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US Reformed News
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Pompey Didn’t Find A “God”
Even if an authenticated portrait of Jesus had survived, it could truthfully preserve the contours of His human face. But once presented as an image of Christ for worship, it would be asked to do what pigment cannot. Christ is not merely an extraordinary man who happens to share space with God. He is one... Continue Reading
What Should You Look for in a Church?
The early church devoted itself to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer (Acts 2:42). Those priorities remain essential. Many churches today treat worship and prayer too casually, acting as though just because Jesus is a Friend to sinners, that He can be approached casually. He is a holy God, and worship... Continue Reading
How to Sleep Like Jesus
How to sleep like Jesus is not a prescription for how many hours you need to sleep each night. It is about progressively transforming into someone who can entrust both their sleeping and their waking to God. If sleep doesn’t come, this perspective of trust allows you to pray openly and honestly to the Lord.... Continue Reading
How to Make Wise Decisions (Part 1)
The Hebrew word translated “heart” (leb) covers a much wider range of intellectual, emotional, and volitional activity, including deciding, loving, longing, and sorrowing. Your heart, in other words, is the part of you that imagines what is best for your life and acts accordingly. Your heart has the capacity to envision something—whether a marriage, career,... Continue Reading
How Should We Think About Meditation and Mindfulness?
A lot of the practices that go under the heading of meditation are things that essentially try to manipulate physiology, like postures and breathing techniques, to try to push away all the distractions, clear the mind, and get to a quiet headspace. Whereas the meditation commended in Scripture—in Psalm 1 and picked up by the... Continue Reading
The Evil of Progressive Theology: The Eunuch, Scripture, and Cultural Accommodation
Nothing in the text calls the eunuch transgender, homosexual, or “queer.” A eunuch was a recognizable social and courtly category in the ancient world; it is not a synonym for contemporary claims about sexual orientation or gender identity. Scripture nowhere invites readers to convert the eunuch’s status into an identity label unknown to the passage.... Continue Reading
How to Suffer in Hope
Suffering, Scripture reminds us, is never random, because the world is not random. Rather, suffering is, as John Flavel put it, God’s “workman,” accomplishing precisely what He, the wise Physician, intends. Further still, the Bible reminds us that God has put an expiration date on mourning and crying and pain (Rev. 21:4). As astonishing as... Continue Reading
Plant the Tree Today
There is an old story about an elderly man planting a fruit tree. A friend said, ‘Surely you realise you might not live long enough to eat its fruit?’ The old man replied, ‘All my life I have eaten fruit from trees I did not plant. I am planting this one for those who come... Continue Reading
The Treasure of the Ordinary
Week after week, the Spirit of Christ does His quiet work, and one day you look back and realize you are not who you were. Why would God work this way? Paul answers: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us”... Continue Reading
Beyond Moralism in Uniform: Why Chaplains Must First Be Theologians
Light sermons heal deep wounds lightly. When we stand before suffering people and give them five steps to a happier life, we aren’t offering good news. We’re just giving them more work to do. We tell wounded, exhausted souls to pull themselves together and try harder. In doing so, we become like Job’s friends, those... Continue Reading
What Is a Christian?
