2026 Reformation Bible Society Conference is coming! Saturday, August 1, 2026 @ Greenville Presbyterian Seminary in Taylors, SC. Theme: Confessional Bibliology: Defined & Defended. Limited 2 for 1 tickets ($17.85 per ticket) available. Complimentary lunch included. Get more info and register here: eventbrite.com/e/2026-reform…

J. A. Alexander (1809-1860) on the purpose of Christ's miracles: "Thus every miracle, besides relieving its immediate subject, and disposing him and all who saw it to the reception of the truth, helped to make our Lord more generally known, and to excite a spirit of inquiry with respect to him and his religion." -Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, 23.

"Give ear, Lord, unto my prayer: and ponder the voice of my humble desires." -Psalm 86:6, 1662 BCP, Day 17. Morning Prayer.

Caught the Friday session of Dr. Renihan’s Sola Scriptura lectures for IRBS on the Road last evening at Emmanuel BC in Verona, Va.

The Vision devotional article (6.12.26): The Authority of Christ: “for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22). “for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him” (Mark 1:27). Even secular unbelieving historians agree that the Lord Jesus Christ was a man who possessed a personal power, warmth, and winsomeness that affected those who encountered him, heard him, and observed his ministry. He drew men to himself in the way that a magnet draws metal. He was a man who demanded followers. That personal, “magnetic” personality is noted in our passage today at several points. The term that is used to distinguish the uniqueness of Christ is “authority [Greek: exousia].” In Mark 1, Christ conducts his threefold ministry: preaching, teaching, and healing (cf. Matt 4:23; 9:35). First, he was preaching in Galilee the gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15). Second, he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum (Mark 1:21: “and [he] taught”). Third, he was healing. He healed (exorcised) a man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue (Mark 1:23-26). He healed Simon’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31). He healed many who gathered in the evening at his door (Mark 1:32-34: “And he healed many that were sick of diverse diseases, and cast out many devils,” v. 34). His unique authority shines through. Mark the Evangelist describes the response of those who heard him in the synagogue, “And they were astonished at his doctrine [didache]: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22). Mark also unveils the amazed questioning pondered by those who saw him exorcise the man with the unclean spirit: “What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him” (Mark 1:27). Behold the authority of Christ. He preached Himself. He taught with authority as God in the flesh. He did not teach about God; he taught as God. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, he will say: You have heard it said…, but I say unto you…. He healed the souls and bodies of men, showing his authority over both the unseen spiritual and the visible natural worlds. He will lay down his life on the cross and take it up again the third day as his greatest sign or miracle. The final question: How will we respond to Christ? Will we recognize his authority? Will we bend the knee of our hearts before his throne? Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Reformation Bible Society will meet on Saturday, August 1, 2026 at Greenville Presbyterian Seminary in Taylors, SC. Various lectures and papers will be presented on the theme, "Confessional Bibliology: Defined & Defended." As in past conferences, we will also have several "pre-conference" events the day before. At 3:00 pm on Friday, July 31, early arrivers will meet at the Mack Library at Bob Jones University for a tour of the reconstructed "Jerusalem Chamber" and the Rare Bibles Collection. We will also tour the Sermonaudio vault housed in the Mack library. Come join us! Conference registration here:eventbrite.com/e/2026-reform…

"On the contrary, the best of our works merit nothing other than eternal punishment, if there were no grace of God. For the best of men, if God wished to proceed against them with the rigour of the law, would be found to have stained in a thousand ways the gifts which God placed in them, even when they were striving to do good (Rom. 4:2; 1 Cor. 4:4; Phil. 3:9)." -Theodore Beza (1519-1605), The Christian Faith, 28.

"My soul shall be satisfied, even as it were with marrow and fatness: when my mouth praiseth thee with joyful lips." -Psalm 63:6, 1662 BCP, Day 12. Morning Prayer.

Former SB & IMB (then FMB) journeyman missionary & SBTS grad writing here. Left SBC in 2010 to become confessional RB, so I don't have a dog in this fight. Interesting nonetheless to hear Mohler appeal to the 1689 as a standard: "This motion... makes very clear that we affirm the historic Baptist understanding of the Pastor/Elder/Overseer. The structure of the language I have brought goes all the way back to the 1689 Baptist Confession, where the office and function of pastor are clearly delineated.... [These are] truths consistent with what we believe going all the way back to the 17th century. It is because we believe those Baptists got it right, according to Scripture." Even with this amendment (should it pass), my guess is that there will be those who finds ways to get around it, if there is no corresponding expectation and enforcement of full subscription to BFM2000, much less the SBC constitution. The issue is not really about women pastors (clearly, an unbiblical view), IMHO, but confessional subscription. The BFM2000 has holes so large that you could drive a truck through it. Still can't believe, for example, that it never defines the canon of Holy Scripture. There is a better alternative: Full subscription to the 2LBCF (1689).

"In ourselves, we are but dead and rotten stumps; it requires grace to make us living and good trees before we can yield one good fruit." -Theodore Beza (1519-1605), The Christian Faith, 28.

"As for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God: my trust is in the tender mercy of God for ever and ever." -Psalm 52:9, 1662 BCP, Day 10. Morning Prayer.

