Pastor Albert N. Martin’s Retirement

One of my favorite preachers, Albert N. Martin, has retired following 46 faithful years pastoring Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, NJ. He concluded his ministry with 9 messages filled with counsel to his beloved congregation. You can read about the messages (which seem to encapsulate his strong philosophy of ministry) here. (Thanks for the good [...]

The Heartbeat of Tri-County Bible Church

Yesterday I preached a message entitled “The Heartbeat of Tri-County Bible Church.” It was (to quote the sub-title) “A Look at TCBC through the Lens of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.” It’s essentially our philosophy of ministry in one “drink-from-a-fire-hydrant” message. It addresses issues that are vitally important to us, including a doxological purpose, cross-centeredness, [...]

Quick Hits (7/28/08)

Here are some miscellaneous links, thoughts, and resources I’ve been collecting for a while. Some (like the sermon and a few outreach ideas) are quite serious. Another (the Wordle of Ephesians) is fascinating, I think. And others (including a shocking article about a Florida friend, a thought about HomeSat, and a “you might be a [...]

Borrowing Brains: How Can We Make the Lord’s Supper a Spiritual Feast?

Christ gave the Lord’s Supper to the church as a great gift—a perpetual reminder of Himself, the greatest gift. It’s inclusion in Acts 2:42 as one of the four basic practices of the Jerusalem church (along with apostolic teaching, fellowship, and prayer) indicates that it was considered precious by the New Testament church. The attitude [...]

Quick Hits (7/16/08)

There is more pleasure in God than sin.
This first link is just fantastic. It’s well worth a few minutes of your time. I’ve wanted to read Charnock’s Existence and Attributes of God for some time; in the past I’ve merely referenced it when studying a particular topic. Beyond that, I’m very aware that my reading [...]

Recognizing and Combatting Shallowness (Don’t Waste Your Life)

I’m spiritually shallow. It’s true.
The Lord has been revealing this to me in a variety of ways in recent days, including my own sermon preparation and devotional life, sermons I’ve heard (including an excellent treatment of the book of Jonah by missionary appointee Tim Bixby), and books I’ve been reading (particularly John Piper’s Don’t Waste [...]

Gilber Tennent PDF

You can download a pdf of the recently posted study “The Life and Ministry of Gilbert Tennent” here. I hope it’s helpful.

This “lesser light” of the Great Awakening is worthy of more consideration than he usually gets. If you don’t believe me, believe George Whitefield:
“I never before heard such a searching sermon. He convinced me [...]

Lessons for Today from the Life of Gilbert Tennent (4 of 4)

We too need to balance heart religion and uncompromising orthodoxy.
We must beware of the extreme positions of Tennent’s opponents who insisted on either orthodoxy (Old Lights) or experiential religion (Arminians)…head or heart. Tennent urged heart religion within the bounds of sound doctrine…a legitimate experience and emotion governed by biblical understanding.
We too need to balance transdenominationalism [...]

Gilbert Tennent’s Contributions to the First Great Awakening (3 of 4)

Though Gilbert Tennent is outshined by such men as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, his contributions to the Great Awakening were no less significant. Alexander writes, “Indeed, all must acknowledge, that among the friends and promoters of the revival he stood pre-eminent.” [1] Whereas Edwards ministered mainly in the New England colonies and Whitefield [...]

Gilbert Tennent’s Theological and Ministerial Distinctives (2 of 4)

It is sometimes easiest to classify a man’s positions by considering his friends and foes. Tennent had plenty of both:
Tennent’s theological and ministerial positions are evident from his friends.
1. He was a student of Theodore J. Frelinghuysen and William Tennent.
2. He was a co-laborer and mentor of George Whitefield and Samuel Davies.
Whitefield wrote the [...]