The believers in Antioch did not invent a label for themselves. Their neighbors watched their lives and found one. Christ people…Christians….What a beautiful name to bear! And if you bear it, what sort of Christian are you? The first Christians did not call themselves Christians. Other people did. The name seems to have begun... Continue Reading
Abraham, Part 8: Isaac Promised
We begin with a scene of hospitality, for which the Middle Eastern peoples are famous even today. Abraham is sitting in his tent door “in the heat of the day” when three men appear. The passage doesn’t say, but it’s clear that by the end of their conversation Abraham is aware that he’s talking to... Continue Reading
The Man In Ministry
Men of God who serve as undershepherds must live honorably. There should be a distinctiveness and an attractiveness to this man’s conduct and character. Without this honorable lifestyle, shame will come upon the man, the church, the gospel, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1. His HOLINESS God’s man must strive for holiness. No shortcuts... Continue Reading
Teaching the Church to Die Well
If people die the way they have been formed to live, then the church bears responsibility for that formation. Pastors help when they help people get real about life and death, making full use of the church’s culture-forming means of grace: the ministry of the Word, prayer, corporate worship, and the visitation of the sick. ... Continue Reading
Your Life is a Sermon
Your character is preaching a message, one way or another, as you go about your life each day. There is a way to live that will both display the truth about God and make the truth about God attractive. God saves us just as we are, but he is not content for us to... Continue Reading
Struggling with Besetting Sins with Confidence & Hope
Think of your besetting sins as opportunities for you to cry out to God for grace once more to be reminded of the gospel of God’s grace once more. Receive His grace over and over again, and delight in Him. This will hearten you in the ongoing struggle against your flesh. Besetting sins are... Continue Reading
Five Common Misunderstandings About Calvinism
If the doctrines of Calvinism are true, they leave us nothing to boast about and everything to praise God for. We preach because God saves through the gospel. We pursue holiness because He chose us to be holy. We come willingly to Christ because grace has made unwilling sinners willing. And we love because He... Continue Reading
Luke and Psalm 118
There’s a genius to Luke’s literary layering. I suspect he learned that from paying attention to Jesus’ teaching as it was reported to him. Luke’s gospel is full of references to the Psalms. In Jesus’ thesis statement for hermeneutical endeavour in Luke 24 he speaks of Moses and the Prophets, a typical Hebrew form... Continue Reading
What If AI Devastates the World?
“Fear reveals my heart to me. It shows me what I idolize, who I trust, and where my treasure is. So whether or not these AI prophecies are just a bunch of fear-mongering or actually hold some merit, they are worth paying attention to. Or rather, paying attention to what kind of response wells up... Continue Reading
The Vindication and Slander of Burk Parsons
Since the force of ecclesiastical discipline depends significantly on “the approbation of an impartial public,” the PCA would do well to ensure its appeals process considers how the prevalence of errors affects confidence in the justness and reliability of our judicial processes and church censures. Last week, the Standing Judicial Commission (SJC) of the... Continue Reading
What Do You Really Want?
Numbers 11 invites us to ask some uncomfortable questions. Have I become so focused on what I don’t have that I’ve stopped noticing what God has already given me? Have I begun to believe that getting one particular thing will bring me the contentment I should be finding in God himself? “Then they believed... Continue Reading
Tov: Reconsidering Sacrifice with the Lens of Goodness in Genesis
As we look at our own lives and our own “sacrifices”—our service, our tithes, our worship—Genesis 4 reminds us that God isn’t impressed by the material gift if our life is not aligned with him. But more importantly, Genesis 4 points us toward the hope that where our moral alignment fails, God himself provides the... Continue Reading
Fear of Rejection
Life is risky. Community is risky. Love is risky. But God has not called us to protect ourselves from every possibility of pain. He has called us to love. And love necessarily makes us vulnerable. Sometimes people are afraid of being known because they fear rejection. But how do we grow if we are... Continue Reading
A Marvelous Preservation
Chapter 5 of the Scots Confession is a magnificent anchor for the anxious Christian. The survival of the kirk does not depend on our political savvy, our cultural influence, or our moral perfection. It depends entirely on the unbreakable promise of God. He has preserved His church through the darkest nights of human history, and... Continue Reading
The Peace of God
Life can sometimes hit us with unexpected challenges or heart aches, life can change on a dime, family and friends can disappoint us, money can be tight, and yet there is a peace that can carry us through regardless. God is willing to give the love, the joy, the peace always which He gives... Continue Reading
Are You a Contentious Wife?
Jesus Christ saves contentious women. He forgives sinful words, cleanses bitter hearts, and breaks the grip of pride and control. Through His Spirit, a woman can put off the habits that tear down her home and become the wife who fears the Lord, guards her tongue, does her husband good, and builds her house. ... Continue Reading
What Does the Promised Land Promise to Christians Today?
