How Polyamorous People Are Marking Commitment To Multiple Partners
In legal terms, polyamorous people are unable to marry all their of partners: It is illegal throughout the United States to marry more than one person at a time.
Polyamory is a form of consensual non-monogamy — when people have more than one sexual or romantic partner at once with all partners’ permission. A 2021 study in Frontiers in Psychology found that one in nine single American adults had engaged in polyamory. Sarah Brylinsky, a 34-year-old working in higher education in Ithaca, N.Y.,... Continue Reading
The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism Debate
Culture’s view of Christianity and its moral systems have changed over the last three decades.
Is it really the case that the culture’s view of Christianity and its moral systems are still basically the same as they were three decades ago, and that there was no major cultural break around 2014? I would argue No. There is very strong evidence for such a cultural break. My First Things article... Continue Reading
‘Evangelicals,’ the ‘Christian’ Putin, and the War in Ukraine: A Response to Mindy Belz
As a whole the people of Ukraine are nearly as conservative on social issues as are the people of Russia.
…the war [between Russia and Urkraine has been cast] in terms of good versus evil, with Ukraine’s true believers on one side, and the fake Christian Putin on the other. Personally, I am much more skeptical about the genuine faith of some evangelicals that have tethered themselves to politicians that for decades have kept us... Continue Reading
Abuse, the OPC, and the Psychologizing of Sin
The preference of the term abuse over sin moves abuse out of the moral and spiritual realm and into the psychological.
Here is the real problem that I believe underlies the failure of those frequently using the term abuse to provide a clear, biblical definition: the preference of the term abuse dislocated from sin, moves abuse out of the moral and spiritual realm and into the psychological. In other words, it tends to shift the serious matters at hand from that which is... Continue Reading
Excerpt Taken From Chapter 3 of “A Still and Quiet Mind”
Our minds need rest just as much as our hearts and souls do.
Fasting from information is one way for us to come away when taking time off work is not possible and the demands of ministry and family can’t be avoided. When times of solitude are few and far between, we can still reduce the surrounding noise. A Still and Quiet Mind is scheduled to be... Continue Reading
Deep State? What About Deep Church?
The deep state is the bureaucratic control and secret manipulation of government policy behind the scenes. Is it possible that there a “deep church" in the body of Christ?
One example can be seen in larger bodies where both teaching and lay elders once governed the church; they’re called “ruling” elders. Today, some churches reduce the role of ruling elders to merely shepherding and have established a smaller group of men, including possibly non-ordained staff members, to govern and exercise authority over the church. ... Continue Reading
The First Commentator to Plead His Case
Sometimes we can get ourselves stuck in a presumption that the experts are always right.
There is a sense in which commentaries are one form of New Testament prophecy, in that they proclaim the word of God. We ought to test them, every one. Hang on to whatever is good, helpful, and true in them. Reject whatever is false, misleading, or evil in them. But you’ll limit your ability to do... Continue Reading
Ancient Near Eastern Religion and the Old Testament
All religion outside the scope of Scripture is but a suppression of the truth in unrighteousness.
The Old Testament furnishes the Israelite with a sure hope in a complete reversal of the curse, a resurrected body, a renewed earth, and joy in the presence of God for all eternity. The discovery and publication of ancient Near Eastern literature has shed much light upon the religious beliefs and practices of earliest... Continue Reading
The Whole Christian Life Every Sunday
It’s unfortunate but realistic to assume that many people come to church on Sunday having given little thought to their faith the previous week.
In this brief service, we have the whole Christian life neatly summed up. And as we progress through such a service, we trust that the downcast are lifted up and encouraged, that the apathetic are stirred and challenged, that the weary are fed and revived. We trust that they can take what they have experienced... Continue Reading
The Bible’s Strange Reasons for Generosity: Show them God!
Give Because Jesus Gave
God withholds nothing from us. As we are conformed into his image, we grow in our Triune God-echoing generosity. When we give, we display the very character of Christ to the world. We, ambassadors of this strangely generous King, display his category-defying generosity in our own generosity. Why do we give? The first hit... Continue Reading
Nothing But the Truth
One of the ways that the worldly system “takes us captive” is by marginalizing truth or eliminating it altogether.
As followers of Jesus Christ, may we cling to the truth, proclaim the truth, and defend the truth. May we stand with the men and women throughout redemptive history who were willing to lay their lives down for the great cause of truth. May the cry of our hearts be, “nothing but the truth!” ... Continue Reading
Desiring Our Savior’s Likeness
Seeking Fresh Blessings in Brotherly Love
If you go and read Paul’s letters to Thessalonica (and other places) there is more spoken about the way their mutual love for him had encouraged him than any other thing they had done. For the Apostle there was always a desire to be physically present with the men and women of the local church.... Continue Reading
Holy Grudges Lead to Fruitful Christians
You do know how to meditate on God’s word. And I can say that with certainty because I’m sure you know how to hold a grudge.
Your deep insights and revelations come from spending minutes, that turn into hours, that turn into days, that turn into weeks. It’s once the truth of Scripture has been so branded on your heart that you finally begin to draw out the deep meanings of the text. This is why, very practically speaking, I encourage... Continue Reading
Come to the Feast
The sovereign, holy, all-powerful Ruler of the universe invites lowly, finite, severely flawed creatures into his presence.
Communing with God is like eating with someone around your table in your dining room. In that kind of setting, you can let your guard down; there’s no need for pretense. Dining with someone is an opportunity for you to listen to them, to get to know them, to enjoy their company. It is an... Continue Reading
Your Money Will Trick You
Jesus’s command to “watch out and be on guard against all greed.”
