Christianity – Habitually Being: thoughts worth living.

“Earth Shattering Good News”

13 Jan 20192 Aug 2019

All right, kids! It's time we had a talk about "Law and Gospel!" A MidWinter 2019 retreat sermon by Jonathan Balmer, delivered January 12th, 2019. Video of the sermon from…

7th & James Youth Mission Trip 2018

5 Sep 201810 May 2020

The context: Hurricane Harvey was the second costliest storm in United States History. In Houston, America’s most diverse city, thousands upon thousands of people faced flood damage, and grave uncertainty…

“More than we thought we wanted”

5 Aug 201828 Oct 2020

What we want is not what always what God gives. That is good news. A sermon delivered at 7th & James Baptist Church. Waco, TX. “More than we thought we…

Tara Beth Leach “Emboldened” (IVP Press, ’17) REVIEW

6 Apr 201827 Sep 2020

This is not a book about how to interpret the passages used to prevent women from seeking ordination. If you're looking for a theological / scriptural argument, the best free…

“So Abraham Went” Sermon 500th anniversary of the Reformation

31 Oct 20175 Sep 2018

Truett seminary hosted a preaching conference. All the sermons were to find their basis in Genesis. I preached earlier today, which happens to be Halloween (All Saints Day Eve), and…

Fleming Rutledge on Justification

19 Dec 201617 Jul 2019

"God is using you in spite of yourself. We aren't responsible for making progress. Whatever progress is made will be the gift of God. Jesus said, "Fear not, little flock.…

Fulbright Orientation Week 3: Why I love visiting churches and Why ecclesiology is like surgery.

2 Aug 20154 Aug 2015

I am thankful for those of my ETA friends who consistently put up with my slow learning. Each time we are out, they correct my lacking Korean pronunciation. And, as…

Pentecostal power -Curtis Freeman

17 Jun 201517 Jun 2015

Pentecostal power Members of the Baptist World Alliance and the Pentecostal World Fellowship will meet this coming August in Quito, Ecuador, for a series of ecumenical conversations to begin asking…

Teaching people to be congregational: renarrating voting -Stephen Holmes

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: we do church meeting badly… (‘we’ = ‘most British Baptists of whom I am aware’.) A part of the problem is,…

The primacy of the local church in Baptist understanding… Stephen Holmes

The primacy of the local church in Baptist understanding is best exemplified by the unusual Baptist use of the word ‘church’. There is no ‘Baptist church’ that is not a…