The Promised Land is important because it reveals God’s heart to live with us. It helps us understand the storyline of Scripture. And it points us to Jesus and the kingdom of God. But Christians are not ultimately waiting to return to Israel. As you read the Old Testament, you can’t help but be... Continue Reading
3 Questions to Help Parents Know Which Hill to Die On
Identifying the deeper, heart-level issue will help you know if this particular thing is really worth standing firm on, or whether you can let it go. “Are we going to die on this hill?” My wife and I often ask this question to each other. Quite often in fact. Children grow, and as they... Continue Reading
Christian Women and the Poison of Porn
You need the bold and clear truth of Scripture. Christ overcame the world by love for his elect and by endurance of suffering. Because of this, and in the power of the Holy Spirit’s grace and Christ’s resurrection, the elect will overcome sin by love for Christ and the endurance of the ongoing battle between... Continue Reading
You Must Go On. You Can’t Go On. You Will Go On
God brings His people to do what they do not have the power to do themselves and God’s people choose to respond, knowing they can’t, but trusting that somehow—in some way—God will meet them with the power they need. You have hit the wall. Your resources have been spent. Small, so very small, you... Continue Reading
Separating Love of Sin from Proud Argument
If we recognize that the arguments are clever ways that a man will “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1.18), then his position is exposed as weak and foolish. He simply wants to sin on his own terms, or at best to defy God and make himself the measure of all things, which is sacrilege,... Continue Reading
Desperate Dads, Faithful Father
You don’t know what God’s will for your future is. You have no idea how he will direct your steps or guide you through this desperate situation. You don’t know what your children will face, how your family will change, or what tomorrow will bring. But there’s one thing you do know: God is for... Continue Reading
On Being Greatly Loved
We can feel so undeserving of God’s love. We can doubt how He would see us as being precious in His sight, or treasured, or highly esteemed. But that IS how He views His children. That is His take on us. Such is His deep, deep love. I have again just been through the... Continue Reading
Christ, Our Attention
When we think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy, we are thinking about things that derive from their source. These are all streams back to the fountain. They all lead to Christ. Attention isn’t the answer. Christ is. Attention draws the human gaze habitually to Him. It’s hard... Continue Reading
Unbound Reality: Divine Omnipresence, Eternity, and Infinity
We live in a culture wracked by temporal panic. We look in the mirror and watch our bodies age. We watch our children grow up too quickly, we grieve lost opportunities, and we dread what tomorrow’s doctor visit or financial report might bring. We are constantly tormented by regrets from our past and terror of... Continue Reading
Spiritual Exhaustion and the Temptation to Deism: An Addendum to My Personal Testimony of Burnout
And unlike Deism, with its indifferent god in the heavens, Orthodoxy tells us that Christ came down and suffered too, that by so doing he might suffer with and for his people, and redeem the whole creation from the bondage in which it is ensnared. Not only that, but it endorses the feelings of sorrow... Continue Reading
How Critical Theory Has Affected Modern Education
Perhaps no author has more thoroughly applied a generally (Marxist-inspired) oppressor-oppressed vision of the world to education than Paulo Freire (1921–1997), especially in his work ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’. Freire began this key book by talking about “humanization,” which is the goal over against “dehumanization”—and this “dehumanization” is brought by the oppressor against the oppressed.... Continue Reading
When Love and faithfulness Cause Offense
Family members who don’t attend a same-sex wedding are often shamed by the world, extended family, their own children, and even by confused Christians. But as with other high-stakes scenarios where trust in the Lord is the only thing to which Christians can cling, these believers will never be put to shame. Their conviction and... Continue Reading
Not Old, Not Young, Not Done: Why the Church Needs Christians Who Still Have Plenty Left in the Tank
Think what a Christian in their sixties may possess – decades of answered prayer, experience of suffering, wisdom learned through failure, knowledge of marriage and family life, experience of church conflict, deeper awareness of personal sin, and years of seeing the faithfulness of God. Why would the church want to put all of that on... Continue Reading
The Beautiful Complexity of the Human Eye
Optimization means “the act, process, or methodology of making something (such as a design, system, or decision) as fully perfect, functional, or effective as possible.” Undoubtedly, the design of the human eye satisfies this definition. Contrary to evolutionary thought, the human eye, with its precise design, splendour, beauty, and perfection affirms an intelligent Designer. ... Continue Reading
What Do Pastors Do With All Their Time?