Our money lies to us, constantly. Whenever we see our accumulation of assets or the increasing dollars in our account, Mammon whispers: I am your security. I am your hope. I make the good life possible. Meanwhile, Jesus is shouting, “It’s a lie! One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). ... Continue Reading
Deo Volente: God Willing
Our plans should be written in pencil, ready to be revised or retracted according to the will of God.
To make plans in pen without regard to the sovereignty and supremacy of God is to usurp the glory that belongs only to God. James drives this home when he says, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17). By this pronouncement, James... Continue Reading
Stuck Between the World and God
How I Almost Died in Indecision
The Christian God is God, and he will not sit idly by within a pantheon of other gods and pleasures. He entertains no rivals. Friendship with the world is adultery and enmity against him (James 4:4). This text, and this reality, God used to shake me awake and bring me to Jesus. Dear reader, is your... Continue Reading
Shaking off Spiritual Lethargy
When and how are we stirred up to spiritual activity?
Faith finds a supply in God’s fulness for it, and therefore faith sends us to the fountain, to draw out of the wells of salvation. Nothing can be so sweet and refreshing as for such a soul to pour out itself every day in him, to talk with him face to face. Faith engages the... Continue Reading
When Does “The End” Begin?
We are not waiting on the last days, we are living in them.
My only hope is that you see the time frame references the New Testament is speaking about, and realize that much of what we consider “end of history events” are actually “end-time events” that have already occured in the past. I also hope that when you see a phrase like “last days” in Hebrews, that... Continue Reading
As Often as You Can, Read the Psalms in Order
Meditating on Psalm 50 before Psalm 51, we are adequately prepared to confess our need and receive, again, God’s grace.
If you’re reading the psalms consecutively, after being confronted with the inescapable fact of your sin in Psalm 50, you turn the page, and your heart is prepared to pray Psalm 51—David’s famous psalm of repentance. In praying Psalm 51, you realize you bring nothing to the table but your sin, dependence, and need. After being... Continue Reading
Fathers (and Mothers), Do Not Provoke Your Children!
Do not beat down, but raise up.
These two words are key: discipline and instruction. Between them they offer words of training and correction, words of admonition and rebuke, words that express both the positive and the negative sides of leadership. You need to correct your children, sometimes with a look, sometimes with a word, sometimes with a timeout, and sometimes with a spank. That... Continue Reading
The Work of God’s Grace
The amazing truth about grace is that God doesn’t leave us to ourselves to work out our own salvation.
Have you grumbled against God lately or questioned why He’s doing something in your life? Dear believer, by God’s grace, let us replace grumbling with gratitude and questioning with a quiet trust in our heavenly Father, who is working in us, “both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Then we... Continue Reading
Chosen to Proclaim | 1 Peter 2:9
Our primary identity is no longer our homeland nor our ethnicity; it is our being in Christ.
We proclaim Christ because He called us out of darkness into marvelous light. Speaking of Christ should not be a chore because we are giving the good news to those who are still in darkness. If you have been brought by Christ out of darkness, you are then a new person with a new identity,... Continue Reading
Highways to Hell and the Pathway to Life: The Abortion Religion and Its Defeat
As the LORD calls us to choose life He calls us to believe, have faith, and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation so that we might have everlasting life through Him.
The religion of death is awake and active. If it could, it would even swallow up the Christian. But our God is more powerful and provides the remedy to such folly. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ. It is, was, and always will be the power of God unto... Continue Reading
One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church
The deepest and most significant unity of the Church is its spiritual unity.
The union of believers is grounded in the mystical union of Christ and His Church. The Bible speaks of a twoway transaction that occurs when a person is regenerated. Every converted person becomes “in Christ” at the same time Christ enters into the believer. If I am in Christ and you are in Christ, and... Continue Reading
When Belief is Agony
Above all, do not attempt to go it alone. When your own thoughts are a trap, you need others, ideally professionals; you cannot think your way out of this.
In the midst of the worst of this, I don’t think I doubted the truth of the scriptures, either. That was part of the problem: scary passages felt like chains binding me, guns pointed at my head. But it meant also that I could hang on to the passages of unequivocal grace. “God shows his... Continue Reading
One Woman in the Right Mightier than Four Hundred Men in the Wrong
Abigail is the Conqueress
Abigail, to save her husband and his property, hastens to the foot of the hill. She is armed, not with sword or spear, but with her own beauty and self-sacrifice, and when David sees her kneeling at the base of the craig, he cries: “Halt! Halt!” and the caverns echo it: “Halt! Halt!” There... Continue Reading
The Powerful Return of Christ
God demonstrates His power to us throughout history.
The power of God on display throughout all history, in all of creation, will be seen by all on that great day of judgment! Dear Christian, the power of God may not be known exhaustively but it is surely revealed by God sufficiently. When the door is shut no more may enter. The power of... Continue Reading
Julian Dobbs, The Based Bishop
"Be vigilant… Be watchful, that is, stand firm in your faith, be strong, be courageous. And let all that you do be done in love."
“Love seeks the highest welfare of the people we are called to serve. Love seeks that welfare, love serves that welfare, love sacrifices for that welfare. And that seeking, serving, and sacrificing are three essential foundations of love. It was of course, to this same Corinthian Church that Paul wrote his great hymn of love... Continue Reading
Robert P. George: There is No “Middle Way” in Dobbs
In this First Things piece, Princeton professor Robert P. George neatly summarizes why no middle path exists between overturning Roe and invalidating the Mississippi law.
“Claeys and Girgis establish that a Dobbs “middle ground” would be no such thing. It would have to reject every part of Casey’s and Roe’s legal tests, and no part of it could rest on either precedent. The Court can either invalidate Mississippi’s law under Casey and Roe, or consign them to the ash heap of history.” In the aftermath... Continue Reading
