Fathers, Families, and the Republic
Fathers are the key to all government.
Fathers have their job in the home. But they must also do their part as free citizens of a free republic, and keep your government limited to its proper sphere, limited to the good for which God gave it. What is that good? It is protecting the conditions for moral thriving, family thriving, wealth creation,... Continue Reading
Augustus W. Loomis, Ministry to Chinese
His religion before the world consisted in the faithful performance of duty.
Loomis became an advocate for the Chinese with his language skill providing the means to alleviate prejudice. His primary ministry was as the pastor of the First Chinese Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, which had been organized during the ministry of William Speer. The church had been without a minister for about two years when... Continue Reading
Whispers and Shouts: An Analysis of J.D. Greear’s Views on Homosexuality
SBC Presidents should know better; they are called to a higher standard.
Not only is it bad exegesis and bad logic to make unrepentant homosexual practice less severe than feelings of pride or possession of wealth, akin to an act of disobeying one’s parents, but it is also bad pastoral theology. In the story of the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped his... Continue Reading
First Man
The Neil Armstrong biopic affirms the virtues and vices of traditional masculinity - but misses its purpose.
There’s one piece of masculinity that the movie misses. This missing piece I think is the key to why the movie has flown under the radar for so long: a compelling purpose. Men long for a compelling goal and purpose for their life which justifies sacrificing themselves, whether it’s their God, their country, or their... Continue Reading
Should I Participate in Multiple Churches at a Time? — A Parable
Rather than pursue your needs your way, you should pray all the more for your covenanted community and strengthen her whenever possible.
Christ is the head of all (Jew, Gentile, bond, free, male, female, living, or dead), Scripture is profitable for all (2 Tim. 3:16-17), and Satan is the common enemy of all. But once a man is saved, he is not to live his life independent from all other believers under the so-called impulse of the... Continue Reading
The Curious Case of the Christian Reformed Church
The CRC is evangelical, not mainline. It’s conservative, not progressive. It’s orthodox, not affirming.
“I’ve been delegated to synod four times now, and each time increasingly feels like war,” pastor and Abide clerk Aaron Vriesman wrote after Synod 2023. “The CRC’s existential crisis has been building for some time. Each synod is a battle of opposing visions for the CRC, with diametrically opposing values. While synodical sermons trumpet Christian unity and... Continue Reading
When Therapy Harms Instead of Helps
Excessive mental health therapy may do more harm than good.
Therapeutic treatment for mental conditions involves interaction with one’s sadness, whatever may have caused it. In group therapy, patients listen and theorize with others about their sadness. In individual therapy, patients rehearse their own sadness, often for months and even years at a time. In both cases, the focus is on looking within. This, Shrier... Continue Reading
Search Engines Are Not Value Neutral
Is a search engine a genuine database of knowledge, or have software engineers designed search engines to reflect the people using them?
Search engine companies such as Google have claimed that such SEME is not possible, and they seek to operate with transparency for the processes that inform their search engine algorithms. The chances are high that search engine companies do their best to operate in a fair and transparent manner. Nevertheless, this doesn’t preclude or eliminate... Continue Reading
How Older Christians Encourage Younger Generations for Christ
The love of Christ must dominate words and actions towards younger people.
We must tell them our stories—the real ones: both victories and failures, joys and sorrows, and how God taught us through these things. As appropriate, we need to tell them how God taught us when we struggled with sin, faced depression, failed the Lord. They need to hear about the ways God helped us through... Continue Reading
The Pitfalls of Faith Plus Works
There is no “It is finished” in faith plus works theological systems; there is only bondage.
When we stand before the Lord, there is only one to whom we will point for our acceptance before God: Jesus Christ. He fulfilled the law that we could not, paid our debt on the cross, and credits his righteousness to our account. Even when we experience significant sanctification in this life through the work... Continue Reading
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