All Articles For Barnhill, Ryan

Previous article in this series: March 15, 2020, p. 285. There you are, sitting straight up on the bed. The diagnosis was hard to hear. It is difficult even to focus as the doctor looks earnestly into your eyes. He is an honest man: your health condition, he says, is serious. But he will not dismiss you just yet. There’s a prescription! As the doctor opens his mouth to tell you about it, you hang on his every word. Last time, we, as it were, sat on the doctor’s bed and listened to the diagnosis. We heard from the Word...

Even the world is ringing alarm bells. It seems the problem centers in the millennial generation: those born in the 1980s and 1990s. The employer in his late fifties cannot believe his ears when a twenty-something young man expects to work minimal hours for fantastic pay and benefits. The tenured professor is disturbed by the number of students in his classroom who expect royal treatment, as if he owes them everything. The veteran police officer is distressed by the rights-demanding attitude of so many youthful drivers he interacts with on traffic stops. What employers, professors, police, and others are noticing...

In the years of youth, when the days are full and our energy is seemingly inexhaustible, we do not often consider that we are pilgrims on this earth. But we should. This world is not our home, but we look forward to God taking us home to Himself in heaven. December is a unique month: the old year casts its evening shadows, and the first glimmerings of the new year appear. As 2019 sets and 2020 dawns, it is appropriate that we consider Psalm 121:1–2. Psalm 121 is one of the psalms entitled “A song of de­grees.” Such a psalm was sung...

A couple articles ago we considered the prohibition of the seventh commandment as it applies to pornography. The instruction given there, although specifically addressing pornography, can be broadened to include any sexual sin. In the last article we examined the positive requirement of the seventh commandment for those who are unmarried, using three “Cs” to fill that out: Christ, Chastity, and Care. This time we again take that positive approach, but will study the requirement of the seventh commandment for those who are married. As you might expect, the focus will be upon the sexual relationship between a husband and...

Previous article in this series: January 15, 2019, p. 187. In my last article I addressed the sin of pornography. Warnings concerning the sin and our calling with regard to it were also brought. Even though it was pornography that was addressed, the instruction, warnings, and calling that were given can be applied more broadly to any sexual sin. But the question may well be asked by young people,“How ought we, then, to live? We are to flee from pornography and other sexual sin. But what can be said positively about how God will have us to live in light...

“Know the history of the church!” was an oft-repeated phrase throughout my seminary training. Officebearers and the people of God in the pew must know church history. We are not so arrogant as to cast aside this history and start anew every generation in our study of doctrine. When we wrestle with different issues, we must ask: “Has the church dealt with these matters in the past?” Specifically, this is a question we ask regarding the subject of the Sabbath, a subject that generates a fair amount of questions and debate. We Reformed people are perhaps most familiar with instruction...

Everywhere you turn, she is there. In your grandparents’ day, finding her took some effort, but not anymore. She prominently displays herself on roadside billboards. Boldly, she hides in millions of websites, her lips dropping as a honeycomb, and her mouth smoother than oil. She loves to talk on the commercials and in the songs, and her message is as unmistakable as it is wicked: “Lie with me.” Distressing about this woman is that she makes an appearance, whether she is asked to or not, catching many—also children and young people—unaware. Even the world has become alarmed at her prevalence...

Called to Watch for Christ’s Return, by Martyn McGeown. Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2016. Pp. 286. $14.95. Paper. [Reviewed by Rev. Ryan Barnhill.] Called to Watch for Christ’s Return began as a series of sermons preached by the author on the Olivet Discourse, a speech in which “Jesus proclaims his second coming, an event with which history will come to a dramatic and sudden close” (ix). These sermons covered Matthew 24:1-31, dealing with the signs of Christ’s coming—deceivers, the preaching of the gospel, the great tribulation, and more. These sermons also dealt with Matthew 24:32-25:46, treating the subject...

Everyone’s a Theologian: an Introduction to Systematic Theology, by R.C. Sproul. Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2014. Pp. 357. [Reviewed by Ryan Barnhill.] R.C. Sproul, popular speaker and author, has added yet another book to his long list of titles. Everyone’s a Theologian: an Introduction to Systematic Theology is a primer or introduction to systematic theology. Sproul organizes his material according to the six loci: Theology, Anthropology, Christology (and Pneumatology), Soteriology, Ecclesiology, and Eschatology. The title hints at the approach Sproul takes in his book: everyone should be able to understand theology. Not that every person holds a theology degree...