It seems that most people instinctively want to pair up Good Events with Good Behavior and Bad Events with Sinful Behavior in a flat one to one relationship. I sin, I am punished with some bad event. I am good, I am rewarded with some nice occurrence. Now while that may be true for puppies... Continue Reading

“By New Radical standards, we moms aren’t Christian enough unless we’re serving at a soup kitchen in the inner city or adopting orphans from Ethiopia.”  That is a stark, but accurate assessment of the implications of New Radical thought for Christian mothers. I would add that marriage and family precludes most Christian fathers from “radical”... Continue Reading

All teens need to be taught by their parents, teachers, pastors and mentors that their sexual desires are not their identity, nor do they need to be controlled by them. Who we are is so much greater than our appetites, sexual or otherwise. And all of us can learn, by God’s grace, to master and... Continue Reading

There are lots of sin bombs in life we could address, but it’s the one in your own backyard that has the greatest likelihood of wounding you or those to whom you are most obligated to advocate for. This is a bomb, planted firmly in the backyard of the house that is the young, restless,... Continue Reading

Besides driving each other crazy, we are also robbing our brains of critical downtime that encourages creative thinking when we skip weekends and vacations. At extreme levels of exhaustion, rest-deprived brains experience memory loss and hallucinations. But without regular rest, brains fail at more basic tasks…. taking breaks makes you more focused when you work.... Continue Reading

Tuesday’s vote revealed a moral rift not only in Britain’s social fabric but also in Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party. While Cameron supported the bill, 133 Conservatives did not. Their opposition wasn’t enough to derail the bill, which passed 366-161. It must still receive approval from the House of Lords, where a second reading... Continue Reading

The purpose is to learn about the day-to-day work of these pastors. Each gathering will consist of 9-11 pastors serving in churches between 100-200 members. The time will be spent in a group discussion about some of the unique aspects of solo and assistant/associate pastoral ministry in small churches.   Joel Hathaway, Director of Alumni... Continue Reading

The alarmed critics of the Ritalin disaster are now getting support from an entirely different side. The German weekly Der Spiegel quoted in its cover story on 2 February 2012 the US American psychiatrist Leon Eisenberg, born in 1922 as the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, who was the “scientific father of ADHD” and who... Continue Reading

God doesn’t need us. He’s managed to achieve quite a bit without our help, thank you very much. In his kindness he allows us to participate in his mission. Let’s strive for excellence. But more importantly, let’s place our confidence in the God who does great things through weakness.   I’m a big fan of... Continue Reading

At the start of May, Union University was graced with the presence of notable evangelical theologians who commented on the issues of homosexuality, marriage, the church, and society. Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore joined the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Robert Gagnon at Union’s conference, “Salt and Light in the Public Square: Charles Colson’s Legacy and Vision.”... Continue Reading

Rarely would any person develop a taste for either sour pickles or vegemite later in life. But if introduced to either one in childhood, they have the appetite for it the rest of their lives and view it as perfectly normal to eat. So it is also true with the Word of God. It is... Continue Reading

As we pen lyrics and select songs to sing for our services, let us ask the question of “Is the music used for worship a worthy vehicle to carry the weight of God’s glory?” Everything done from Creation to the return of our Savior has all been orchestrated to bring glory and honor to the... Continue Reading

But Scripture’s command to practice hospitality is not merely to women. In fact, when we look at Scripture, it is almost always the men – the husbands – who are directing the hospitality. This is true from Abraham (Gen. 18:6-7) to Manoah (Judges 13:15)  to Boaz (Ruth 2:14) to Gaius (Rom. 16:23), with a few... Continue Reading

Whether I follow Christ’s or Paul’s example, the spiritual redemption of man is still the primary emphasis. I do believe the church is to continue the ministry of Christ on earth for we are called “the body of Christ,” but this ministry is primarily spiritual and secondarily physical.  Because of these truths, my primary goal... Continue Reading

Far too many of us are engaged in the pursuit of happiness to the exclusion of the pursuit of significance. Our mission projects and trips should remind us of what life in the Kingdom is supposed to look like. It is less about us and more about others; focused not on what we want, but... Continue Reading

