The Bible and the Reformation
We must open the Bible and declare the truths of Scripture. The Reformation is not over.
At the heart of the Reformation was the Bible, but not just the Bible translated, it was the Bible preached, taught, and explained. This was Luther’s commitment. According to Luther, “The Word of God is the greatest, most necessary, and most sublime part in Christendom.” The Reformer went on to say, “We can spare everything,... Continue Reading
Making Sense of Christ’s Two Kingdoms
One of the central doctrines of Protestant political theology is pervasively misunderstood.
All Protestants acknowledged that there must be a mutual subjection of ministers and magistrates, as ministers submitted to magistrates in affairs of the temporal kingdom, while magistrates bowed to the authority of the Word as proclaimed by the ministers. But there were bound to be gray areas, especially in a society where nearly all citizens... Continue Reading
Onward in the Service of God
There is not an aspect of church life where help is not needed.
I often hear the elderly in our congregation (and in others) lament that there is nothing left for them to do. Their strength is meagre, and they sigh in dissatisfied resignation, “I guess I can still pray”. One main thing needs to say to those who are victims of this attitude. It is that we... Continue Reading
Synod 2024: An Appraisal and a Vision
My hope is that the CRC would be a home for refugees of the sexual revolution, a place where God’s grace abounds but the boundaries don’t budge.
My prayer is that everyone in the CRC will be able to articulate the gospel and would unashamedly spread this good news. While the evangelical world has the gospel, they are adrift without a confessional tradition to ground them. Many have floated in the directions of the prosperity gospel or Christian nationalism or pastoral personality... Continue Reading
This Is How Religious Liberty Dies
Kamala Harris says it out loud in asserting a false right to abortion.
Religious liberty, which is among the fundamental rights explicitly recognized in the Bill of Rights and is the foundation of all other rights, is rejected in favor of abortion rights, which are invented rights without a historic foundation. Harris rejects the actual fundamental right, religious liberty, and asserts a false right, abortion, claiming it to... Continue Reading
The Good News About the Bad News
A dark backdrop for bright gospel light.
Our sinful estate is bad news, and thinking about bad news isn’t pleasant. But here’s the good news about the bad news: by remembering the horror of sin, and by reflecting on our helpless and spiritually ruined estate, we are able to celebrate the rescuing grace of God all the more. The bad news reminds... Continue Reading
Pietism vs. Piety — What’s the Difference?
Christians should be known for their piety.
The practice of pietism, either seeking personal encounters with God or practicing asceticism (another form of pietism that involves denying oneself of physical pleasures for the sake of spiritual advancement), can be appealing to people because they feel like they are being more religious and, thus, closer to God. Yet, Paul specifically states that such... Continue Reading
(Corporate) Worship
When we gather to worship, we are gathering as a body of believers.
When we gather together to worship, God pours out His grace on His people. We should love the gathering of the saints. We should value the corporate nature of the weekly worship of God’s people. Let it drive away our sinful individualism and let us learn to highly value the gathered church. I was... Continue Reading
Pastoring People Through Slow Change
The process of change in Christians is usually very, very slow.
Part of the pastor’s job is to help Christians regularly refocus on the gospel. To a friend who is bitter, we encourage them to, “…forgive, as God in Christ forgave you,” (Eph. 4:32). To the husband who is passive: “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her,” (Eph. 5:25).... Continue Reading
Teasing Out Idolatry in Narcissism
Instead of worshipping the God of the universe, narcissists make themselves the god of their own universe, creating a reality centered entirely on them.
For those living with or around a narcissist, while there are ways to minimize harm, the greatest need is the transformation of the narcissist’s heart—not a change in how you relate to him. By the Lord’s grace, the true God has been known to change self-worshipping people at least a time or two: consider Manasseh... Continue Reading
Lost – Minister’s Letter Oct 24
Our world thinks that it knows better than previous generations.
Luke 15 is a chapter for our day. It speaks to the religious, and irreligious; the one who knows he’s lost, and the one who doesn’t. It makes us face up to the reality of our lives. It shows us the terror of what it is to be lost and the glory of what it... Continue Reading
Why Psalm 23 Is My Favorite Psalm
Psalm 23 paints a vivid picture of the tender loving care of my Lord.
We don’t wander the wilderness, left to our own devices to find food, rest, and safety for ourselves. We have a faithful Shepherd who is watchful over all of these details in our lives. These are things everyone longs for, and it’s important to remind ourselves often that these are realities for Jesus’ sheep. The Lord is my shepherd;... Continue Reading
When Kings Take Counsel Together
The World May Not Rule Itself Without Christ
When our rulers and men of wealth, the mighty in the land, take counsel together to substitute human authority for divine authority, when by their lies they throw all things into chaos that they might impose an order of their own making, this Petrine counsel is the counsel we must take. We must fearlessly adhere... Continue Reading
How Then Shall We Pray?
Like the Psalms, we can insert our own words, burdens, and desires into the structure of Jesus’ prayer, while at no point straying from God’s intended will for how we are to address Him.
Father, we thank you that, though the world is evil, the Lord Jesus has overcome the world; He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and we joyfully submit to Him and await His coming with groans unutterable. Grant us grace to live by faith and not by sight. Equip us to... Continue Reading
The Practice of Accepting Disappointment
No one ever can fully meet your hopes, desires, and expectations. And you can’t meet theirs.
God’s gifts are good and are meant to be enjoyed. Yet none of them can deliver all that they promise. Each of them brings a level of satisfaction but also a level of disappointment, a sense of beauty but also a sense of longing for more. We need to be wary of that longing for... Continue Reading
A New Testament Scholar Explains What Should Be the Two Key Voting Concerns for Christians
How do Christians determine what are the most important matters when voting for or against a political candidate? We have to start “in the beginning.”
