John Wycliffe, Reformer Part 1: Wycliffe vs. the Begging Friars
Wycliffe contended that these friars would never be morally reformed unless they were first spiritually transformed to accept the clear religion of Jesus Christ found in the Scriptures.
Wycliffe called indulgences one of the “Luciferian seductions of the church” and a “fiction of the Prince of Darkness,” and called upon Christians to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ…and teach the people that they should trust in Christ alone, and in his law, and in his members…” George Housman Thomas’ illustration, “Wycliffe on... Continue Reading
Promises: God Hears Your Prayers
God will receive all those who call upon Him in faith.
The promise of God to hear prayers is for all those who come confessing their sins and seeking divine pardon in and through Christ alone, who made atonement for our sins on Calvary’s tree where He hung despised and rejected for our sakes. A few years back, there was a clever trend afoot that... Continue Reading
The Dehumanizing Effects of Constant Performance
Audience-fueled narcissism is especially toxic.
We overshare about our lives. We serve our audience as if it is the source of our identity because it has become just that. Ultimately, we are led to live in constant performance mode. Why? Because we need to maintain the awesome image of ourselves that our audience projects onto us, and in order to maintain... Continue Reading
When We Feel Like Giving Up
We shouldn’t be surprised by discouragement.
We don’t have the perspective to see all that God is doing. We’re small, but God is big. It can sometimes be hard to hear Him; hard to feel His strength. We sometimes want to give up, and sometimes we do. But He’s always there working—in our lives, in others’ lives, and throughout history—for my... Continue Reading
Make Christianity Hard Again
There is something about a challenge that causes people to rise to it.
The ironic part is that Christianity is difficult. The way of Jesus is the way of the cross. So don’t talk about it like we just need to be nice people. I grew up in a very interesting strain of Christianity. Now, I don’t know if this was the explicit teaching of my church... Continue Reading
Put Not Your Trust in Princes—An Exposition of Psalm 146
Corporate Lord’s Day worship is the appropriate place for the people of God to praise our Lord and offer up to him our hallelujahs.
Jesus is the God of Jacob and that great king who reigns from Zion. This is why the people of God assemble together to “praise the Lord” and offer “hallelujahs” unto our creator, redeemer and covenant Lord. Jesus accomplishes all of things through his word and through his sacraments. Therefore, let us do as the Psalmist... Continue Reading
What Must Be Driven by Why
We ought to have a reason why we are doing everything that we do in church.
We must ask what we’re trying to achieve before we can figure out the best way to achieve it. Unless we know why we are doing this thing we can’t possibly figure out how best to do it. It seems like an obvious thing to say, but let me say it anyway. What you are aiming to do... Continue Reading
Encore: Evangelicalism from 2000–2020
The most significant movement among young evangelicals in North America between the years 2000 and 2020 was the resurgence of Reformed theology.
In November, Christ Over All offered a decade-by-decade engagement with evangelicalism. We would encourage you to go read many of those fine essays. In this two-part “Encore Essay” by Mark Devine, we return to our November theme, Engaging Evangelicalism, because of its many applications for our January theme: Roe v Wade after Dobbs. While Evangelicals should... Continue Reading
Worship, Polity, & the PCA
The state of worship in the Presbyterian Church in America is arguably better than it has ever been, at least as far as liturgy goes.
All is not well in the way worship is conducted in the PCA. Even as observance of the Lord’s Supper becomes more frequent in our churches, it seems that errors in its conduct multiply. These include the bizarre and biblically-unfounded practice of intinction (where the bread is dipped in wine and the two actions of... Continue Reading
Comparing Overture 15’s Dissenters to Presbytery Votes
Comparing the votes in presbyteries on the Overture 15 amendment with the votes of GA commissioners who recorded their negative votes.