Until Moorhead’s volume, the only extended history of PTS was David Calhoun’s two-volume Princeton Seminary (1996). However, Calhoun’s superb work only covered Old Princeton, from its founding in 1812 until its reorganization in 1929. Moorhead’s work fills the gap by offering a history of the seminary in its entirety. His excellently researched volume has much... Continue Reading

A review of Echoes of Eden might seem unnecessary when you consider two factors. First, it’s written by Jerram Barrs, founder of the Francis Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Second, Tim Keller has identified the book as “the most accessible, readable, and theologically robust work on Christianity and the arts.”... Continue Reading

The transition plan is expected to begin in September, with the search for replacements beginning Jan. 1, 2014. A new coordinator, it is believed, will be hired between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2014.  In a letter to MTW missionaries, Paul Kooistra said, “My desire and prayer is that we bathe this entire process, maybe... Continue Reading

At an ARP historical conference in 2003 I presented a paper on the theological and confessional history of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in the twentieth century.  … The article will, I think, be of interest not only to ARPs but also to those who seek a better understanding of how the ARPC differs from... Continue Reading

There was a growing disparity between the public persona and the private man. There was a growing disconnect between the faith statements he made from up front and the thinking that ruled his heart. He carried with him the dirty secret that many pastors carry; the one that is so hard for a “man of... Continue Reading

An Apology Humble pie time. In previous articles I was somewhat critical of the commission set up by the Church of Scotland to conduct an inquiry into the issues raised by the appointment of ministers in same sex partnerships. I thought they would achieve nothing and end up with a fudge. I was wrong. So... Continue Reading

This understanding of the victorious Christian life can only be sustained by an unfortunate misreading of Paul’s description of the Christian life as it unfolds in Romans chapters 6-8. This conception of the Christian life is framed by a combination of decisional regeneration, dispensational eschatology, and Keswick, Wesleyan, or mystical versions of the Christian life,... Continue Reading

Adger’s experience in Turkey was remarkably painful and would have driven your ordinary young and restless Calvinist to Joel Osteen. Three infants died during his tenure, and his wife also almost lost her life. Adger himself might have thought his days were numbered when he contracted small pox “of the confluent kind.” I brought along... Continue Reading

It’s vital that we understand prayer in terms of the qualifications that are found throughout the Bible. By considering the scope of the Bible’s teaching on this subject, we may conclude that it is acceptable to bring all our cares to God, including matters that may move us to frustration or anger. However, we must... Continue Reading

 Am I an “inevitable-ist” — (“It’s going to happen no matter what!”)? Or am I a faithful prayer warrior? — Am I a “culturalist” — (“Whatever! Live and let live!”)? Or am I truly a “people of His own”? — Am I an “evangelist” — (“I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for... Continue Reading

While the fact itself is true—early Christians did read and use many writings not in the canon—the conclusions often drawn from this fact are often not. When scholars mention the Christian use of non-canonical writings, two facts are often left out: 1. The manner of citation. … 2. Frequency of citation. …  Full blog series can be... Continue Reading

Kara said many churches are built on how together they are, how good they look, how together the members are. “Within our new congregation, four people have cancer, one woman’s aunt was murdered, another was robbed at gunpoint, five were in the fire and one woman lost her home. So, our little community has really... Continue Reading

Schori: Salvation comes not from being cleansed of our sins by the atoning sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, but through the divinization of humanity through the work of the human will. “We are here, among all the other creatures of God’s creation, to be transformed into the glory intended from the beginning.    The Presiding... Continue Reading

The recent focus on urban church-planting is a necessary corrective to the flight of Evangelicals to the suburbs in many North American contexts, but must not become an overreaction in a world in which as many as seven thousand distinct ethnic groups remain unreached with the gospel and over four thousand of the world’s seven... Continue Reading

However, whatever we think of the ruling as law, we ought to be embarrassed by the cheerleaders’ banners. To say they have used these verses without regard to the original context and intent is an understatement and exercise of restraint on my part. To say that they have at best trivialized and at worst blasphemed... Continue Reading