I did not know Dale, but I know several men who knew him well. They say the church has lost a great pastor and great friend. As in so much else of life, it is the celebrities that get all the attention, even at death. This story is evidence that we should not succumb to that cultural standard.

1. Skirmish over Presbytery head tax;  2. Belhar is back;  3. Theology, Institutions, and CE move through fast;  4. New Mission Personnel Commmissioned;  5.  New Vice Moderator elected. Since The Aquila Report has limited staff and budget, we are unable to cover the PCUSA General Assembly.  Our good friends at the Layman are there in... Continue Reading

1. Divestment of companies doing business with Israel; 2. Don't Bomb Iran; 3. Two Form of Government changes denied; 4. Presbyteries may allow Lay Pastors to vote; 5. Observations on Marriage Committee - final vote story coming SOON!

Shortly after the Declaration of Independence, Haynes wrote “Liberty Further Extended,” possibly the most powerful argument against slavery from the Revolutionary era. In the 1780s, Haynes began a thirty year pastoral career in Vermont, and was likely the first African American to pastor a largely white congregation.

Let’s not be weenies with our words here. Not believing in 6/24 creation might not mean you’re a heretic going to hell, but believing you’re a born-again, Holy-Spirit baptized, justified-adopted-sanctified, persevering-to-glory child of God who rejoices in the freedom of his sexual fornication IS a damning conviction

Nettles said Southern Baptists have come full circle in their renewed interest in Calvinist views, also known as Reformed Theology or the Doctrines of Grace. When Southern Baptists formed in 1845 for cooperative missions and then moved into theological education and publishing literature, he said, the first thing they did was to solidify their understanding of salvation through “confessional Calvinism.”

"Let us then, fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty, and even life itself, are but dreary things. … Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans; we are all federalists."Americans." --T. Jefferson

Unbelievably, a couple of evangelical stalwarts are electing to sit this fight out-choosing not to endorse the amendment. Leith Anderson, a former pastor and President of the National Association of Evangelicals is one. John Piper, of Bethlehem Baptist Church, is another

For those of you who don’t know, every year, presbyteries, sessions, and even individual church members can take the opportunity to send requests — called “overtures” — to the General Assembly. Before those requests make it to the floor for the consideration of the full Assembly, they are first referred to a committee, where they’re debated and voted upon at that level.

We shouldn’t evaluate Christian sexual ethics on the basis of how much they may or may not “alienate” people. We have to base our beliefs on what scripture teaches, not on what we think people may be offended by. There will always be people who hate the light and who won't come to it. We do not turn off the light so that those folks can have room to stretch out.