Summary: The two most consequential acts of God at creation were the valuing of human life as the only creatures made in God’s image and the integrating of that image-bearing into the creation of male and female sexual counterparts. Since these two creation acts are most consequential in the eyes of God, policies adversely affecting... Continue Reading
Three Truths for Those Who’re Tired of Suffering
Paul didn’t downplay suffering. It can wear us out.
Suffering trains us to become more fully dependent on God. When things are falling apart we learn to give ourselves more to the one who holds the universe together (Hebrews 1:3). As death looms we learn to entrust ourselves to the God who raises the dead. Feeling powerless points us to the omnipotent God. When you are... Continue Reading
How to Love Your Wife As Christ Loves the Church
A husband’s love for his wife is empowered by the gospel.
Through the aid of the Spirit, the Word of God, and the local church, Christ can enable any Christian man to love his wife, regardless of the circumstances surrounding his marriage. In light of this, men, let us work hard to love our wives as Christ loves the church. In the latter half of... Continue Reading
Jesus, What A Beautiful Name (Song of songs 1:2-4)
Which matters more to us, the beauty of appearance or the beauty of godliness? Which do we spend more time cultivating?
We want to cultivate the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, and we want to display the fruit of the Spirit that is self-control. Stop offering excuses. There is no behaviour so compulsive that Christ doesn’t offer the power to overcome. he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear,... Continue Reading
Seeking Godly Rulers In Ungodly People
How Should the Church Speak Prophetically Towards Holiness in Its Rulers
A country’s leaders will reflect the country, and a country will reflect their leaders. Even more so a church which is unconcerned with personal holiness in itself will no doubt not seek leaders which reflect the type of life Christ expects of all men. Putting up with sin has a leprous effect on the body... Continue Reading
Twelve Ways to Promote the Sunday Evening Service
Tell people who is preaching, or the passage or series being preached.
Consider having a missionary speak or have an interesting ministry update 30 minutes before the evening service. State that there will be a 15 minute psalm- or hymn-sing before the evening service. Do this once a month. State that there will be a 30 minute ice-cream social before the evening service. Do this on a different... Continue Reading
Romans 13:1-5 and the Gospel
We do not always agree when obedience to man constitutes disobedience to God. We can fine-tune our deliberations with a look at why God gave rulers authority.
We can’t disobey rulers without disobeying God except when we must obey God rather than man (cf. Acts 5:29). Rulers, however, often walk contrary to the very reasons God gave them authority, punishing the righteous and rewarding the wicked. No surprises there, for Paul’s Gospel explication includes rulers when he indicts the entire human race... Continue Reading
How to Write a Meaningful Card
Writing cards is a way to re-humanize a de-humanized culture.
I write cards of condolence as often as I can. This is an art. I endeavor to enter someone’s sorrow, to restate what they might be experiencing. I do not offer cheap consolation. I lament with one who has lost a friend or relation or who is suffering ill health (Isaiah 50:4). I often teach... Continue Reading
Following Christ Together: Solitary Christianity Is Not Genuine Christianity
Christ’s gift of the Spirit makes Christians dependent on the other members of the body for edification and spiritual growth.
Christian growth requires submission to the work and influence of other Christians in the local church to help you grow in Christ and observe all that Christ commands. If you don’t submit yourself to the ministry of other Christians in a local church to disciple you, can you really call yourself a faithful disciple of Christ?... Continue Reading
16 Thoughts for Christian Citizens
...as the first Tuesday in November approaches
Politeness matters; it tends to peace. Being a good neighbor will be more important than ever. Do not taunt or respond angrily to taunting, whatever the outcome. Say less rather than more; read Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. There is little at this point you can do to affect the outcome of the election except to vote. God is... Continue Reading
The End of Life
An Allegory of Old Age in Ecclesiastes 12:1–7
Now is the time to live for God. Now is the time to fear the Lord. Now is the time to walk wisely under the sun. Life will not necessarily get easier as we grow older. However old you are, these are the years to love God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Don’t live... Continue Reading
Stepping Into those Awkward & Difficult Conversations
The response of the person on the receiving end of them tells you a great deal about their godliness, their maturity and their desire to grow in Christlikeness.
The maturity of our members becomes evident when they must wear the practice of their theology, when they are on the receiving end of corrective discipline and when their preferences (whatever they may be) are challenged and must be set aside for the sake of others. It is in those moments we see just how... Continue Reading
“Christians” Disowning Christ
Apostasy is real – and a real concern.
“The Australian Catholic University will reimburse attenders of a graduation ceremony where Joe de Bruyn sparked a walkout with a speech denouncing abortion and same-sex marriage, as the university also revealed it had urged the former union chief to reconsider his remarks before he delivered them. De Bruyn’s address, delivered on Monday evening, prompted major... Continue Reading
Jesus’s Baptism was for You
Jesus’s baptism was part of the perfect obedience necessary to accomplish our salvation.
Jesus’s baptism at the Jordan points forward to the baptism of his death (Mark 10:38; Luke 12:50). But it also points to the glorious blessings merited by his righteous life. After Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened. God’s Spirit came down like a dove, and a voice from heaven declared, “This is my beloved Son, with... Continue Reading
The Need for Protestant Ethicists: A Response to Carl Trueman
Trueman is absolutely right about the need for protestant ethics.
We really have to get past the idea that the life of the church is accurately and realistically mirrored by social media. We could all do with a little more trust. Ethicists can help with that. I. I read with great interest Carl Trueman’s recent post on the need for protestant ethicists to assist... Continue Reading