JT Holderman

Calvin is the father of Reformed Theology. It’s a wonder this Presbyterian didn’t begin our series with Calvin Central to reformed theology for Calvin was the supremacy of God’s glory and the Scriptures for understanding first who God is, and therefore the purpose of His creation. Few have exhibited as much devotion to the proper handling of the Scriptures as that of John Calvin. He was a man who found himself at all times enamored with the glory of God as displayed in His Sc

[Augustine] has been strikingly called incomparably the greatest man whom, “between Paul the Apostle and Luther the Reformer, the Christian Church has possessed.” –Adolf Von Harnack quoted by BB Warfield Christian history is saturated with leaders whose impact has drastically changed the shape of Christian thought. Perhaps no leader, as Adolf Von Harnack has suggested, has transformed our understanding of God as much as that of Augustine. He may very well be the greatest the

The account of Calvin’s conversion is brief and many scholars have sought to pin down exactly how it happened. We know very little. But most scholars agree that Calvin converted to faith somewhere between 1529 and 1530 while studying law at the University of Bourges. T.H.L Parker captures the conversion well: At some time in 1529 or early 1530 Calvin was converted. We do not know the circumstances…Calvin’s life had similarly been changed and ordered by God’s secret providence

Studying Homiletics at Gordon-Conwell has been a great experience over the past few months. God is shaping me as a man and as a preacher through the program and I am already indebted to the school and faculty for what I have learned. However I find myself reading texts that are primarily associated with Homiletics  I’m feeling a bit starved for theological works (I attended Princeton Theological Seminary initially to study theology with hopes of pursuing a Ph.D. in Systematic

The doctrine of the atonement is the means by which God redeems His people from sin. The purpose of the sermon is to draw our hearts to praise and glorify God because of the kind of God we find Him to be through this beautiful doctrine.https://jtholderman.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/memo_3-mp3cut-net.mp3 #Preacher #Doctrine #Christianity #Atonement #Manchester #GuestPreacher #Sermon #Bible #God #Theology #Jesus

Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century[1] by John Stott Synopsis John Stott’s Between Two Worlds has been a classic work in homiletics. Though it is somewhat dated and engages the British context more so than the American, it is nonetheless a classic for a reason. Stott centers on Scripture as the grounds for our preaching, God has spoken and therefore we must speak. It is a highly winsome text chalked full of timeless quotes on preaching spanning f

King David’s life in 2 Samuel has fascinated me recently. I am much more akin to preach from the New Testament than the Old, so these few sermons on David have been a wonderful experience of growth for me in my preaching skills. Here in our text, King David gives us a wonderful example of response to the promises God extends to us. In David’s prayer of gratitude in 2 Samuel 7:18-29, we see that David clearly humbles himself, praises God, and pleads for Him to keep His promise

“…Not only does he sustain the universe (as he once founded it) by his boundless might, regulate it by his wisdom, preserve it by his goodness, and especially rule mankind by his righteousness and judgment, bear with it in his mercy, watch over it by his protection; but also that no drop will be found either of wisdom and light, or of righteousness or power or rectitude, or of genuine truth, which does not flow from him, and of which he is not the cause.” (Italics Added

In Systematic Theology with Bruce McCormack, we spent a few days discussing the foundation of Scripture.  When historical criticism is taken into account regarding the formation of the canon, it can persuade the thinker to account for the reason James is in the canon, and the Gospel of Thomas is not, based upon the grounds of human interpretation at the Council of Nicaea.  The fact that somewhere between 250 and 300 bishops attended the council and definitively “chose” the bo

“Our own assertion, on the contrary, is this: that the human will is divinely assisted to do the right in such manner that, besides man’s creation with the endowment of freedom to choose, and besides the teaching by which he is instructed how he ought to live, he receives the Holy Spirit, whereby there arises in his soul the delight in and the love of God, the supreme and changeless Good…Free choice alone, if the way of truth is hidden, avails for nothing but sin: and when th

Jonathan Edwards once wrote a book titled “The Religious Affections” highlighting the power God has upon man in the affections.  Primarily Edwards speaks of the heart and it’s ability to be transformed by the calling God gifts to us through His Son Jesus Christ.  Books are few and far between that discuss the matters of both the heart and the affections, especially in the seminary where most assigned readings affect a cognitive growth in the mind versus an enlarging of the he

“In the beginning, before time and space as we know them, before creation, before there was any reality distinct from God which could be the object of the love of God or the setting for His acts of freedom, God anticipated and determined within himself (in the power of His love and freedom, of His knowing and willing) that the goal and meaning of all His dealings with the as yet non-existent universe should be the fact that in His son He would be gracious towards man, uniting

JI Packer states with regards to Luther’s Bondage of the Will: “Here was the crucial issue: whether God is the author, not merely of justification, but also of faith; whether in the last analysis, Christianity is a religion of utter reliance on God for salvation and all things necessary to it, or of self-reliance and self-effort. ‘Justification by faith only’ is a truth that needs interpretation.  The principle of sola fide is not rightly understood till it is seen as anchore

Perhaps we should view Original Sin from the perspective of that great theologian, Augustine of Hippo, who has given us a minefield of theological truths that theologians are still unpacking today,including the doctrine of Original Sin (Since no one systematized any doctrine on Original Sin before him). Augustine writes his biography in the form of a prayer to God that others were invited to read in his autobiography The Confessions. My urge to anyone reading this who hasn’t

“…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die…Have you eaten of the tree of which i commanded you not to eat?…The man said, ‘The woman you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 2:17 and 3:11-12) Biblically the ruin of mankind stems from one man’s disobedience. For God created Man and Woman and called them “good.” He gave them but one command of what not to partake

We can find wisdom through Habakkuk’s posture and words to his Lord most high: “I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint” (Habakuk 2:1) We came to the conclusion that Habakkuk was referring to stepping out of worldly wisdom and worldly reason when he refers to the watch tower. For God calls us to look at our life with truth and wisdom, not with our reason a

Devotionals have never been a staple of my faith.  I have found most of them to be a waste of my time.  However, after seeking some more study for the soul in the morning, I stumbled upon an incredible devotional resource by Spurgeon.  In it’s entirety it is called Morning and Evening.  I encourage anyone who finds devotionals to be at all soul-satisfying to read his words of truth and warmth.  They have been a comfort to my heart these last few weeks.  Here is an excerpt: “D

I have been struck with the powerful prayers the saints have uttered in conversation with God throughout history.  I remember hearing Dr. Jerry Sittser at Whitworth extol the beautiful words of exaltation and thanksgiving that so many desert fathers and founders of our modern theology spoke and wrote.  His passion for the words and heart of these God-seekers has still inspired me to this day to continue to uncover great prayers.  Learning how to pray is a life-long endeavor a

Elijah’s heart for God’s people is soaked in the love for displaying God’s great glory.  Truly he was a man devoted to the calling of God on his life.  As a prophet of the God most high, he had to forsake all comfort.  The same seems pretty universal for all of God’s chosen prophets.  They are spoken a call by God that they are to carry forth with blind faith, neither resting in the comforts of their home land or in the routine of their everyday lives.  Indeed they are a peop

The more times I dive into the thicket of God’s truth in Psalm 119, the more nuggets I find that are a blessing to my heart and soul. I yearn for my conversations with God to echo the author’s prayer. His words are eloquent yet simple. They are full of passion and emotion, not cold and detached. His words paint an incredible portrait of a God of love and mercy, seeking to walk with His people and instruct them in the ways that will be most glorifying to Him. One incredible tr