Hate, like love, cannot be judged in the abstract. Love is only virtuous if its object of its love is worthy. Hatred is only evil if its object is something God loves.   God does not hate all hate. Some hate is actively encouraged by God. Indeed, if hate exists as the opposite of love,... Continue Reading

As a general rule, the best evangelistic programs (1) facilitate relationship building between church members and unbelievers; (2) emerge from the ground-up, rather than imposed by the leadership from the top-down.   Evangelism isn’t just for the “professionals”—pastors, ministers, Bible teachers, and all the rest. Instead, the New Testament teaches that evangelism is the whole... Continue Reading

The corporate worship of God is a special, public “gathering” or “assembly” (see Gen. 4:26) of God’s people, called out from the world to gather before the throne of grace. Here the special means of grace are given by God in the Word and Sacraments, and overseen by called upon elders. This activity is the... Continue Reading

The word pandemic has Greek origins. Pan means all. Its form is found in Ephesians where Paul expresses the scope of our prayer: “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18, ESV).    Be anxious... Continue Reading

Boothe didn’t write his book to be known as the first African American to write a systematic theology book. He wrote it to meet the need of everyday Christians, who worked in the fields all day as sharecroppers and bi-vocational pastors and had “little time for books,” but a “great need” for truth.   Charles... Continue Reading

In the work of Effectual Calling, God himself, by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12), enlightens the darkened mind (Acts 26:18), makes new the rebellious will, determining it to obey God’s call, and makes them willing and free, no longer enslaved to the sin-ridden bent of the fallen nature, to say “Yes.”   In the... Continue Reading

As a member of your local church, understand the importance of listening and engaging in the sermon each week. Don’t be left behind as your pastor passionately seeks to take you to the throne of God to see him and be amazed by him each week through the pages of Scripture.   At the end... Continue Reading

This section of the Westminster Confession [19.4] does not spell out how to apply each judicial law. Rather, it gives us a hermeneutical principle. It gives us a question to ask when we come to apply a judicial law to our modern context.   “To them also, as a body politic, he gave sundry judicial... Continue Reading

The Visible Church is full of the world. Christians are called to be separate from the world, not be part of it while being Pilgrims traveling through it. Because of this, the church and its professing Christians look just like the world. Their leaders use the world’s methods instead of being obedient to God and... Continue Reading

Practicing homosexuals—of which I was once one—may not be conscious of the larger, biblical meaning of their sin as outlined in Romans 1, but it would be to their betterment if they were. While the LGBTQ world has become a machine, many individual people who practice homosexuality just want to be left alone to live... Continue Reading