The Word of God is Already Weaponized
Our battle is not against “flesh and blood” but against spiritual principalities and powers.
Even though our battle is not against physical “flesh and blood” this does not mean our battle is against purely ethereal spirits who have no concrete presence within this world. The principalities are grounded in all sorts of ways, ideas, and – yes – people. This means we are to wield our spiritual sword (Eph.... Continue Reading
When Churchmen Defile the Church
There will always be false prophets in the church of God.
God takes special notice of the sins of prophets. They are mentioned first in the general corruption that affected all sorts. There were priests’ sins, princes’ sins, and people’s sins, but the prophets are set in the front. They provoked God greatly. They did the most hurt. “From the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone... Continue Reading
On Aging into Childhood
The older I get, the more I feel like a child.
To grow jaded, cynical, condescending, and bitter as we age should not be normal for Christians. Instead, as we age, we should grow in Christ. And as we grow in Christ, we ought to grow in humility. And as we grow in humility, we will find that we are aging backward in our own minds,... Continue Reading
Until Christ Is Formed in You | Galatians 4:8-20
In an act of pure grace, God created us to share in His eternal joy in Himself.
We, therefore, most image God whenever we love, enjoy, and glorify Him, in the same way that He loves, enjoys, and glorifies Himself. We least image God whenever we turn our love, enjoyment, and glory inward upon ourselves. As Christ is formed in us, we are being remade into the image of Christ, who is the... Continue Reading
“The Church Is Not Tired”
Evangelical pastors in Ukraine say that despite the war, congregations are flourishing.
In Ukraine, an evangelical minority living in the shadow of the Orthodox Church is now blooming in the fog of war. After 2½ years the conflict grinds on, with more than 90,000 Ukrainian troops and civilians killed so far, hundreds of thousands wounded, and millions internally displaced. But interviews with local pastors suggest the good... Continue Reading
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Points Christ’s Church Forward
One hundred thirty-two years after Charles Spurgeon’s death, the Metropolitan Tabernacle continues pointing Christ’s church forward.
Speaking with two of the elders after the evening service, they told me that the Metropolitan Tabernacle made a conscious determination that the way to advance the gospel forward was to go back to the old, straightforward paths. Christ’s kingdom does not advance through gimmicks or man-centered worship but by proclaiming the pure word of... Continue Reading
A Surprising Generational Rift in the Christian Reformed Church
In their denominations and elsewhere in the church, some progressive Baby Boomers have been caught by surprise at younger people not sharing their cultural values. But should they have been surprised at this generational rift in the church? Looking at how different generations have been formed morally, socially, and culturally may help address this question.
Throughout church history, comments like these (made at the most recent CRC synod meeting) would be seen as ordinary and unremarkable. In this case, though, there was indeed something striking about them. For the two speakers mentioned were not among the wizened heads at the denominational meeting: they were both relatively young pastors. In the... Continue Reading
A Change in Ecclesial Affiliation for the Ecclesial Calvinist!
A change was in order and faced with the impending dissolution of my own ARP Presbytery, I applied for reception as a retired minister by Foothills Presbytery of the PC(USA).
The reality is that liberal and conservative Christians need each other, and the sad polarization we see in American Christianity today began in earnest when liberals and conservatives largely stopped talking to each other and ceased to learn from one another. Apart from those needful conversations, Protestant liberals often lose touch with the tradition and... Continue Reading
Finding Contentment Through Boasting
Seeking to exalt ourselves through our own accomplishments or associations is a deception that divides Christ's church and robs Him of the glory that belongs to Him alone.
True contentment comes when our boast is in the Lord. It comes when we remember our complete unworthiness to be given any good thing, receive God’s “inexpressible gift to us in Christ Jesus” (2 Cor. 9:15), and recognize with heartfelt gratitude and overflowing praise that every gift, whether to us or to others, is wisely... Continue Reading
How J. I. Packer Married Theological Study and Spirituality
No theology should ever be taught to enrich the head while impoverishing the heart.
Packer rejected a merely scientific approach to theological study, arguing that cool and clinical detachment when studying doctrine was intolerable. He instead proposed a marriage in which systematic theology would be taught as an element of a student’s spirituality and spirituality taught as an expression of systematic theology. He believed systematic theology should be a devotional... Continue Reading
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