In any given week, most full-time pastors won’t be able to get away with less than 10 to 12 hours of sermon preparation, another 6 of further study and prayer, 10 hours of training, discipling, evangelising, counselling and following up with members, and another 12 of general administration. That puts him at 40 hours, not... Continue Reading
Five Things Reformed Christians Can Learn from Heinrich Bullinger
Bullinger feared that Calvin’s teaching that God ordained Adam’s fall made God responsible for sin, though both men denied that God is the author of sin. Their friendship had to bear the weight of that disagreement. We can pursue agreement on a particular doctrine without demanding agreement on everything at once or turning our backs... Continue Reading
Remember the Sabbath: Israel’s Covenant Sign Fulfilled in Christ, Part 3
The New Testament shows that the early church congregated together on the first day of the week for worship on what they called “the Lord’s Day” (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; cf. Rev. 1:10). Never did the first Christians designate the Lord’s Day “the Sabbath,” for Sabbaths ended with the coming of Christ who cast... Continue Reading
You Do Not Need an Infallible Church to Be Saved
An infallible Church would not make you infallible. One of the things that can happen when people believe their Church is infallible is that they begin to act as though they themselves are infallible. They probably would not say it that way, but that is how the claim can function. It is something like rooting... Continue Reading
The Nightclub Church
When the church decides to be something other than she is—a nightclub venue, for example—she faces fierce competition and is doomed to lose. The secular world does these things so much better than the church. The problem the Church of England faces with both personnel and space all comes down to the same thing: a... Continue Reading
Virginia’s November Vote and the Sanctity of Life
A relatively narrow majority of legislators and voters can use the constitutional process to bind future generations of Virginians to a constitutional right to abortion. Once abortion is established as a fundamental constitutional right, future legislatures will have to operate underneath that right. Even Virginians who might someday want reasonable or moderate protections for unborn... Continue Reading
Why We Need “Cultural Christianity”
We already have reason to desire the restraint of evil because we love God and care about His honor, and because we love our neighbors and do not want them to endure the misery produced by unrestrained sin. But even on the question of whether moral restraint helps or hinders evangelism, the case for celebrating... Continue Reading
SJC Issues Decision in TE Burk Parsons’ Appeal
In accordance with the Operating Manual of the Standing Judicial Commission 17.2, the SJC voted to announce the decision immediately to the parties. That step completed, the decision is now considered public information. The Standing Judicial Commission of the PCA has rendered a final decision in the Appeal of TE Burk Parsons vs. Central... Continue Reading
Christ, Discernment, and the Church’s Witness in a Post-Truth World
Christian discernment finally carries a face, and that face belongs to Jesus. He functions as considerably more than the source of a reliable set of religious answers available for consultation. He stands as the Truth in person, the faithful image of the Father, the one in whom reality itself is revealed and restored to what... Continue Reading
Is Predestination Fair?
His parable of the laborers in the vineyard in Matthew 20 illustrates that God is always fair and that sometimes he’s undeservedly kind. He tells a story about a landowner who hired people to work in the vineyard. Early in the morning, the landowner hired laborers who agreed to work all day for a denarius... Continue Reading
Behold Your Triune God: The Doctrine of the Trinity
There is one God in three persons, and the persons are distinguished by their relations of origin. The Father is unbegotten, the Son is eternally begotten, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father (and the Son)… this complexity should not drive us to throw up our hands and not even try to understand our God,... Continue Reading
Disordered Wantings
His hands may be clean while his heart is crowded with forbidden desires. That is because the commandment reaches behind our conduct and descends all the way into our appetites. It does not merely ask whether we have taken what God has forbidden; it asks whether we have begun to crave what God has not... Continue Reading
The Syrophoenician Woman
Many believers today carry prayers that remain unanswered. A loved one who has not yet come to Christ. A disability that persists. A relationship that needs healing. A burden that feels heavy. This woman’s story reminds us that faith often endures even when answers do not come right away. “Even the dogs under the... Continue Reading
Ten Reasons to Stop Talking
We instinctively think that conversations are all about us, as we try to create our ideal selves with our words. But the more we speak without thinking, the further that image moves away from reality, until the people dear to us don’t actually know our true selves. Indeed, we may even fail ourselves to recognise... Continue Reading
Invite God into Your Anxieties
“Please, tell me,” God says. “What is truly on your heart? What fears and anxieties run deep in you?” You might be reluctant to respond at first. Anxiety tends to turn inward, so you are not accustomed to just speaking about them to God. If you pray, you might only ask that they be taken... Continue Reading
God’s Will: Our Strength
Paul encourages Timothy to proclaim this gospel that brings others into newness of life. And that should be our goal as well: to proclaim the good news of Christ Jesus as the only way to receive new life. For the gospel is the power of God for salvation (Rom 1:16). The gospel transforms lives, giving... Continue Reading
Hard Cases No. 2: No Time to Talk
Churches need to have care and consideration for physical things like buildings, process things like financial controls, and personal things like staffing and administration. You can’t neglect these things and still seek to be faithful. In fact, some elders boards get intro trouble because they don’t care at all about balance sheets, building issues, and... Continue Reading
Toxic Idolatry
We have found new ways to provoke the Lord to jealousy, countless ways. Pick any of the Ten Commandments and someone has made it virtually their hobby to break it—and that’s normal! 1 Corinthians 10:14–22 (ESV) Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The... Continue Reading
Fame, Fame, Fame
Our tendency is to believe that the aura which fame bestows on a person makes them virtuous in every regard. A famous athlete, renowned for their skill and self-discipline, becomes in our minds an expert in the art of life. Even when we explicitly tell ourselves that this is silly, we still seem to believe... Continue Reading
Is Scripture the Ultimate Authority?