To date (January 25, 2023), 51 presbyteries have voted on Overture 15, with 30 voting to pass and 21 voting not to pass, under the two-thirds threshold to bring the amendment to the floor of the 50th General Assembly. Overture 15 has passed in 81 percent of the presbyteries without a dissenting commissioner (17-4), while... Continue Reading
Confused Classifications at Credo: Or, Hans Boersma Is Not Reformed
Someone who favors regarding Scripture and tradition as being our proper rule of faith (regula fidei) over Scripture alone (sola scriptura) is channeling the beliefs of Rome rather than the Reformation.
No matter how that question is answered, someone who favors regarding Scripture and tradition as being our proper rule of faith (regula fidei) over Scripture alone (sola scriptura) is channeling the beliefs of Rome rather than the Reformation, and may not be justly termed either evangelical or Reformed – or for that matter, Protestant, his... Continue Reading
Support of Overture 15: Amending the PCA’s Book of Church Order on Qualifications for Church Office
The most basic, fundamental biblical qualification for the offices of both elder and deacon is that a man must be found blameless.
We do no favors to the members of our churches, nor to those men themselves who are entangled in the sin of homosexuality, when we allow such men to be ordained to office in the church, contrary to our Lord’s appointment. It behooves us, then, for the sake of everyone involved, for the purity and... Continue Reading
Depravity Unleashed
We live in a world in rebellion against God and His Christ (Psalm 2).
What we see unleashed in our society today is not the product of an enlightened mind, but rather a willing descent into the darkness of sin, fueled by an aspiration to be as God. The lid has been lifted, giving license to depravity. As the biblical diagnostic puts it: “Having lost all sensitivity, they have... Continue Reading
Trinity & Paradox (A Defense Of Orthodoxy Against Modalism and Polytheism)
If God is one and all three persons of the Trinity are God, how does orthodox Christianity adequately deflect charges of Modalism and Polytheism?
It seems to me that these conundrums can be dealt with adequately by supplementing additional biblically informed premises alongside the ambiguous ones. Simply augment some of the abbreviated premises with more biblical truth and paradox disappears, yet without being able to uncover the mysteries of the Trinity. (The solution is rational but ought not to be... Continue Reading
Amos, A Laity Model and Prophet for Our Times
Amos was a layman addressing a warning to the people of God, and he is then rebuked by a cleric.
Unfortunately, there are some who have succumbed to the lure of secular culture and promote those values as if biblical. And gladly in the midst of this, many lay elders, deacons, and congregational members remain faithful and speak to the current issues. They need to be heard, heeded, and respected. Their “prophesying,” like Amos, on... Continue Reading
On Eagles’ Wings
Time and time again, with great patience, the Lord has caught his plummeting people on his mighty wings and borne them up and carried them to safety.
The Lord is teaching you to fly. To trust him. And if you fail, there is a gracious safety net. Look back and remember “what you yourselves have seen”—how the Lord has borne you up on eagles’ wings so many times before. Remember how he did it for Israel, not just here in the wilderness... Continue Reading
The Pastor as Steward
This stewardship language of “entrust” is used multiple times in Pauls’ epistles.
The same word is used in Titus 1:3, “And at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior.” Paul’s emphasis on this metaphor shows its importance for understanding the nature of ministry as a stewardship. Modern readers have a grasp on... Continue Reading
And God Blessed Them
God looked at our first parents, and he blessed them.
All Satan’s craft and all sin’s deceit fail to undo the goodness of the blessing that God spoke in the beginning. The signs of the blessing are all around us, whether in fields of wheat ripe for harvest, in school playgrounds packed with screaming kids, in seeing-eye dogs serving with loyal zeal – all these... Continue Reading
Worship is the Fuel for Helping
How in the world did Isaiah remain faithful to the message?
Isaiah remained a faithful prophet of God for a very lengthy ministry. And he wasn’t just really good at one thing. He wasn’t only one of those preachers that was amazing at beating you up and bringing a flood of conviction. He was also one of those preachers who helped you heal. Likewise, he wasn’t... Continue Reading
Editorial: Delusion & Judgment
Delusion and judgment are just part of what we have to endure before we get home.
