Whenever parenting is reduced to our hard work, the child’s performance, and the reputation of the family, it becomes very hard for us to respond with selfless faithfulness in the face of our child’s failure. God-ordained moments of ministry will become moments of angry confrontation filled with words of judgment. Instead of leading our needy... Continue Reading

In Deuteronomy 6:6–7, God spoke to Israel and said: “these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you... Continue Reading

If you found out tomorrow that your beloved youth pastor had become a staunch modalist—he now insists the Father, Son, and Spirit are actually one person in three manifestations instead of three distinct persons—would your church excommunicate him? Or would that seem like splitting hairs? Is the Athanasian Creed really right to say, “Whoever wishes to be... Continue Reading

We may start to wonder if we are equipped to face the challenges of our day—even when we know Scripture is unchangeably and immovably true—as if it’s outmoded or archaic. We come to a quiet time and search for undiscovered angles, to the point of blurring the meaning. We might even start doubting that Scripture really can speak... Continue Reading

Idealism about daily devotions usually has some good in it, but it can be a recipe for frustration and ungodly guilt over time. I don’t want to disparage good intentions — may God fulfill your “every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). And as someone who’s walked... Continue Reading

David was living through times that were full of anguish and tears. And yet he is able to say these times were in God’s hand. Not the Devil’s hand, or the hand of his enemies, or the hand of fate. They were under the Lord’s control, they were in his keeping. And he trusted the... Continue Reading

I remember some years ago when my sixteen year-old neighbor spent a summer trying to learn how to ride a skateboard. He persisted through embarrassing falls and hostile temperature. And why? I fancy it was because it seem a cool thing to do (and perhaps the girls would love him for it). By the same... Continue Reading

This is what Van Til sought to do in his own day in his responses to modern philosophy.2 It is only through a truly reformed, presuppositional apologetic that we may adequately challenge the wisdom of the world. What exactly, then, are the central theological tenets of a reformed apologetic?    During the later part of... Continue Reading

With regard to justice, there is a whole conceptual change indicated in Pope Francis’ position. A traditional conception of justice regarding murder or similarly heinous crimes is that death is a just penalty, and to give a lesser penalty is mercy. This is no slight to mercy, for God is both just and merciful, and mercy is to... Continue Reading

You’re not a pastor or a theologian—you’re just an earnest Christian who doesn’t have the luxury of spending your days buried in Berkhof either. You know that doctrine matters, but it’s difficult to know how much time to devote to it among the demands of everyday life. You’re not agile with cross-references, you don’t know... Continue Reading