Whether the Bible clearly affirms Apostolic succession is open to dispute, and controversy continues as to exactly what Jesus meant at Caesarea Philippi when He said that He would build His church on the rock. We do know that there was a delegation process. Christ is the delegated Apostle par excellence, as was shown when... Continue Reading
Random Trials
You may think that your trial is some kind of record-setting ultimate test, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Take heart; the universe is not... Continue Reading
Helping Mom with the Dishes
Working hard at your job, becoming skilled at your craft, and being diligent in your duties changes the world. Worshiping, studying, and praying change the world. Showing hospitality changes the world. Forgiving one another and pursuing reconciliation make the world a better place. Helping Mom with the dishes is the kind of cleanup operation we... Continue Reading
Bits of Wisdom from Houses of Mourning
These truths arrested my attention in full when I read the words of a decoration in one of the houses mentioned above: “Good morning. This is God. I will be handling all your problems today.” How God sometimes handles the problems of sin is terrible to consider. The lifeless sinners come to know a horrific... Continue Reading
My Father Can Do It: Praying Like an Autistic Child
The greater my dependence grows on my heavenly Father, the more I find my prayers becoming like my children’s requests: simple, persistent, and believing. Rather than setting out long times for prayer, my prayers become continuous throughout the day. Vacillating between adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and requests, it just flows out and becomes the air that... Continue Reading
We Do Know God’s Will for Our Lives
If a decision had to be made between a choice that was sinful and a choice that was not sinful, the people were to choose the not sinful choice. Should I start worshipping Molech? No, that’s idolatry—that’s clearly not God’s will for me to do. When it came to a decision between two non-sinful choices... Continue Reading
You Need to Talk to Someone
In the midst of a loneliness epidemic and a national mental health crisis, we need healthy mediating institutions. I don’t mean massive bureaucracies, but churches that function properly and safely as the body of Christ. Mental health centers that practice with an aim toward the whole person, including the soul. But I especially see the... Continue Reading
On Being “Mentally Tough” Christians
As we strive for holiness in a godless world—and to be “mentally tough”, empower by the Holy Spirit—we must remember our convictions. Christians of conviction are desperately needed today. Compromise is happening all around us. This is because society is bombarding us at every corner and pressuring professing Christians to cave, to comprise, to throw... Continue Reading
Ruin Your Life in Three Easy Steps
Be warned, Psalm 1 shows how an ungodly king ruins his life. But allegiance to Christ will ruin your life in the eyes of those who are hellbent on truly ruining theirs. You either ruin your life by rejecting Christ, or you ruin it (according to degenerate inmates of the asylum of sin) by becoming all about... Continue Reading
What’s The First Thing We Should Do in Difficulty or Blessing?
Notice how often we are directed to pray first and to pray continually. How often instead do we pray last and pray rarely! In James we are directed to how we pray for ourselves. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. (James 5:13 ESV) At times of our affliction,... Continue Reading
Reading Scripture Panoramically
A close grammatical-historical reading of the Bible is good and necessary. But to apply this approach myopically as your only tool when other options are available to you—panoramic options that allow you to pursue broader avenues of inquiry and unearth more fruitful insights—is, frankly, a dereliction of exegetical duty. A grammatical-historical approach to Bible... Continue Reading
Should Christians Eat Halal Meat?
