Any potential value to be found in this new base-editing technology will be outweighed by the consequences of not recognizing what is true of the human condition, both our value and our potential for evil. In this case as well, the potential consequences far outweigh the potential benefits.   Recently, the New York Times reported... Continue Reading

As beings of the “logos,” it would be good for us to read and speak words. So then it would be good to read books and talk about them with friends and family, to move away from sitting and scrolling, watching videos on sundry lit devices, flickering figures endlessly moving on the walls of the... Continue Reading

By establishing broader assemblies of elders with real, but fallible and strictly spiritual authority, the Confession provides a system designed to protect the flock, maintain the truth, and preserve the peace of Christ’s kingdom.   In the previous chapter, we saw that Christ has appointed a government for His Church, placed in the hands of... Continue Reading

Perhaps the greatest sign of drift is that the cross becomes familiar instead of glorious. You know the facts, but they no longer move your heart. Paul resolved to know “nothing…except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2)…Spiritual drift is dangerous, but it is not hopeless. Christ welcomes repentant sinners.     Spiritual drift is... Continue Reading

Believing in God the Maker means living for what lasts. It means refusing to center our lives around a world that’s passing away. This is not all there is. We were made for more—for a world where sin and death are no more, where love and righteousness dwell forever.   Every year on her birthday,... Continue Reading

We are called to place ourselves under the legitimate authority God has set over us, to submit out of love for God and a desire to honor him, even when the official in front of us seems far from honorable.   Every ruler, good or corrupt, holds power because God delegated it. Romans 13:1-2 makes... Continue Reading

The machine will make your child seen by millions and known by no one. Only a home can teach a child to be known, and to stay long enough to know someone else. Take back the hours, and give them the one thing the feed can never sell.   I was working in a coffee... Continue Reading

When you hear God say, “I am a jealous God,” do not imagine a petty deity pacing heaven with wounded pride. Imagine the God who heard Israel groaning beneath Pharaoh’s whip and came down to rescue her.   “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above... Continue Reading

The term did not come from any church council.  It is not a biblical phrase or a theological expression in historical theology. In its later version as delineated by the Aspen Institute, it was secularized, and now without any debate as to its origin or meaning, it is considered a sacred core belief in the... Continue Reading

Jesus said that unless we become like little children, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Children often believe what adults complicate. They trust where we hesitate. They speak with a simple confidence that reminds us of truths we’ve allowed grief, fear, or busyness to cloud.   Birthdays are supposed to be filled with... Continue Reading

Consider the Lord’s response to the man as He and His disciples make their way back into the boat: “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19). Bold of the Lord to assume the poor man had... Continue Reading

Since Christian life is a response to the love of God, and Jesus is the One who leads that response, from first to last we encounter love and grace in him. As those united to our Messiah, we’re also recipients of his life and activity. We can be so familiar with the central doctrines of... Continue Reading

We must stay alert and sober to this demonic invasion through solid Biblical teaching and living according to the grace of God and the power of His Spirit. Be careful. A demonic spirit with their demonic doctrines will come in many forms—teaching, literature, movies, art, social media, etc., seeking to capture our minds and hearts,... Continue Reading

Jesus came offering rest to weary sinners. And the book of Hebrews tells us that a greater Sabbath rest still awaits the people of God. Every sleepless night reminds us that we still live in a fallen world. We are not yet home. Fear remains. Sorrow remains. Death remains. Anxiety remains. But these things are... Continue Reading

We must teach and preach, but our primary influence is through our lives and the example they set. Leadership is influence, and there is no greater influence than our lives. It doesn’t matter how dynamic a preacher may be, example is more powerful than precept. Precept riding on the back of example is more powerful... Continue Reading

 “If by doing some work which the undiscerning consider ‘not spiritual work’ I can best help others, and I inwardly rebel, thinking it is the spiritual for which I crave, when in truth it is the interesting and exciting, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”   Amy Carmichael (1867-1951) is well known as the... Continue Reading

