In a Scrolling World, Are We Numb to the Resurrection’s Shock?
On Easter, a third of the planet’s population honors the day in history when Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
Easter is an annual remembrance of a historical event that’s still being celebrated, arguably on a greater scale than ever, nearly 2,000 years later. That’s because it’s the biggest news story of your life, or any life—even of those who shrug it off or scroll right past it. Can you remember any top world news headlines... Continue Reading
After the Resurrection
Forty Days of Appearances and Teaching
“He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). Ponder the powerful effect that these proofs and teachings would have had on the disciples. What a unique and precious period of their earthly lives to have such encounters... Continue Reading
Waiting in an Age of Instant Gratification
Media has become an integral part of life itself. Our lives have become dominated by the digital.
As Christians living in an age of instant gratification, we will no doubt succumb to the pleasures of Egypt from time to time. But more importantly, the Christian knows that nothing in this age can bring ultimate gratification. For that, we seek the city that is to come (Hebrews 13:14). Time seemed to move at... Continue Reading
Carl Trueman on Trump vs Biden
Trueman’s latest masterpiece contrasts what he calls “Trumpite ‘evangelicalism’” with “Biden’s brand of ‘devout’ Catholicism.”
My confidence is not so much that most evangelicals will make the correct choice (though I believe they will), but that they will be fully persuaded over who they believe to be the correct choice. Again, when have we been offered two more polarizing candidates with glaringly antithetical agendas? And why have so little confidence in the ability... Continue Reading
Why Do You Do What You Do (and Not Something Else)?
God is good to give human beings skills and passions and good to allow us to express them in our vocations.
When I ask others why they do what they do, I’m often blessed to hear them describe their love for things I’ve never considered lovable….He is good to allow our enthusiasm about these things to be transferable and contagious. One of my favorite questions for times of small talk is “Why do you do... Continue Reading
How Church History Helps—Part 2
Employ church history to help you fight the good fight and keep the faith.
Church history will help you live the Christian life and be faithful to Christ. It will provide you with clarity in an era of confusion. It will help you be consistent while many others waver. The faithful examples and arguments of giants from the past gives you credibility when other people doubt you. The courage... Continue Reading
Church as Blueprint
In the Old Testament, the Temple was a microcosm, a miniature copy of reality.
Getting worship right really matters. Of course I’m fully aware that plenty will agree with me but their vision of “right” will not cohere with mine. It’s a challenge we have to work through. But, even so, it does mean that if we want to reform our communities we start by reforming the worship of... Continue Reading
About “Close” Confessional Communion
Why "credible profession of faith" of penitent, baptized church members is not the biblically sufficient criterion for admission to the Lord's Supper.
Those convinced of the confessional Presbyterian & Reformed view of close/confessional communion might find themselves conscience-bound by the Word of God to abstain from participation in an improperly administered sacrament. The usual standard for admission to the Lord’s Supper in Orthodox Presbyterian Church congregations (and in congregations of other NAPARC denominations) is that the... Continue Reading
The Dangerous Logic of Hate Crimes
Scotland’s vague new hate crime law is anything but “reasonable”.
The problem here is that today “reasonable” has no real content. Indeed, the legislation uses the adjective “reasonable” again and again as the essential criterion in judging whether an act or statement is a crime, but it offers no definition. That is surely a worrying lacuna. We should remember that this is a world where... Continue Reading
Reasons to Oppose Background Checks in the PCA
The 51st PCA General Assembly, in June 2024, will consider five overtures requesting amending the Book of Church Order to require background checks for ordained church leaders.
As Martin Luther and the Reformers held (and died for), only the Word of God can bind the consciences of believers. Church councils and church decrees (including the Book of Church Order) can and do err. We do not submit to our brethren when they require us to act against our consciences as informed by... Continue Reading
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
Inerrancy reminds us that when the Bible speaks, God speaks and He does not fail to utter the truth.
The Bible is no longer accepted or believed as fully trustworthy by many. As one seminary professor described it, “What we are experiencing is an existential mood in the country. Many of our students come to us with a relative view of the Bible.” If the evangelical Church does not awaken to this situation, it... Continue Reading
As Christianity Declines, We Must Confront the Threat of Pagan America
I have no doubt the result will be the making of many saints.
Christians cannot simply escape into their little ghettoes. The Christian religion cannot avoid witnessing in the public square, and its adherents, whether they be doctors, lawyers, teachers, government employees, business owners, or landscapers, cannot help but have their work informed by their faith. That battle, even if it is a losing one, must be fought in... Continue Reading
Advocates, Not Merely Adherents: Lay-of–the Land Observations and Challenges for Complementarians
We aren’t doing a good job of arguing for biblical complementarity on the merits.
We are called to be advocates, not just affirmers. We are called to be articulators, not just adherents. Compromise usually begins with silence. It ends with disavowal. And we must have an ear for the silence. Yes, each of us will have different ministry passions or commitments. But we must keep before us an ever-present... Continue Reading
Authority is Good
For far less than an obstruction to the gospel, authority is a picture of Jesus’ very life and ministry to us.
There are creatures, and a creator, and they are not the same thing. When it comes to authority, God is completely and utterly other. Whether we are husbands, mothers, managers, or pastors, we serve at God’s pleasure, derive our authority from his power, and expect obedience from others only insofar as he allows. Authority in... Continue Reading
What Does It Mean to Wait on the Lord?
For the Christian, waiting is the application of faith in time.
How should those united with Christ face the reality of waiting on the Lord? We should wait with acceptance (forbearance). We should wait with confidence (steadfastness). We should wait without anger (patience), because the God of abundant life will not fail us. We should wait with the knowledge that the wait is worth it (hope).... Continue Reading
The Power of the Resurrection Worldview
The Father is glorified by the quality of the spiritual fruit—Christ-like attitudes produced through our union with Christ.
