the most part gone the way of all flesh, making the news recently for a whole bunch of reasons completely beyond the foresight of the movement’s founder. Wesley is, no doubt, turning in his grave over the path the Methodists have taken to full apostasy.

In the evangelicalism in which I was raised, Wesley was held in high esteem largely because of the story of his dramatic conversion at Aldersgate St. in London in 1738. He was “strangely warmed”when hearing the “preface” to Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans read aloud. It is often quipped that it is too bad Wesley didn’t go on to read the entirety of Luther’s commentary. Anyone who reads Wesley’s A Plain Account discovers a mass of confusion and contradictions as he affirms one thing, and then quickly backtracks on much of his prior teaching so as to define and defend his doctrine of “Christian perfectionism,” also called “sinless perfection,” or “entire sanctification.”

On occasion, when I mention his perfectionism, people will often challenge me, saying something like, “it can’t be that bad.” No, in fact, it is worse. When I tell them what Wesley actually taught in A Plain Account they simply can’t believe it. So, I keep my Kindle close by to show the quotations replicated below. I recently addressed Wesley’s take on election and good works to make much the same point—Wesley was an Arminian in his soteriology and taught a very confusing, and conscience burdening doctrine of Christian perfectionism.

To read the rest (and excerpts from the book) follow the link below

2nd Edition of My Lectio Continua Expository Commentary on First Corinthians -- Now Available to Order from RHB!

Reformation Heritage Books has republished my Lectio Continua series exposition of First Corinthians. The second edition is in the NKJV, and updated (slightly). You can order it here: First Corinthians -- Lectio Continua

Thank you, RHB!

Wishing You a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!

The New Year’s Day Prayer (from the URCNA Forms and Prayers)

Eternal and Almighty God, we humble ourselves in your presence to dedicate to you the beginning of this year, by adoration, prayer, and praise.

We come before your Supreme Majesty, and acknowledge, with gratitude, the manifold blessings which you have freely bestowed upon us, through the whole course of our lives. We thank you, that having preserved us to the present time, you have permitted us to enter upon a new year. You have not ceased, O most gracious God, to give to us the abundance of your lovingkindness. But you have especially sustained us with every spiritual blessing by keeping in the midst of us the light of your gospel.

You have granted us repentance, through your mighty help, through your great goodness, and through the warnings of your Word and Spirit; and have mercifully given to us favorable opportunities to grow in grace. Despite our unworthiness, for the love of Jesus Christ, take not away from us your protection and favor.

Moved by your grace, we devote ourselves to you at the beginning of this year, desiring to employ it better than we have done the years that are past. And since this day also warns us that our years pass away like a flood, like a dream, give us grace that we may seriously number our days that we may have a heart of wisdom; that we may discern the vanity of this life; and that we may aspire to that better life, when days, and months, and years, shall be counted no more, forever.

While we continue in the flesh, may we more and more live not according to its desires, but according to your will. And grant, O God, that when our years shall come to an end, and the day of our death arrives, we may depart in the peace that passes all understanding and in the sure hope of life everlasting. Favorably hear us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Riddleblog PublicationKim RiddlebargerDecember 31, 2023A blessed and happy new yearComment

“The Babe, the Lamb, and the Lion of Judah” An Exposition of Revelation 5:1-14

The Babe in Bethlehem

In their opening chapters, the synoptic gospels give us a wonderful picture of God incarnate, a helpless babe in a manger, virginally conceived, and born to a young woman named Mary. When we see him in Bethlehem, the Christ-child is like a defenseless lamb, anything but a roaring lion.

Yet, in Revelation chapters 4 and 5, the Apostle John gives us an entirely different perspective on this newborn’s true identity. John recounts being caught away by the Holy Spirit where he was given a vision of God’s throne in heaven–a much different perspective upon our Lord’s advent from that given to us in the gospels.

A Different Perspective–The Throne of Heaven

Struggling to describe the scene he is witnessing, John sees one who is both a lion and a lamb. The glory of the one sitting upon the throne, says John, has the appearance of precious gems and reflects virtually every color of the spectrum. A rainbow encircles the throne, from which emanate flashes of lightening and peals of thunder. Surrounding the throne are twenty four elders, representing God’s redeemed people from both testaments. Also present are four living creatures (angels) who have six wings and who are covered with eyes. The living creatures represent all of creation. Together, with the elders, the living creatures worship the one seated on the throne. But they also worship another—a Lamb who was slain and yet who is also the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5). He alone is worthy to open the mysterious scroll containing God’s plan for the future chapters of redemptive history.

To read the rest, follow the link below

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

A Thanksgiving Prayer (from the URCNA’s Forms and Prayers):

Our Sovereign God, who created all things for your pleasure and who gives to all life, breath, and every good thing, we praise you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life. For rain and sunshine, in abundance and in lack, we acknowledge that our times are in your hands. You supply all of your creatures with your good gifts: the just and the unjust alike. Nevertheless, we especially give you praise for the surpassing greatness of your saving grace that you have shown to us in Christ Jesus our Savior. For our election in him before the foundation of the world; for our redemption by him in his life, death, and resurrection; for our effectual calling, justification, sanctification, and all of the blessings of our union with him, we give you our heartfelt thanks. And we look with great anticipation toward that day when you will raise us to life everlasting, glorified and confirmed in righteousness, so that we may sing your praises without the defilement of our present weaknesses, distractions, and sins. As you have served us with these gifts, we ask that you would give us grateful hearts so that through us you may serve our neighbors. In the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, Amen.

So much for which to be thankful! May you and yours have a very blessed Thanksgiving!

Honey-baked this year—many sandwiches to follow!

Riddleblog PublicationKim RiddlebargerNovember 23, 2023A Blessed ThanksgivingComment