There are rough seas ahead for those who desire to remain faithful. Some have not realised this yet and are surprised such days are upon the Church. They will learn and hopefully adapt. Their souls will survive unscathed even if their minds and bodies do not. What should we do in the meantime? By the grace of God, remain faithful. ... Continue Reading
Let the Word of Christ Dwell Richly Among You!
God seeks to shape godly behavior in us by getting to our hearts.
As we learn to meditate on the meaning and application of the Word, every believer ought to grow in the grace of actually applying it to life. You see, it’s one thing to prayerfully discern how to put a passage of the Bible into action, but it’s another thing to do it. And we must press... Continue Reading
How do We Encourage and Build Up the Church?
Engage Heartily
Hearing people singing the songs heartily, praying earnestly, sharing testimony of how the Lord has been at work in them, these will all encourage other believers. Nothing encourages your elders more than seeing you grow in maturity and Christ-likeness. This is the ultimate fruit of engaging with the Word, engaging with the church, engaging with... Continue Reading
The Spirit’s Work of Conviction through the Conscience of a Sinner
Conviction of Sin
Conscience is the territory or dominion of God in man, which he has so reserved unto himself that no human power can possibly enter into it or dispose of it in any wise. But in this work of conviction of sin, the word of God, the Scripture, enters into the conscience of the sinner, takes... Continue Reading
Preserved by God
Unfortunately, many Christians have become practical deists. They have been duped by the notion that after having begun the work of salvation in our lives, God leaves us to our own devices.
God sustains us that we are able to endure faithfully to the end. By His loving hand, He blesses us with discipline. By His kindness, He leads us to repentance, and by His sacrifice, He has conquered the Enemy and defeated death. For this reason, we will endure because we are more than conquerors through... Continue Reading
A Faith Which Believes
Resting in the Assurance Offered in Christ
If we know ourselves at all we are fully aware that our sentiments can change like a chameleon’s skin. It is not a good barometer of things. If faith is a tangible reality it cannot be shaken or disturbed either by the winds and rains on the lake or by whatever circumstances may be around... Continue Reading
Our Greatest Ally in Loving the Sovereignty of God
There are no limitations to God’s sovereignty.
Time passes, and we look back, and from the benefit of a future vantage point, we can see things we were blind to in the moment. We get a slight glimpse of what possible good could come from something that felt, at the time, so bad. And from that vantage point, we would never look... Continue Reading
God’s Sovereignty Should Fuel Prayer, Not Hinder It
God has determined to sovereignly use our prayers for His purposes.
God is “mighty to do much more abundantly than we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). Do you pray as if this were true? No, God is not always going to answer us in the way we want or at the time we want. But when we pray in faith, everything is possible, not because we are... Continue Reading
Witnessing in an Age of Apathy
How can we witness to a person who doesn’t care about God?
As children of God, the Lord has entrusted to us a great treasure—something to rejoice over and find delight in. When we demonstrate this joy to others, we can leave the results of each encounter to the Lord. God alone is the one who ignites true love and right passion. He just calls us to... Continue Reading
The Saviour’s Jerusalem Playlist
Psalms of Ascent
He sings of himself and his mission. He is on his way to the feast, to the Passover, but he is the Passover Lamb, and these are his songs. He sings of his trials, his trust, and his anticipation of triumph. Along with 113-118 these are especially “Anthems of the Dying Lamb”(as Phillip Ross titled... Continue Reading
Responsibility for True Widows: Focus on Older Saints, Part 2
Why is this matter so important to God?
Care for our parents and grandparents is a fundamental life responsibility. Part of our worship of God is also to sacrificially care for widows in our close family. It should be a well-known fact around the globe that Christian families care for their own. This pleases Christ. 1 Timothy 5:3-16 is packed with implications for... Continue Reading
