Jack Smith

1/2 of Ryle and Jack on Substack.

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

I recently had the joy of going on a podcast to talk about some things I’m learning/field some questions in Church History. Praying it serves peers wrestling through these things. Check it out!

(Don’t be distressed by the AI thumbnail!)

https://t.co/Cawa6ADxuo

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

Absolute treat watching him play. There will never be another player who comes close 🐐

[FOX Sports @FOXSports]

FIFA WORLD CUP HAT TRICK FOR MESSI! 🇦🇷

Lionel Messi ties Miroslav Klose for the most goals in Men’s FIFA World Cup history with 16 🐐

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

https://t.co/l68M71uj4a

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

I recently wrote a research paper on Vatican II. The purpose of this paper was not primarily to critique (although I do have critiques), but to understand the theology of the council—and how it is both affected by, and a response to modernity. Hope this serves whoever may read!

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

https://t.co/dfPnHB1WzA

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

@RickyAlcantar I love seeing SGC on Substack! I especially appreciated the episode overview on this post. It could serve both as a primer if read before watching an episode, and as a spark-notes type summary after watching, helping to find highlights from the episode easier than timestamps.

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

https://t.co/Tyw8cWjZc8

@gavinortlund

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

I recently had the joy of going on a podcast to talk about some things I’m learning/field some questions in Church History. Praying it serves peers wrestling through these things. Check it out!

(Don’t be distressed by the AI thumbnail!)

https://t.co/Cawa6ADxuo

[The Gospel Coalition @TGC]

The message of Good Friday:

“The blood of the lamb silences the accuser.”

—D. A. Carson

[Bob Kauflin @bkauflin]

Finally got around to writing a few thoughts on my recent hospital stay.

https://t.co/Sxysq32UXc

[Tony Reinke @TonyReinke]

Justin Taylor: “As you turn eighty this year, which feels like a milestone, none of us knows our day or our hour, but statistically you will be seeing Jesus sooner rather than later. What is that experience like now in your eighties, contemplating seeing him face to face?”

John Piper (today): “He sees to it that it stays real, because I had a heart attack last July and got three stents in here now. And I think this black eye right here is owing to blood thinners. I’m on two blood thinners and I woke up the other morning and said, ‘What’s that?’ And I went to ChatGPT. [Laughter] Doctor Chat! [Laughter] It said, number one, age. [Laughter] Thin skin. Number two, blood thinners. Anyway, the point is, God keeps me on the brink of eternity. I look at that and think, what if it covered my face!? And that’s a great place to live. On the edge of eternity. … So the effect being old has is that it forces me to demand from the Lord that he be real. ‘I want you to be *starkly real* so that in the moment of death there’s no question, there’s no doubt, there’s no fear. And the meeting on the other side would not be totally surprising.’ … I didn’t use to plead like this when I was 40. But I plead for a kind of stark, present, precious, spiritual sense of the Lord’s reality, and that’s a wonderful thing to be driven to day after day, so that my devotions now are of a special order of urgency day by day.”

#coramdeopascon

[Gavin Ortlund @gavinortlund]

A little knowledge of church history challenges Protestantism. A deep, realistic, capacious engagement with church history commends it.

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

I continue to read Bavinck, and continue to learn a lot!

https://t.co/heAjvBYfeH

[Jared Mellinger @JMellinger]

Gavin is out here doing such good work. Twitter is not worthy.

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

I recently read Herman Bavinck’s Prolegomena, and wrote about what I learned.

https://t.co/3D9HCniWwH

[Mark Prater @markkprater]

Relay, a Sovereign Grace conference for those 18-30, begins today in Glen Mills, PA. Please pray that God would work powerfully among the 3rd and 4th generations in our family of churches over the next 3 days.

[Tony Reinke @TonyReinke]

Algorithms and the Affections

John Piper (Nov. 2025): “If you had thought that your essence of humanness in the image of God was your reasoning capacity, over an ape or a porpoise, you’re in trouble. Because, guess what? ChatGPT is smarter than you are and more creative than you are in expressing things in language that is good. It can write prayers better than you can, and it can reason through hard problems better than you can. Therefore, there are people who are going to forsake the faith because they thought to be a human in the image of God was to be a reasoning person over against the animals, and they discovered a machine can do it better than they can. Crisis of faith. This to me is no crisis because of my Christian Hedonism. I do not think that my reasoning capacities are my essence. I think the soul’s capacity to delight in God is my essence. The soul’s capacity to enjoy God. No machine will ever enjoy, period. It will have the language of enjoyment. You can tell it to write a poem of enjoyment and it will use the language. That machine is not enjoying *her*. It’s not. It never will. Only human beings created in the image of God can enjoy God. Therefore, enjoyment matters. I mean, affections are who we are ultimately. The end of history, the end of creation, is not going to be merely rational creatures thinking rightly about God, little computers. It’s going to be people who are so perceptive spiritually of the glories of God that they are full of affections that are appropriate for those glories and can give expression to them. That’s what eternity will be.”

Source: Sovereign Grace Churches, Pastors Conference PreCon (November 2025)

[FIEC @theFIEC]

The truths of The Nicene Creed span not only time but also the globe. Hear its words spoken in languages from around the world. ⬇️
https://t.co/9ekOfgnRO0

[Steve Meister @SteveMeisterVDM]

“… drinking beer with friends is perhaps the most underestimated of all Reformation insights and essential to ongoing reform; and wasting time with a choice friend or two on a regular basis might be the best investment of time you ever make.”

- Carl Trueman

[The Gospel Coalition @TGC]

Our prayers are with the members of Grace Community Church following the loss of their pastor, John MacArthur.

[Jack Smith @jackpsmith_]

@RickyAlcantar @RichRichardson_ Just ordered a copy, can’t wait to read it!