While many believers have used confessions enthusiastically, others have claimed that confessions replace a vital relationship with God with a desiccated list of doctrine, replacing the Spirit with the letter, leaving only a husk of dead, dull orthodoxy. However, to understand confessions this way is to mistake the recipe for the pudding.   Christians have... Continue Reading

As I was re-reading J. Budziszewski’s The Revenge of Conscience and came upon his critique of political progressivism, I thought it helpful to summarize his enumeration of progressive “sins.” With the list, he intends to address the deep intellectual roots (warped ideology), and not merely the negative fruits (e.g. abortion), of progressivism.   The Bible does... Continue Reading

We see this in their “Rejection of Errors.” These rejections were given under each of the chapters or heads of doctrine and though they have often been ignored they are very illuminating. They help us today not only to see why Synod took the Remonstrant doctrine so seriously but also to understand various (other than... Continue Reading

The good news is that ethnic harmony is possible! For this to happen, the church must be the church. And the church can only live out its Christ-given nature, calling, and mission by confidence in and submission to biblical truth. The word of God is the answer. Here are seven biblical principles that promote ethnic... Continue Reading

‘But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons’ (Ga 4.4-5). He was the incarnation of everything God required to fully provide everything he had promised in Eden after the fall.   It... Continue Reading

Viewing training at your church as “only training people for a volunteer role at your church” is too small a vision. If you develop a leader to lead a small group, to welcome guests with hospitality, or to invest in kids or students, you are not only training them for those important roles; you are... Continue Reading

The Nashville-based Southern Baptist publishing company announced in January it would reduce its retail presence and cut staff, but it had planned to keep operating some stores, where it sells Bibles, books, Christian music and other faith-oriented products.   LifeWay Christian Resources will close all of its 170 brick-and-mortar stores this year as store traffic and sales lag, the organization announced... Continue Reading

The Westminster Shorter Catechism answers the fourteenth question, “What is sin?” by the response, “Sin is any want of conformity to, or transgression of, the law of God.” Here we see sin described both in terms of passive and active disobedience. We speak of sins of commission and sins of omission. When we fail to... Continue Reading

“If one should ask, ‘If Solomon is the wise author, how could he have died such a fool?’ let it be noted that he constructed his own gibbet on which he impaled himself—that is, he ceased listening to his own instruction. Spiritual success today does not guarantee spiritual success tomorrow”. The point I’m making today isn’t... Continue Reading

Shall we say nothing about what’s happening and just hope no one notices? And just hope churches and leaders figure out on their own that they need to cultivate a watchful accountable environment for their pastors and when pastors sin inform the next church? My question is, how has that been working for us? Obviously... Continue Reading