Pastor Joel R. Grassi from the Bronx reviews RBS Journal, Vol. 1 on The Reformation Text and the Septuagint: Walking in the Word: Our Church and the Septuagint youtu.be/X9G8zFSRuX8?si=dha5… via @YouTube

The Vision devotional article (6.5.26): Come Ye After Me: “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). Christ’s public ministry began with his preaching (see Mark 1:15). It continued with his calling men to come after him and become his disciples or followers. In Mark 1:16-20 we have the account of our Lord calling two sets of brothers to be among his first disciples: Simon (Peter) and Andrew (vv. 16-18), then James and John (vv. 19-20). Two sets of brothers by nature became spiritual brothers in Christ. So often our picture of the disciples come from medieval artists that depict the Lord Jesus and the disciples as frail, pale, and sickly. They hardly seem to have had strength enough to pick up a heavy net! But the picture here in Mark 1 is of strong, sun-darkened, solid, working men. Simon and Andrew were busy at their trade, casting a net into the sea, “for” Mark says, “for they were fishers” (v. 16). The occupation of fisherman must have been a common livelihood in this area. Many have noted that when the Lord Jesus went looking for followers, he did not go to the royal court, or to the religious schools, but to the shipyard. He chose sturdy, common, ordinary men. The Puritan commentator Matthew Henry observed: "The instruments Christ chose to employ in setting up his kingdom, were the weak and foolish things of the world; not called from the great Sanhedrin, or the schools of the [rabbis], but picked up from among the [tarps] by the seaside, that the excellency of the power might be wholly of God, and not at all of them." Do you get it? Why did Jesus choose men like these? Because if he had chosen princes and scholars we might have been tempted to give them glory. In this way, to God alone through Christ alone be all the glory. Note the language used by Christ. He does not say to these men, “I see within you the inner fishers of men.” His hopes for them did not rest on any inherent potential that they held within themselves. When we see an exquisite vase that has been beautifully shaped and crafted and decorated by a master artisan, we do not say, “Wow, that was some great clay!” The focus is not on the raw material but on the artist. Nor does the Lord Jesus say, “Come after me and become whatever you want to be.” He has a very definite end in mind, and he is not leaving this up to these men. He says he will make them to become fishers of men. There is great significance in this, is there not? They had been spending their lives casting out nets to gather in fish and the Lord Jesus says instead, that he will make them cast their nets to gather in the souls of men. These rough fishermen will later, of course, become apostles. They will be the foundational heralds of the gospel. Here the Lord Jesus is giving the church its central apostolic commission. We are about fishing for the souls of men. Our fundamental calling as a church is evangelism, endearing the gospel of God to the hardened hearts of men. In 1773 the Puritan Thomas Boston at the tender age of 22 published a little book titled, “The Art of Man-Fishing” in which he meditated on these words of Christ. Boston applied these words to the preacher who, through the nets of his public preaching and teaching ministry and his one-on-one private ministry appointments, was constantly striving to see men drawn to a place of settled commitment to Christ. Note also that the Lord Jesus does not say, Follow Me and I will make you to become social workers, or Red Cross volunteers, or school teachers, or political revolutionaries. Now there is a place for acts of Christian charity and mercy, for education and Christian citizenship, but our primary calling is evangelism, endearing the gospel of God to the hardened hearts of men. Let us not drift from this calling. Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff

"The earth is the Lord's, and all that therein is: the compass of the world, and they that dwell therein." -Psalm 24:1, 1662 BCP, Day 5. Morning Prayer.

The motto of Protestant father Theodore Beza (1519-1605): Plus à me frapper on s'amuse, tant plus de marteaux on y use ("The more one amuses oneself striking me, the more hammers one wears out on it"). museeprotestant.org/en/notic…

"Thus I conclude that this practice of praying to dead saints is completely vain and displeasing to God. It has no foundation in the Word of God and does great dishonor and great wrong to Christ; it arises partly out of the ignorance of men, and partly from their false faith." -Theodore Beza (1519-1605), The Christian Faith, 24.

Got this hard copy of the most recent QR in the mail this week from @tbsbibles. Always enjoy reading these and learning about the distribution of faithful Bibles around the world.

"Those who say that we find fault with good works, on the pretext that we say we are justified by Jesus Christ alone, received by faith alone, falsely slander us.... we are very far from saying that Christians must not practice good works nor abstain from bad works. On the contrary, we say that he basely lies who calls himself a Christian and does not strive to avoid the vices which God has condemned, and to follow true virtues." -Theodore Beza (1519-1605), The Christian Faith, 22.

"The statutes of the Lord are right, and rejoice the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, and giveth light unto the eyes." -Psalm 19:8, 1662 BCP, Day 4. Morning Prayer.

"Since God is righteous (Rom 3:26) and does not demand payment twice, since Jesus Christ, God and man (2 Cor 5:19), has satisfied by infinite obedience (Rom 5:19; Phil 2:8) the infinite majesty of God (Rom 8:33), it follows that my iniquities can never bring me to ruin (Col 2:14): they are already blotted out and washed out of my account by the blood of Jesus Christ who was made a curse for me (Gal 3:13), and who, righteous, died for the unrighteous (1 Pet 2:24)." -Theodore Beza, The Christian Faith, 18.