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). That is the question that should govern far more than our dinner plate. When Christians disagree about alcohol, entertainment, schooling, holidays, clothing, cultural practices, food, or countless other matters of conscience, the ultimate question is not... Continue Reading
The Gospel Pattern for Forgiveness
Scripture is very clear about how and why God forgives. We’ve been gifted with a clear pattern to follow. While our forgiveness can never mirror His perfectly, it can reflect Him beautifully. If I woke up one morning to a text message from my husband saying, “Need some me time. In Vegas for a... Continue Reading
On the Lindsay Clancy Saga
“There must be a consequence for strangling three children. Why is this a statement that evokes mass societal discord? When society cannot agree on a common set of facts and a common set of morals, I worry grievously for our future.” (Kayleigh McEnany) The trial in Massachusetts over the woman who killed her three... Continue Reading
The First Gospel: On the Revelation of the Promise (Scots Confession, Chapter 4)
Chapter 4 of the Scots Confession is a powerful reminder of the unbreakable faithfulness of God. For the persecuted Protestants of 1560 Scotland, this doctrine was an anchor in a raging storm. When they faced the fire, the sword, and the terrifying power of the French Catholic armies, they were not resting their hopes on... Continue Reading
When Should We Pray?
Our souls are untrained in how to pray. We neglect Him in the easy days, and we do not learn the language of Zion, making it harder to access Him when the waters are boiling. “Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found. Surely in a... Continue Reading
Yes, God is Anti-Gay
You are not who you feel you are. You are who God says you are. Neither your flesh nor your feelings determine your identity. God does, and He created you male or female. Is God anti-gay? Yes, God is anti-gay. The God of the Bible is anti-gay, and the gods of this world are... Continue Reading
Ambassadors for Christ in the Age of Re-Enchantment
As Western culture continues to embrace paganism and becomes more re-enchanted with paganism, the rude treatment towards Christians and individual churches will likely become all the more prevalent. But we as Christians are bound to behave like Christians, with genuine love for the lost, and not like the world that rejects Christ. By all... Continue Reading
Incarnation & Exaltation
Jesus’ exaltation confirms to us what our hearts know. God is God, and He is our God. His word is His bond. He will fulfill all His covenant promises to us. It was utterly shocking. The way the common person would respond to seeing this guy–he’s just a musician! C’mon, folks. Settle down. Displaying... Continue Reading
What’s Gone Wrong If a Christian Isn’t Thriving?
Is not heaven transcendently excellent? And is it not excellent to be heavenly minded, and conversant in heaven? This is the way to be free of the encumbrances of an evil world. A Christian believer belongs to heaven and should live in the awareness of heavenly realities, with one eye fixed on Jesus there... Continue Reading
Promises Rooted in Grace (Genesis 12:1-6)
We, too, are pilgrims in this land. We, too, are to be sustained by the promises of Yahweh. Every command in the Bible implies the promise of strength to do as He directs. In 1678 the Baptist preacher, John Bunyan, wrote the allegory ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’. He wrote it while he was in prison,... Continue Reading
The Importance of Justice
One needs to look not just at the book of Proverbs but the rest of biblical revelation to seek to get the full biblical picture on how we are to understand things like justice, retribution and rewards and punishments. The Bible makes it clear that justice is a major attribute of God. Numerous texts... Continue Reading
Those Who Hope Are Transformed
The Apostle John does not beat around the bush—he writes to give hope: “And everyone who thus hopes…” (1 John 3:3). When John describes the promise of God to be fulfilled when Christ returns, he’s calling us to hope! Most Christians I know have felt stuck in their walk with God at one point... Continue Reading
Abraham, Part 7: Implemented
Despite the repeated promise of Isaac, Abraham still wishes that the Covenant child could be Ishmael, whom he loves, of course, as his son. But God’s plan is that Isaac will be the heir. God knows Abraham’s fears, and He hears even misguided prayers. I’ve suggested that Abraham has acted in good faith. But... Continue Reading
The Trouble with Ai
God points out to Joshua the litany of sin that Achan enacted: “Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions” (Joshua 7:11). The question we have to... Continue Reading
Why Does the Church Exist? (Part 2)
The church exists to equip God’s people to speak and be grace where God has placed us for His glory. As we gather together that’s our goal…to live for God’s glory in every situation. We’re going to hover a drone over the letter of Paul to the Ephesians and see what he says to... Continue Reading
How Scammers Are Targeting Christian Authors
