A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You All!

Micki and I stand on the top of the Rothlisberg (in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland)-- the ancestral home of the Riddlebargers (who, actually are Rotlispergers).  This was easily the highlight of the year, and certainly one of the great moments in my life--the culmination of over twenty years of painstaking genealogical research.  I know who I am and where I am from, and have the DNA matches to prove it!  Rotlispergers have lived here from the 1200's or so until the 19th century.  Either the family is named for the hill or the hill for the family, which is now widely dispersed throughout Switzerland.

It was a bittersweet year for the Riddlebargers.  My dear mother-in-law, Gerry Nutter, died in November, and so there's a gaping hole in our family Christmas celebration this year.  But we press on, thankful for the sure and certain hope of the resurrection.

Blogging has been tough of late as I've been plagued since September by two massive computer hardware failures--including part of a rather new Seagate hard drive melting in my desktop.  I lost everything twice (programs and data), but do back-up regularly so I recovered everything I wanted and needed.  It takes a Herculean effort (in my case repeated twice) to get everything restored and set-up as I like it, but I am finally good to go.  If you happen to have a hardware/computer failure, pray it is on Black Friday, when you can get a new system cheap.  If you don't back-up, start!  I've never had a hardware failure before (with a host of different computers), much less two failures in the span of three months.

The New Year will be interesting.  We will say "goodbye" to the Comptons (Andrew, Pam, and their delightful children), as Andrew takes up his duties as a professor of Old Testament at Mid-America Reformed Seminary in June.  We also will say "hello" to a new associate pastor and his family.  Change is never easy, but it is always interesting.

We will also watch with disgust and dismay our presidential election process with the spate of boisterous and largely unqualified candidates from both parties seeking the highest office in the land.  America chooses its president like the Westminster Kennel Club chooses its annual "Best in Show."  Nobody knows why that particular dog was chosen except the spinsterly high-society lady in a way too-tight sequin dress who makes the final pick for reasons known only to herself.  I'm thankful my views of God's providence and the distinction between Christ's kingdom and the civil kingdom keep me sane during election season.  Although we've seen some of this before, I've never seen presidential politics fall to such a destructive level of ridiculous partisanship.  Pox on both their houses as well as on the media who lap this up!

Despite the ups and downs of life, the Riddlebargers wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous new year!  May our gracious God bless you richly with all spiritual blessings found in Christ Jesus.

Understanding the End Times --This Coming Saturday

Here's the place to go for Conference Information

Hope to see you there!

The Lion of Princeton -- Back in Stock at Amazon!

My new book on B. B. Warfield, The Lion of Princeton, has sold out twice, but is back in stock again at Amazon.

You can check it out here: (Lion of Princeton Info)

You can buy it here:  The Lion of Princeton at Amazon

I Had Issues Today . . .

I was on Issues, Etc., today with host Todd Wilken, discussing Chris McCann of eBible fellowship's end-times prediction, and his refusal to backtrack when the Lord did not return on October 7, as McCann predicted.

You can listen here:  McCann's failed prediction

A Free End-Times Conference in the San Diego Area. Register Soon!

The Missus and I Crossed the Tiber -- In a Tour Bus and It Was Raining

Micki and I finally made it to our last destination--Rome.  This was after two days of walking ourselves sore in Florence.

My disdain for Roman theology only grew after seeing paintings of Saint Francis supposedly receiving the stigmata, as well as the "Assumption of Mary" in the famous Uffizzi gallery in Florence.  Quite a place--despite the papal influence scattered throughout--and well worth being sore and leg weary the next day.

We have had great weather our entire trip--until today.  Rained hard all day.  But we donned our hats and jackets, grabbed our umbrellas, and went for it.  We spent five hours in Rome--about a tenth of what is necessary.  I know many of you have been to Rome, but this was my first trip, and it was under very adverse conditions.  Wow-there are not words.

To stay dry, we spent much of our time in the Capitoline Museum.  I had no idea Constantine had such a big head!

It was pouring as we made it to the Forum, and we had to turn back to catch our return bus.  Never did made it to the Colosseum or Titus' Arch, but I did get a picture of both from a distance.  Here's Titus' Arch.

Oh well, we'll just have to come back some day, Lord willing!

Finally, if anyone needs papal/priestly accoutrements, we found just the place--"The Mitre Store."

The Lion of Princeton -- In Stock!

The Lion of Princeton is now available through Amazon and other book distributors!  In fact, the first batch at Amazon sold out!

To order now, go here:  Lion of Princeton

For more information on this study, go here: The Lion of Princeton -- Preview and endorsements

With the Saints in Milan on the Lord's Day

 I'm standing with Rev. Andrea Ferrari, pastor of the Chiesa Evangelica Riformata Filadelfia, a URCNA church plant in Milan.  What a joy to worship with brothers and sisters who love Christ and his saving work.

The church was full and pastor Ferrari shared the news with us of several promising church planting efforts in Italy and Romania. It is truly exciting to hear what God is doing throughout Italy and beyond.  What a wonderful thing to hear of a growing number of Heidelbergers in a land so dominated by Romanism.

The Lord's Day bulletin was familiar to us, even if in Italian--my faint remembrance of ecclesiastical Latin certainly helped.

Any time you walk into a church bookstore and the first thing you see is a book from B. B. Warfield translated into Italian, you know you are in the right place!

The Communion of Saints

My wife and I were privileged to experience the communion of saints in a unique and wonderful way.  On the Lord's Day we worshiped with the saints of the Independent Evangelical and Reformed Church in Heidelberg.  I preached on 1 John 2:18-27, "antichrist is coming" as the capstone to our series on eschatology.  We sang psalms and recited the creed in German, we shared a common cup with fellow Reformed Christians at the Lord's Table, and we felt as though we were in our home church.  Truly an amazing experience.

The pictures above are of Rev. Sebastian Heck, the pastor (along with me and the church's sign--the first question and answer of the catechism), while the other is of their bulletin, which contains a liturgy very much like our own.

Luther, Ursinus, Olevianus

During our walking tour of Heidelberg, led by Rev. Sebastian Heck, we stood on the spot where Martin Luther gave his famous "Heidelberg Disputation" (in April of 1518) while speaking at the Augustinian Cloister in the city.  It was one of Luther's first public discourses.  Luther spoke on human sinfulness and the bondage of the will.  One of those in the audience that day--Martin Bucer of Strasbourg--became a follower of Luther as a result.  Johann Eck also got wind of Luther's lecture, and subsequently challenged Luther to a debate which became known as the Leipzig Debate.

This is St. Peter's Church in Heidelberg, where Caspar Olevianus (1536–1587) served as pastor for a number of years.   St. Peter's was considered the "university" church of the famed University of Heidelberg, founded in 1386.  Students and faculty worshipped here.    

This was one of the high points of the trip so far---enjoying a fine cup of coffee and a pastry while sitting at tables in the old town square.  We were just outside the magnificent Church of the Holy Spirit where Zacharius Ursinus often preached, as did Olevianus.  A great way to spend an hour or so before dinner!

I'll bet our small group were among the very few in the vast multitude of tourists passing through the square who even cared about such things.