Jesus contrasted his way with the way of the Pharisees, who “crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden” (Matthew 23:4). Jesus’ ethical creed, by contrast, is a statement that flows out of empathy and non-controlling service. All that law, that the Pharisees enforced with power and might, Jesus summed up like this: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind…Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).

Singing it is well is a reminder that the old will pass away and the new WILL come. You might not have understanding about the deep hurts that you are experiencing, but I hope you can turn to the God who comforts and the God who does understand.

The Reformed were particularly zealous to apply this doctrine to the practice of Christian worship. The Westminster Divines had experience with attempts by the Anglican establishment to bind their consciences and those of their forebears. As early as the 1540s, it became clear that there were those within Anglicanism who did not accept the doctrine of sola Scriptura as authorities sought to impose certain priestly (not merely ministerial) vestments upon the ministers.

George Orwell once wrote, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” In the ninth commandment forbidding the bearing of false witness (Exodus 20:16). And, Jesus declared, “Let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil” (Matthew 5:37). In a world where deceit and lying is commonplace, God desires that His people be revolutionary truth tellers, men and women of their word.

My advice to those who find themselves on the pendulum swing from broad evangelicalism as well as to those moving toward Anglo-Catholicism: Find a church that is faithful to expositional, Christ-centered preaching of Scripture, regular Lord’s Day observation of the means of grace (i.e. word, sacraments, prayer), the practice of church discipline and the loving fellowship... Continue Reading

Someday we will get to see what Moses wanted to see: the glory of God. We will look Jesus right in the face and will not be destroyed but will be filled with glorious joy. In the heart of every man there is a yearning—yet unsatisfied—to see this promise fulfilled. We know that there is... Continue Reading

Vischer declares, “You can say, ‘Hey kids, be more forgiving because the Bible says so’…But that isn’t Christianity.” Well, it depends what he means. In many ways, such a statement is definitively Christian. It calls God’s covenant people (kids in this instance) to obey the authoritative word of their covenant Lord (regarding forgiving others). Sure, it is a call to a certain moral behavior. But it is a moral behavior that is in a biblical, covenantal context because it is based on God’s word.

Throughout my life, the responsibilities, roles, jobs, and commitments I make will change. They will come and go. What I do with my time in one decade will likely be different in the next. My identity can't be rooted in those things. Even a role as important as motherhood can't be how I define myself. It can't be what I rest in to give my life meaning. Because what happens when the house is empty and I'm no longer needed?

I believe it is the very desire to bolster oppressive forms of authority that has led to the necessity of the principle of the inequality of equals and therefore also the subsequent fabrication and blasphemy of subordinating the Son to the Father in all eternity. The Scripture does not teach ESS. The Scripture also does not teach the metaphysic of oppression. When the Son of God voluntarily subordinated Himself in time to become a bondservant on behalf of fallen man, it was not in that in which He was equal with the Father (Godhead) that He became a slave, but in His flesh:

“As we continue to wrestle with the desires of the flesh, we can be tempted to believe God owes us a better condition than we presently enjoy. To believe such a thing is sin, and it leads to great misery, which is overcome only by trusting in the Lord’s sustaining and providential grace.”   Blaise... Continue Reading