The Task of Responsible Christian Communication
If σωφρονισμός refers to “the teaching of prudence,” then the ends of Christian teaching must include the cultivation of prudence in the minds of learners.
Last Friday morning I shuddered to see Scott Swain wasting of his brilliance in a tweet thread. I’m sure it was beneficial for the many who saw it, but I wanted more. And I was hoping for a format that wouldn’t disappear in a newsfeed in less than 24 hours. So I asked him if he... Continue Reading
Local Churches Taking Measures to Boost Security Amid Deadly Attacks
With a congregation of 600-800 people meeting for services downtown, security is of paramount importance to First Presbyterian’s leaders, who have added security elements — seen and unseen — over the years and regularly review their procedures.
Among several measures taken at the church, one of the most obvious is the Chattanooga police officer standing in front of the McCallie Avenue building during services. Hired in the wake of the 2015 Chattanooga terrorist attack against local military facilities, the armed officer replaced an unarmed security guard. Recent attacks across the country... Continue Reading
Louise de Coligny – a Courageous Woman in Troubled Times
Louise’s life followed one of the most troubled times in European history - from the bloody St. Bartholomew’s Massacre to the creation of a new nation, the Netherlands, until the beginning of the Thirty-Years War.
In 1573 one of the most atrocious massacres in France took place, a spontaneous, unanimous attack that killed approximately 10,000 Huguenots – 2-3,000 in Paris alone. Gaspard de Coligny, Louise’s father, didn’t escape the fury. A group led by the Guise stormed into his room, pierced him with a sword, threw him off the window... Continue Reading
What to Call the So-Called New Calvinists?
It seems high-time to make clear the difference between Neo-Calvinism and Neo-Puritanism again.
For the past five years, there has been a lot of discussion about the rise of a new group of Calvinists. Groups like The Gospel Coalition are encouraging and celebrating how a new generation of believers seem to be embracing Reformed theology. In a recent lecture at the bastion of “Old Calvinism,” Westminster Seminary, John Piper defined the New... Continue Reading
Ten Lasting Fruits of the Reformation
The Reformation was about the centrality of God—the supremacy, sovereignty, holiness, goodness, and mercy of God in His triune being.
For the Reformers to worship God, whether privately or publicly, was to bow down before His majestic glory, and in spirit and in truth to bring Him, in and through Jesus Christ and in accord with Scripture, the honor and praise that belong to Him alone. Calvin said that the Christian faith turns on two... Continue Reading
Imperfect Elders
Elders who are introverts will remain introverts. Being ordained doesn't confer gregariousness.
When a man becomes an elder, that does not automatically confer some extra measure of spiritual strength, wisdom, or love for neighbor. It does not grant supernatural ability to overcome weakness of personality and temperament. Elders remain sinners. I’m organizing some thoughts on being an introverted elder and am starting with one basic point.... Continue Reading
The Ninety-Five Theses
Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.
“They preach man-made doctrines who say that so soon as the coin jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out of purgatory. It is certain that when the coin jingles into the money-box, greed and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the church is in the power of God alone.” ... Continue Reading
Reviving the Dying Small-Town Church
The percent of rural congregations shrunk from 43 percent in 1998 to 32 percent in 2012, according to the National Congregations Study.
“Village Missions is almost entirely a revitalization ministry,” said Wechsler, who grew up in Long Island, New York, before attending a Village Missions church in Idaho. They don’t need to plant new churches, because there’s almost always an existing building with the remnants of a congregation. Jeremy Sarver was a mama’s boy, so when... Continue Reading
We are what our Creator says we are
If our identity is based on our job, education, intelligence, sexuality, or anything else you can think of, we’re thinking too small.
What does it mean to be made in God’s image, according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26)? The short version is that as God’s image bearers, we are mirrors, reflecting God’s attributes to the rest of creation in three distinct but complementary ways. How do you understand what it means to be human? Most of... Continue Reading
Pastoral pipeline: Will there be enough ministers to serve the Presbyterian Church?
Retirements and deaths are outpacing ordinations.
Not everyone is as certain as Hinson-Hasty that a pastor shortage is pending – in part because another piece of the puzzle involves 50 years of declining membership in mainline Protestant churches. Over the past two decades, the PC(USA)’s membership has dropped from 2.63 million in 1996 to 1.48 million in 2016, a decline of... Continue Reading
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