A shield is only as strong as what it’s made of, and faith gets its strength from knowing God’s word. You can’t hold up a promise you don’t know. The woman who’s spent time in Scripture has a shield ready when the fire comes, because she knows what God said and she can raise it... Continue Reading

It is not uncommon for a young man to suddenly get interested in postmillennialism and start pontificating about Christianity and politics while his own life is riddled with sin and falling apart. It’s easier to have convictions about politicians should do in Washington, DC than to fight and kill sin in your own heart. A... Continue Reading

Dr. Hurley joined the faculty of RTS Jackson in 1985 and became the longest-serving residential faculty member in the seminary’s history. Throughout nearly four decades of teaching, he faithfully prepared students for ministry by helping them think deeply about the integration of theology, Scripture, and counseling.   JACKSON, Miss. — Reformed Theological Seminary mourns the passing... Continue Reading

In 1972, he came back to Covenant Seminary to serve as Director of Admissions, Assistant Dean of Students, and Instructor of Hebrew. He was appointed to the Seminary’s full-time faculty in 1975. In 1976, he received a Master of Arts degree from St. Louis University and, in 1977, a Doctor of Theology (ThD) degree from... Continue Reading

Leviticus 16 is the center of the Pentateuch, and so the foundation of the whole Bible. It began recalling the sober scene of the death of the disobedient sons of Aaron. The whole Bible has to do with this Day, because the center of the Bible is Jesus Christ. The death of Christ wasn’t out... Continue Reading

We were made to declare much about God. We were not made to declare health and wealth; instead, we must be like David, asking God for the meditation of our hearts and the words of our mouths to be acceptable to Him. If we only meditate on the sickness that has not been healed, if... Continue Reading

The sacraments do not merely tell us something. God uses them to promise, confirm, strengthen, and nourish faith. Their efficacy rests upon the work of the Spirit joined to Christ’s word of institution and promise, not upon the elements themselves or the intentions of the administrator.   One thing I would encourage PCA teaching and... Continue Reading

Holy laughter. This is not often included the list of tools, nevertheless the Bible is full of references to joy. In Nehemiah 8:10, Nehemiah tells the people “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Our Lord demonstrates His joy by rejoicing over His people with song (Zeph. 3:17), but also laughing at the vain... Continue Reading

As it happened, Machen succumbed to pneumonia in Bismarck, North Dakota, on January 1, 1937. Not only how he died but where he died is significant. Machen gave up not just the wealth and opportunity his elite family afforded but the privileged life of a Princeton scholar. The mission is driven by the message, not... Continue Reading

Having supportive friends raised the share of couples intending to have another child from around 30 percent to about 45 percent. Put simply: ambient culture sets the aspiration, but real-world friends lead to actual births. A society can be awash in pro-family influencers and still be barren if nobody is willing to babysit. Friendship, though,... Continue Reading

Art is not something just to be analyzed, but also to be enjoyed. The late 20th-century philosopher Frederick Buechner said, “Beauty is to the spirit what food is to the flesh.” Art raises our imagination and ennobles what it touches. Think of the great art you’ve seen that communicated so much more than words. Yet... Continue Reading

As James Luke wrote in The Record in 1904, “Where the church has failed, a single woman has stepped into the breach.” But Slessor would have put it in simpler terms: “After all, it comes back to this: Christ sent me to preach the gospel, and he will look after the results.”   There is something... Continue Reading

They will pay the penalty of “eternal destruction away from the Lord’s presence.” What greater judgment could there be than to be eternally and irrevocably separated from the presence of God? To live separated from His presence eternally will be the greatest judgment possible. But remember, it is a judgment that those who ignore and... Continue Reading

For whatever reason, your heart and thoughts shifted, and it led you down a path that you’re not proud of or that seems so foolish looking back. And like David, you know the grace and kindness of the God who did not forsake you there or give up on you. Even in ordinary and small... Continue Reading