Did God Really Say? is a compilation of seminar lectures given at the Virginia Beach 2011 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of America. The messages have been converted into essay form, making up the different chapters of the book. So the PCA does not take this doctrine for granted either. It was incumbent for them to pull together some of their finest scholars from Covenant Seminary, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary (Phil.) to give these messages to the leaders of the church. One thousand points for the PCA on that one!

Should pastors challenge church members who support politicians sworn to protect elective abortion? Yes and no. They should challenge believers and nonbelievers alike with the truth that elective abortion unjustly takes the life of a defenseless human being -- and that truth should impact who we support.

“The hardest thing about being a pastor is not being poorly paid. If that needs to be fixed and you can, please do. The hardest thing about being a pastor isn’t the long hours… The hardest thing isn’t the lack of respect in the church and the world over his calling. If you can help there, please do."

You may be a very godly and theological person, even very experienced in ministry, but if the parents in the congregation feel weird about you, your ministry to young people will never get off the ground. Don’t expect trust to just happen because of your qualifications, and don’t resent parents when they don’t give it. Just get to work earning it.

For years, he had suffered from anxiety attacks and occasional bouts of melancholy that friends told him sounded like mild depressions. But it had never hit this bad before. The next day, Warren and his family began driving to Arizona, where his wife's family had a house. Slowly, he recuperated. Some days, he would sleep for twelve hours and then take a walk through the desert, praying, trying to understand why these panic attacks were threatening to undo everything he had worked so hard to build.

Hans Madueme is assistant professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and Themelios book review editor for systematic theology and bioethics. He recently completed his thesis, “The Evolution of Sin: Sin, Theistic Evolution, and the Biological Question—A Theological Account” (PhD diss., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2012).

For the first time in our country’s history, we will have to impose religious tests on those we employ and those we help, in order to maintain our status as exempt religious employers.

Editor's Note: On Friday morning (Aug 10) we published a blog article by Carl Trueman on Seminaries and Spiritual Formation. During the day the Ref21 blog lit up with response from Sean Lucas, a brief rejoinder from Carl, a restatement by Sean, and final thoughts(?) by Carl. Since it appears to have ended, we are combining the last four posts together for your convenience.

That Driscoll’s brand of robust Calvinism is thriving in Seattle, among other areas in the Pacific Northwest, seemingly defies claims by liberals in United Methodism and elsewhere that theological orthodoxy will not appeal in culturally liberal cities

A full-scale, newly published critique of Barton is coming from Professors Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter of Grove City College, a largely conservative Christian school in Pennsylvania. Their book Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President (Salem Grove Press), argues that Barton “is guilty of taking statements and actions out of context and simplifying historical circumstances.”