Does the Regulative Principle Regulate More than Elements?
Some forms are merely circumstantial, but others are divinely regulated.
The irony is that many modern attempts to make worship more attractive to the world often makes worship less distinctly Christian, but the church is most compelling when she is most faithful to her identity. The church is most missional when she is most distinctly the church. One of the more common arguments in... Continue Reading
A Reading in John of Damascus, with Commentary: Or, Another Problem with Theological Retrieval Demonstrated. (Part Two)
Continued analysis of John of Damascus’s arguments for image worship which are considered one of the greatest works on the doctrine of the Eastern communions.
Yet those who cannot read can hear the spoken word, which is how God’s Spirit worked through his apostles to convert the heathen. We nowhere read that the apostles went to the lost with images, nor that artistic skill at fashioning images is a gift of the Spirit. Yet time and again we hear of... Continue Reading
My Marine Buddy’s Witness Led Me to Christ
Don’t underestimate the influence you can have on others for Christ.
Men, who really knows you in your church? Your soul was made for godly masculine intimacy with other Christian men, and with Christ. Take time to pursue it. Heaven and hell really are hanging in the balance. Two audible dings immediately rang out as my cell phone turned on. “Heard you guys lost a... Continue Reading
Why the Church Must Recover a Theology of Life
Abortion rates are rising. The church must step up with a lived theology that proclaims a pro-life ethic.
Our congregations begin to truly mirror the image of God when we move toward broken people instead of away from them. Only that kind of church will meaningfully confront abortion. The Post-Roe Paradox: Why Abortion Rates Are Still Rising On January 27, 1973, a single decision legalized abortion in every state. Almost fifty years... Continue Reading
A Marriage with Christ in the Middle (Colossians 3:18-19)
Kindness, compassion, and forgiveness are all found and pictured in our Lord Jesus Christ.
If Christ is in the middle of a marriage, a wife will gladly submit to her husband, and the husband will gladly love his wife. May God give grace to our marriages today, and may all glory go to Him. Husbands and wives find much in Scripture for how to love and respect one... Continue Reading
An Optimistic Farmer
The sower appears to be more concerned that that a section of good soil might remain unsown, than that the seed might be sown too liberally.
The return on good soil will more than make up for any “wasted seed” along the way. As we preach and promote the gospel, there might indeed be hard soil. But we must, like Jesus, be willing to sow optimistically. The story of the parable of the Parable of the Sower (Mk 4:1–20 and parallels)... Continue Reading
“Praying in the Holy Spirit”: What Does Jude 20 Mean for Christians Today?
In Jude’s context, prayer is directly connected to spiritual perseverance amid false teaching and moral compromise.
In an age of distraction, superficiality, and spiritual confusion, Christians must recover serious, Scripture-shaped, Spirit-dependent prayer. Not theatrical prayer. Not mystical speculation. Not cold formalism. But humble, biblical, Christ-centred communion with the living God. Among the shorter books of the Bible, the letter of Jude contains some remarkably weighty exhortations. Writing to Christians threatened... Continue Reading
Calibrating a Dial or Rendering a Verdict?
How the AIC Improperly Frames the Question
If homosexual desire is a form of “unnatural” desire, then it must be addressed as such. The church must decide whether it will accept or reject it as compatible with ordained office. A verdict must be rendered. The current discussion surrounding ordination and same-sex attraction has largely been framed in terms of degree. How... Continue Reading
Out of the Echo Chamber
Why church politics gets better when we buy each other lunch.
In the end, a presbytery characterized by love shows the world that the Gospel is real. It proves to a broken, divided world that the church can handle intense disagreements without splintering into warring tribes. For many elders, Presbytery and GA meetings can easily feel less like courts of the Lord Jesus Christ and... Continue Reading
What is the Seal of the Holy Spirit?
Some Christians in the first centuries defined the seal of the Spirit as baptism itself.