God has already begun to fix everything in this world broken by sin. What a privilege to be called to the mission to spread surrender to Christ’s rule over our own heart loyalties, heart attitudes and every sphere life where we have influence. “The kingdom of God is the renewal of the whole world through... Continue Reading
Atheism, Civil Religion, and the Fate of the West
Even Dawkins can see the cultural value of Christianity.
While I do greatly value the West and all its goods, and will continue to fight for them, I know that it too, like everything else, must one day come to an end. Sure, it will last longer – or less longer – depending on how we treat that which made it possible: biblical Christianity.... Continue Reading
Oh How I Love Your Law!
You’ve got to love it—it is a command. But at the same time, “you’ve got to love it” because it is so good.
Moses ascended the earthly mountain of God and came down with the law written on tablets of stone. But later, he expressed a longing that all the Lord’s people might have the Spirit (Num. 11:29). The law of Moses could command but it could not empower. By contrast, Jesus ascended the heavenly mountain of God... Continue Reading
Dealing with Discouragements in Ministry
When we set our hand to the plow of Christian ministry, we will find that the Lord supplies us with the grace necessary for us to press through.
The ultimate encouragement to help ministers press through the discouragements they experience when they face trials and challenges is that we were created, redeemed and called into ministry in order to bring glory to Christ. The cry of the ministers heart must ever be, “He must increase, I must decrease.” The ministries to which we... Continue Reading
Some Lessons I Have Learnt after 10 Years of Pastoral Ministry
The church need Jesus, you are only any help to them by pointing them to him and away from reliance upon you.
It may seem obvious, but you are not the saviour of the church; Jesus is. That truth should set you free. The church does not depend on you, but on Jesus. The church does not depend on your ministry, but on Jesus. The work does not stand or fall on you, but on Jesus. Be... Continue Reading
The Preaching of Jesus Was Powerful and Relevant
Jesus was a preacher, not just a talker. He proclaimed the truth.
As you listen to a preacher for any length of time, you will hear a constant theme or a reoccurring emphasis that continues to resurface over time. This common focus of a preacher spotlights an ongoing goal in his ministry. For instance, if you listen to any health, wealth, and prosperity preacher it’s very likely... Continue Reading
Why Cancel Culture Needs the Breathtaking Mercy of God’s Kingdom
Thankfully, cancel culture will not have the last word in God’s kingdom.
During my years as a pastor, I’ve witnessed a range of situations in which people confess they cannot forgive: the man who was abused as a child, the wife of an alcoholic husband. They’re undoubtedly right, apart from Jesus. Because God alone can fully heal our wounds and revive the dead, we need him to move... Continue Reading
Come Alive by Listening to the Dead
Allow God to use the words of these men of former days to encourage you to revive or maintain earnestness in evangelism for His glory.
I recently read ‘How to Bring Men to Christ’ and found that it met me where I needed spiritual guidance. The book was written to urge God’s people to have a love for souls and to help those whom God’s Spirit has awakened to personal evangelism. Torrey continually proclaimed Christ through preaching, evangelistic meetings, as well... Continue Reading
As a Bloke, I Had a ‘Barbie’ Moment Reading This Book on Masculinity
When we understand who we’re turning up for and what we really value, turning up, again and again, starts to feel different.
While following Jesus does bring meaning and purpose that nothing else can bring, life can still feel mundane. So, what’s the answer? Stewart takes us to a surprising passage of the Bible, where the apostle Paul writes about God’s power working in the lives of believers, so that they might have…great endurance and patience (Col... Continue Reading
Richard Dawkins’ Cultural Christianity
Or: Sawing off the branch that holds you up.
Dawkins is the beneficiary of a political and legal system shaped over centuries by Christian principles of justice, human nature, and more. He appears blissfully unaware that he is sawing off the very branch suspending him safely above the mob of Islamists, radical leftists, and others, ready and willing to dispense with classical liberals like... Continue Reading
Why Church Matters
The church is God’s family.
The church is the embassy of heaven. The Lord’s sovereign rule and reign over the world are put on display through the church. It is the embassy of heaven on earth. The love, holiness, and glory of God should be declared to the world through the church. God wills that “through the church the manifold wisdom... Continue Reading
Finding Strength in Hard Times
When our vulnerability is not apparent, a false sense of our competency begins to blind us.
For Christians, hard times might not be the blight on our existence we think them to be. If we believe God’s word, which reminds us that God is working in our favor as much in the hard times as in the good, we have no reason to panic during the difficult days, as we are... Continue Reading
10 Lesser-Known References to Jesus in the Old Testament
Signs that Point to Jesus
We should not overlook the role of Balaam’s donkey. The donkey spoke and functioned as a prophet to Balaam himself, serving to rescue him from death by avoiding the angel with his drawn sword (Num. 22:22–35). The rescue of Balaam is a type pointing us to Christ, who permanently and definitively rescues us from sin... Continue Reading
Grieving the Loss of a Loved One
How can a believer make it through the loss of a loved one well?
Grieving the loss of a loved one is a painful process that takes time. The hurt is unavoidable as the soul reckons with their absence. And the agony like a hurricane can seem so powerful that it will destroy us. Yet God’s Word tells us that when we are at our lowest, we call out... Continue Reading
Overcoming the World
Who does belong to the kingdom of God?
We overcome the world with its bondage to sin and destiny for destruction by faith in the saving, victorious work of Jesus Christ. The commandments of which John has just spoken (5:2-4) have to do with love for Jesus and allegiance to Him. The world seeks autonomy; the Christian seeks allegiance. John is once again asking... Continue Reading