Urban Puritano

The Bible records the long, post-fall struggle between believers and the tyranny of sin. Oftentimes that tyranny takes the form of hostile governing authorities. Even theocratic Israel under human kings would have a propensity towards injustice. Remember what God told the prophet Samuel? So, how is the Christian to relate to Caesar when Caesar is schizophrenically equal parts secular and pagan? Wh...

Today, we scratch the surface on what made the Puritans so special. Was it their politics, their agenda to purify the worship of the church, or their theology? The Puritans are often the whipping boys for Romanists and secularists alike. But, too often, the Puritans are thrown under the bus even by their own spiritual heirs.  What made the Puritans so special, in my humble estimation, was their pr...

The Apostle Paul Wrote a detailed and systematic explanation of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. His audience was a diverse metropolitan mix of believers. Urban Christians! Aren't we all?  Paul's method of missionary fund raising is as counter intuitive as God's work of redemption in Christ. Romans is Paul's tour de force theological treatise concerning God's tour de force purpose of acquiring...

The providential intersection of lives often leads to unexpected outcomes. In light of Pastoral Appreciation Month and on the eve of Reformation Day, we offer a chilled out conversation with Pastor Brandon from Christ the King Reformed Baptist Church and talk about his road to and through the ministry. Whether you are Baptist or Presbyterian, pastoring a church requires grit. Church Eldership is n...

The Apostle Paul wrote a detailed and systematic explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His audience was a diverse metropolitan mix of believers. Urban Christians! (Aren't we all?) Paul explained that we are all great sinners who are in great need of so great a salvation.  As we approach the anniversary of the Reformation, let's start the celebration early by listening to what a Reformed stalw...

The Covid-19 pandemic turned this country's workers into patients, worshippers into zoomers, and its citizens into subjects. We are now denizens. Strictly speaking, it's not Covid's fault. The fault lies squarely at the feet of the ruling class at the federal, state, and local levels. The medical industrial complex (Big Pharma and Big Government with its useful idiots in the complicit media) succe...

The right reading of Scripture neither bifurcates the Old from the New Testament nor the literal from the spiritual sense of Scripture. In fact, "when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly." Are you an audacious or an arrogant interpreter of Scripture? 2 Samuel 5:6-1...

The providential intersection of lives often leads to unexpected outcomes. Today, we offer a chilled out interview with Pastor moises NATAN from Iglesia Cristo el Redentor and talk about his road to and through the ministry. From Amistad Cristiana to Nuevo Pueblo (an OPC Church Plant ministry) to Cristo el Redentor. Learning from diverse and various experiences and people is God's providential des...

The beauty of God's Word is that whether you read it with a Systematic Theology lens or a Redemptive Historical lens, you will always find coherence and consent of its parts. In EP 8, we scratched the surface on the spiritual dynamic that gave birth to the Church and the ensuing spiritual antithesis that was realized after Genesis 3:15. We perceived a theological resonance between the enmity God g...

The Biblical Doctrine of the Church is so multifaceted that it can hardly be exhausted in one passage of Scripture, one podcast episode, one Sunday School lesson, one sermon, or even a seminary education. The doctrine of the Church is deeply rooted in multifaceted motifs and theologies that its exploration begins in this life and will continue on throughout eternity.  In broadest terms, the "Churc...

What does the prayer life of a disciple of Jesus look like? On today's bonus episode of Urban Puritano, we continue our exploration of Expository Preaching. My method is eclectic. Broadus-Robinson, Greidanus-Chappell, Beeke-Bunyan. A Text is analyzed according to its subject and complement in order to arrive at the sermon's proposition. A Fallen Condition Focus is infused throughout the message wh...

¿Cómo se vé la vida de oración de un discípulo de Jesús? En el episodio de hoy, continuamos nuestra exploración de la predicación expositiva. Mi método es ecléctico. Se analiza un Texto según su tema y complemento para llegar a la proposición del sermón. Un enfoque de condición caída se infunde a lo largo del mensaje. Todo debería conducir a un mensaje que humilla al hombre y exalta a Cristo según...

Both scholars and laymen can by the same means arrive at the answer to how a holy and just God can bless rebellious, sinful mankind with salvation. As it was before for shepherds, warriors, royalty, and fisherman; as it continued to be for monks, maidens, lawyers, and tinkers; so the Bible’s message continues to be now — sufficiently “clear and evident” to all who would apply “a due use of the ord...

On today's episode (Episode 4) of Urban Puritano, we're having a Gospel Celebration! What is the Gospel all about? Why is it so simple a child can understand it and so profound that a philosopher-theologian can spend a lifetime studying it? Even angels contemplate and ponder the Gospel's message. What do you do with the Gospel? Are you ashamed of it or is it your highest honor and privilege? Let's...

On today's episode of Urban Puritano, we begin the first of many explorations in expository preaching. In Español. My homiletical approach is eclectic. Broadus-Robinson. Greidanus-Chappell. Beeke-Bunyun. Subject-Complement, Big Idea, Fallen Condition Focus, Propositional, Experiential, Reformed, and hopefully, I privilege the text. What text you may ask? Hebrews 3:12-19. Stay tuned for a message c...

What are the implications of a Christian worldview for Education?

In the inaugural episode of Urban Puritano, I consider Christian Education through the lens of worldview thinking. Although worldview thinking has fallen on hard times, I still think it is quite amenable to Reformed Theology. But you don't have to be a cage stage Calvinist to benefit from my dark predestinarian ruminations. My question for you, fellow pilgrim, is this: Is it possible to see Christ...