We might say that baptism is the visible sign of the Spirit’s invisible work within us that tangibly shows God’s seal upon us and his promise to save in the gospel. Paul speaks of the Spirit sealing believers in three texts (2 Cor. 1:21–22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). While interpreters often associate this sealing with... Continue Reading
The Body of Christ: On the Nature of the Church (WCF 25.1–25.6)
The Westminster Confession utterly shatters a low view of the church.
While our experience of the visible church is fallible—flawed, messy, and subject to error—it remains the apple of God’s eye and the earthly expression of Christ’s bride. We must not abandon the visible church, for it is the very place where Christ has promised to meet us, feed us with His Word, and prepare us... Continue Reading
This Is How We Know We Know
The Holy Spirit not only designates a Christian by the knowledge of God, but also characterises knowledge by keeping the commandments.
Religion is not defined by a number of opinions, or by a collection of articles of faith, but rather by practice and obedience to the known will of God. This is because knowledge is a duty in relation to something else—it is instrumental to something else—it is not principally intended for itself, but for obedience.... Continue Reading
Absorbing Frustration in the Home
The Hidden Usefulness of Steady Strength
Christ doesn’t lead His bride with irritation and volatility, and He doesn’t abandon her in distress. He leads with strength under control. So when frustration rises in the home, the first response shouldn’t be explosion or retreat, but self-government. In my article yesterday about kingdom utility, I wrote that a husband is useful to... Continue Reading
Steve Mcqueen: Born Again, Set Free
When the king of cool met the King of kings, he fell to his knees.
Steve McQueen reportedly left life with a bible given to him by Billy Graham. According to his wife, he read it daily. Why? Because he had a new heart, new affections, new loves. He knew the Savior and had been adopted by God. Steve McQueen made The Great Escape. But he was sprung by... Continue Reading
A Fence, Not a Cage
Why the PCA needs a Directory for Worship that guides the church we have, not the church we imagine.
The work of reforming and strengthening worship is never finished by adopting a document. But it can be helped by one. A good Directory will not do the work of pastors and elders for them. But it can help pastors and elders do their work better. A constitutional Directory for Worship will not, by... Continue Reading
Bullet Points—Kinism and The Sin of Noticing
I have noticed that there is a broad spectrum of men who claim to be proponents of Kinism.
I have noticed that the term “race” does not appear in the Bible. It is a relatively new term in the history of mankind. The terms “race” and “ethnicity” have replaced the biblical word “nation.” The word nation refers, first of all, to a people who have a common biological ancestor. I have noticed... Continue Reading
No Church, No Problem?
The individualistic emphasis of evangelicalism stands in sharp contrast to the covenantal paradigm that we find in Scripture.
Like any family, the church needs proper discipline and order so that our personal and corporate life together will imperfectly but truly reflect the fact that the church is an embassy of Christ and the age to come even in this present evil age. God’s law, not our spontaneous sincerity, defines what we should do.... Continue Reading
The Visible Church As a “Corpus Per Mixtum”
There are only two categories of persons in the visible church: the regenerate in Christ, and all the rest (who are not regenerate).
In any body of Christians (of any size), there will be a “mixture” of those who are regenerated, and those who are not. The problem is, it is not always that easy to discern between the two. The good news is, God has not called us to know this. “Corpus per mixtum,” is Latin,... Continue Reading
What Should Christians Remember amid Tragedies?
Even when His goodness seems hidden by the shadow of a difficult providence, we can trust in the goodness of God.
Through suffering, God is conforming us to the image of His Son. When we are faced with personal tragedies, we should remember that God is not just working outside of us, but He is working in us. It was just after 11 p.m. on an unusually cold January night in north Florida when the... Continue Reading
A Reading in John of Damascus, with Commentary: Or, Another Problem with Theological Retrieval Demonstrated. (Part One)
Beware of those who have begun to commend retrieving the teachings of Eastern Orthodoxy. Of particular interest is John of Damascus.
