Mending the Nets: essays, reading notes, poems and short wisdom on Reformed theology by David Visser.https://davidvisser.ca/en-cahttps://davidvisser.ca/essays/baptism-a-name-you-cannot-unname/https://davidvisser.ca/essays/baptism-a-name-you-cannot-unname/Drawing on Sinclair Ferguson, David argues that physical baptism is a seal because it is a naming ceremony: like a family name it cannot simply be undone, only accepted or denied, so believers should rejoice in it daily.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTchurch-and-sacramentscovenantshttps://davidvisser.ca/essays/how-was-jesus-tempted/https://davidvisser.ca/essays/how-was-jesus-tempted/David argues that Jesus was not tempted as we are, since the involuntary first moment of temptation is already sin for us; with Bavinck, he holds that Christ's temptations came from without, and that he went through every human trial but the guilt of sin.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTchristsin-and-temptationhttps://davidvisser.ca/essays/i-never-doubted-you-lord/https://davidvisser.ca/essays/i-never-doubted-you-lord/David argues that once a believer has decided to follow Jesus, doubt does no good: trust is the honour a child shows a parent, and doubting salvation is different from discerning right teaching.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTchristian-lifesalvationhttps://davidvisser.ca/essays/look-to-please-your-father/https://davidvisser.ca/essays/look-to-please-your-father/David argues that guilt cannot fit in a mind set on pleasing God, that fatherhood gives a felt shadow of how the Father loves his children and accepts their efforts, and that believers should run to him like the prodigal.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTchristian-lifesalvationhttps://davidvisser.ca/reading/deeper/https://davidvisser.ca/reading/deeper/Notes on Dane Ortlund's Deeper and How Does God Change Us?: growth rooted in God's love, justification outside in and sanctification inside out, defeating sin by looking to Christ, C.S. Lewis on muddy children, and identity in union with Christ.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTsalvationchristian-lifesin-and-temptationhttps://davidvisser.ca/reading/the-enemy-within/https://davidvisser.ca/reading/the-enemy-within/Six notes from Kris Lundgaard's The Enemy Within on the sin that remains in believers: the deceitful heart, Paul's cry in Romans 7:24, how the flesh resists prayer, the broken harmony of mind, affections and will, and whether God gives enough time.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTsin-and-temptationprayerchristian-lifehttps://davidvisser.ca/reading/the-shadow-of-calvary/https://davidvisser.ca/reading/the-shadow-of-calvary/Notes on Hugh Martin's The Shadow of Calvary: praying for salvation, Christ as intercessor, obedience as a labour of love, dwelling at the cross and praying side by side with Christ, with David's reflections on prayer and on Christ's life given for ours.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTprayerchristsalvationchristian-lifehttps://davidvisser.ca/essays/will-we-keep-our-dna/https://davidvisser.ca/essays/will-we-keep-our-dna/Starting from Bavinck on the resurrection body and Paul's sown grain, David wonders whether we will keep the DNA God built us with, purified of every mutation, so that scars and defects gained in life are taken away.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTlast-thingshttps://davidvisser.ca/reading/bavinck-3-creation-humanity-and-sin/https://davidvisser.ca/reading/bavinck-3-creation-humanity-and-sin/Notes on Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics, pp. 277-375: angels, providence and secondary causes, humanity between angels and animals, Adam as head of humanity, sin as a parasite and privation of the good, and the moral law as the standard of sin.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTcreation-and-providencesin-and-temptationfree-will-and-sovereigntycovenantshttps://davidvisser.ca/reading/bavinck-4-christ-and-salvation/https://davidvisser.ca/reading/bavinck-4-christ-and-salvation/Notes on Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics, pp. 401-563: the old and new covenants, Christ's full humanity, the benefits given through Christ, salvation by grace rather than works, and grace and the human will, with David's reflection on how Jesus was tempted.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTchristsalvationcovenantsfree-will-and-sovereigntyhttps://davidvisser.ca/reading/bavinck-5-last-things/https://davidvisser.ca/reading/bavinck-5-last-things/Notes on the closing pages of Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics, pp. 731-754: the Old Testament as the shadow of the New, the resurrection body as the same body raised, and history as judgment, with David's musing on whether we keep our DNA.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTlast-thingscovenantshttps://davidvisser.ca/worth-knowing/biblical-people-groups/https://davidvisser.ca/worth-knowing/biblical-people-groups/A guide to the nations, tribes and groups of the Bible, from the Amalekites and Amorites to the Pharisees, Sadducees, Samaritans and Zealots, with a short note on who each group was.Fri, 12 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTscripture-and-revelationhttps://davidvisser.ca/worth-knowing/important-hebrew-words/https://davidvisser.ca/worth-knowing/important-hebrew-words/A short list of Hebrew words worth knowing, among them Adonai, YHWH, Elohim, Shalom, Torah, Chesed, Ruach and Mashiach, each with its meaning and a brief note on how it is used.Fri, 12 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTscripture-and-revelationgod-and-the-trinityhttps://davidvisser.ca/worth-knowing/church-historical-events/https://davidvisser.ca/worth-knowing/church-historical-events/A survey of key events in the history of the Reformed tradition, from the Edict of Milan and the Council of Nicaea through the Ninety-five Theses, Calvin's Institutes, Dort and Westminster to the Great Puritan Migration.Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTchurch-historyhttps://davidvisser.ca/worth-knowing/church-historical-figures/https://davidvisser.ca/worth-knowing/church-historical-figures/Short profiles of figures who shaped the Reformed tradition, from early influences such as Athanasius, Augustine and Wycliffe, through the Reformers Luther, Calvin and Knox, to the Puritans and later voices such as Bavinck, Packer and Sproul.Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTchurch-historyhttps://davidvisser.ca/worth-knowing/theological-terms/https://davidvisser.ca/worth-knowing/theological-terms/A glossary of theological terms: the branches of theology, the five points of Calvinism, covenant theology, the church, the end times, key Reformed concepts from sola fide to concupiscence, and the major theological and philosophical systems.Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTsalvationcovenantschurch-and-sacramentslast-thingshttps://davidvisser.ca/reading/bavinck-1-knowing-god/https://davidvisser.ca/reading/bavinck-1-knowing-god/Notes on Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics (abridged), pp. 8-148: theology grounded in revelation rather than experience, the limits of objectivity, Scripture as God's ongoing speech, faith and doubt, and the Spirit's inward certainty.Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTscripture-and-revelationgod-and-the-trinityapologeticshttps://davidvisser.ca/reading/bavinck-2-god-and-the-trinity/https://davidvisser.ca/reading/bavinck-2-god-and-the-trinity/Notes on Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics, pp. 158-257: God's attributes, time and eternity, sin as privation, God as truth, analogies for the Trinity and predestination, with David's notes on free will, honest speech and fairness.Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTgod-and-the-trinityfree-will-and-sovereigntycreation-and-providencehttps://davidvisser.ca/poetry/sanctification/https://davidvisser.ca/poetry/sanctification/A poem tracing a believer's walk from leaving a life of hate, through trials and distress on the path to heaven's gate, to a fearful confession before the Lord, who answers, “Did you not see I wanted you to run?”Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTsalvationchristian-lifehttps://davidvisser.ca/poetry/a-poem-for-every-book-of-the-bible/https://davidvisser.ca/poetry/a-poem-for-every-book-of-the-bible/Short rhymed poems for the books of the Old Testament, Genesis to Malachi, grouped as Law, History, Wisdom and Prophets, each followed by a brief commentary on the book's message and how it points to Christ.Mon, 08 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMTscripture-and-revelationchristcovenantshttps://davidvisser.ca/questions/open-questions/https://davidvisser.ca/questions/open-questions/Questions David has not found satisfying answers to: where Scripture says we will be of higher stature than Adam and Eve before the fall, whether sin is more fluid than its familiar categories, and how unequal circumstances can be fair if man must choose God.Sat, 27 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTfree-will-and-sovereigntysin-and-temptationlast-thingssalvationhttps://davidvisser.ca/essays/the-perfect-vase/https://davidvisser.ca/essays/the-perfect-vase/David pictures creation as a flawless vase broken by an outside force, and argues that humanity, made in God's image with the ability to withstand any pressure or yield to it, was not made imperfect by being able to deviate.Tue, 16 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTcreation-and-providencesin-and-temptationfree-will-and-sovereigntyhttps://davidvisser.ca/essays/gambling/https://davidvisser.ca/essays/gambling/David argues that gambling addiction is better understood as overwhelming sin, namely greed, pride and the love of worldly pleasure, than as an addiction, and that even casual gambling is a gateway to temptation that Christians should guard against.Thu, 04 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTethicssin-and-temptationchristian-lifehttps://davidvisser.ca/essays/17-arguments-supporting-gods-existence/https://davidvisser.ca/essays/17-arguments-supporting-gods-existence/David lists seventeen arguments for God's existence, beginning with the Forest Argument, that every answer to the question rests first on faith, and moving through the cosmological, moral, ontological and fine-tuning arguments to the argument from brokenness.Tue, 02 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTapologeticscreation-and-providencehttps://davidvisser.ca/essays/what-is-perfection/https://davidvisser.ca/essays/what-is-perfection/David argues that perfection is freedom from sin, that it belongs to intent rather than to objects, achievements or outward actions, and that real change comes from the disposition of the heart: searching it, praying for help and fixing our gaze on Christ.Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTsin-and-temptationchristian-life