What’s the scam? If you were to reply, you would soon be asked for money—money to market your book, translate it, or include it in a book club. The request is unlikely to be for vast sums, though it will be enough for you to feel it, especially since you will either get nothing in... Continue Reading
Raising A Generation Of Illiterate Graduates
America’s education system is currently in the middle of a historic crisis. Proficiency is at an all-time low, but the graduation rate is at an all-time high. This is because public schools are incentivized to prioritize federal funding over student needs. I was shocked on the first day of school last year to learn... Continue Reading
Christian Nationalism and the Local Church
The Reformed doctrines of total depravity, sanctification, and creation supply needed guardrails—exposing “water hazards” like Kinism and race realism promoted by some thinkers in the Christian Nationalism camp. As this series wraps up the question is being asked, “How does the Church stay on the fairway?” Or how does the Church navigate Christian Nationalism... Continue Reading
Why Creation Matters, Part 12: Pauline Epistles 2
Paul cites the creation order as the ground for head coverings and church leadership. He shows that the God who spoke light into darkness is the one who can still speak spiritual light into darkened hearts. Paul cites Creation theology in three more passages, two of them on the same subject. 1 Corinthians 11.9,... Continue Reading
Modesty Reconsidered: Why Evangelicals Need a Robust Theology of the Body
Rather than offering a list of dos and don’ts concerning bathing suit style, high heels, and strapless dresses, “Theology of the Body” offers a theological account of modesty grounded in presenting and defending the value of the image-bearing person against humanity’s tendency to reduce others to their instrumentality as a bodily object. While the... Continue Reading
Hallowed Be Thy Name
The third commandment is meant to govern our conduct whenever we “lift up” the name of God by using it—and even more so when we dare to take His name upon ourselves, bearing it like a banner over our whole lives….It is a general prohibition, binding on all, that forbids blasphemy, irreverence, and “empty speech”... Continue Reading
Conscience in a Compromising Age
Instead of worrying about the consequences of uncompromising obedience, we must remember that Jesus has forever secured for us the only thing we could truly never do without: our Father’s loving care. Satan’s sneering refrain “If you are the Son of God . . .” (Matt. 4:3, 6) insidiously suggested that the Father had lied... Continue Reading
Concerns
God does not call us to suspend discernment. Yet we must also remember that not everything is as it first appears. We rarely possess all the facts, and even facts require interpretation. Our own assumptions, biases, incomplete information, and misperceptions can easily lead us astray. This is why Scripture repeatedly calls us to patience, humility,... Continue Reading
Exercising the Right to Withdraw
Although the Presbytery is prevented from taking action during the dismissal process, there are exceptions. Paragraph A of G.5-10 provides that the withdrawal process does not “prohibit the presbytery from taking action under the book of discipline on matters unrelated to the dismissal.” In other words, Teaching Elders are expected to fulfill the terms of... Continue Reading
General Assembly Responds to Dissent Regarding Overture 37
The General Assembly has correctly decided that, with respect to the question of whether women may hold the office of deacon, the PCA’s Constitution is both biblically faithful and constitutionally sufficient. The office of deacon is open to men only (BCO 7-2). The polity of the PCA already authorizes the session to select and appoint godly... Continue Reading
Do You Recognize How Destructive Your Words Can Be?
I used to watch our children make objects out of modeling clay. With their fingers, they would mold a formless blob into different shapes. They would cut and stick and press, and something new was born. We do that to each other with our words. We each go through life with the capacity to be... Continue Reading
The Great C/Omission And What To Do About It
A church that recovers the ability to make disciples recovers the very engine of its own renewal and its capacity to bear faithful witness in a watching world. A church that continues to drift on this front will continue to wonder why its influence shrinks even as its programs multiply. The moment calls for metanoia.... Continue Reading
Generosity as Witness
Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Our tangible love for others witnesses to the gospel truth that Christ loves us and died for us. This is explicitly related to what 1 John 3:17–18 says: “But if anyone has the... Continue Reading
Jesus: End, Agent, Sustainer
This is what makes Jesus so special: He is the reason for each and every thing that has been created. Since Jesus is the end of all creation, everything exists for the goal of glorifying Him. This was the Father’s gift to the Son. He did not have to make the world, but He did... Continue Reading
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