Basil also said that “the idea of the image would be lost were it not to preserve throughout the plain and invariable likeness”. By that standard any image purporting to show Christ cannot be deemed his image, since we cannot know it preserves “plain and invariable likeness” to him—and since there are as many purported... Continue Reading
Facets of Gospel Grace (Part 2)
The Gospel as a Diamond
If the hearers of the gospel do not witness the glory of Christ in the image of God through all the blessings of the gospel, then we have not yet seen what finally makes the gospel truly good news—the Person of God himself. We have pictured the gospel as a glorious diamond reflecting biblical... Continue Reading
The Third Best Gift to Give Our Children
Adults have allowed children to not accept the responsibility of work.
From an early age, work must be taught, positively modeled by adults, and regularly practiced by children. This is one of the best gifts we can give to children. I guess it could be subjective as to what is best to give our children. Even though God is the one who changes their heart,... Continue Reading
Harness the Power of Failure
Failure need not be final. In fact, failure can be the first step towards greater success if you handle it humbly.
If we are able to be humble and evaluate ourselves honestly when we fail, if we will listen to others when they come with corrections and critiques, and if we will be willing to admit we were wrong, then we put ourselves in a position where we can grow from failure. I was listening... Continue Reading
A Directory with a Smile
Why the PCA Should Welcome the Revised Directory for Worship
The revised Directory gives the PCA an opportunity to say that the worship of our Triune God is not an afterthought.…Worship is the highest privilege of the Christian and the church’s glad response to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. For that reason, we should receive this proposal with gratitude, read it carefully,... Continue Reading
Walking with an Unseen Limp: God’s Enduring Faithfulness in the Private Pain of a Pastor’s Wife
The pain of a pastor’s wife is often as unseen as her work.
When other Christians cause us pain, we can be tempted to think, I love Jesus, I just don’t want anything to do with the church. But Jesus is not a brideless groom. His bride is the church, and he has called every believer to be a part of her and to fiercely love her because... Continue Reading
What Are We Looking At?
The psalmist prayed: “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things…”
Sometimes, we hear people say they are “living the dream,” and we feel sorry for them, because their “dream” life is inferior to the better things and life that God gives. They are deceived as to what is valuable and what is worthless. In Psalm 119:37a, the psalmist prays for something important that you... Continue Reading
A Protestant Appraisal of “Rock & Sand”: Sola Scriptura Properly Understood
“Rock and Sand” is useful, not as a refutation of classical Protestantism, but as a mirror held up to evangelical weakness.
What is needed is not a retreat to Rome or Constantinople, but a retrieval of the Protestant tradition that predated the individualism and heart religion that came from the Great Awakenings. Protestantism is the solution, not the problem. Fr. Josiah Trenham is one of the top online personalities influencing people to convert to Eastern... Continue Reading
Is Jesus Christ the Natural and Adopted Son of God?
The doctrine of adoption in union with Christ stands at the heart of the gospel’s account of filial communion with God.
Editor’s Note: This post contains two essays, the first by Dr. Robert Letham and the second by Dr. Lane G. Tipton. Because these essays interact with David B. Garner’s view concerning the Son’s adoption as set forth in his book Sons in the Son, Ref21 has invited Dr. Garner to respond in these pages if he... Continue Reading
The LORD Will Provide: A Father, a Son, and a Sacrifice on Moriah (Gen. 22:1–19)
God did provide for Himself the Lamb. His name is Jesus.
When Abraham named the mountain Yahweh Yireh, he wasn’t just talking about the ram in the thicket. He was prophesying. Two thousand years later, on that very same mountain range, another Father led His “only Son, whom He loved” up the hill. That Son also carried the wood of His sacrifice on His back. That... Continue Reading
Enemy Engagement
Christ’s solitary battle would not be for His victory alone. It would be for ours.
Just as Satan in the Garden appealed to human desire so he did with Jesus who had gone forty days and forty nights without food. Just as he did in the Garden, Satan sought to lead the second Man to test God. Just as the devil quoted God’s word in the Garden, so he twisted... Continue Reading