What Does It Mean To Be “Confessional” (E.g., In The PCA)?
To be confessional is to allow the Standards to shape one’s teaching, approach to God, and practice of the faith.
To be confessional is to ask what the Standards say and intend? What are the implications of the Standards for one’s theology, piety, and practice? What did the framers, in their context, intend for the churches to say and do? Ask yourself this: if your favorite, dearest practice was found to be contrary to the... Continue Reading
The Witness of Marxism—Part 8
Virtue signaling is the Neo-Marxist’s twisted version of personal holiness or witnessing and if you do not learn to do it, you are doomed.
These types of preachers were originally called “social justice warriors,” but it has come time to assign them a more honest label. They are, in all actuality, hate preachers. No, they do not call for acts of violence against anyone, but they are constantly calling people like me (i.e., straight, white, cis, male) to hate... Continue Reading
With Much Advantage” Deacons’ Conference (Southeast Alabama Presbytery)
Reports on a recent conference for PCA deacons.
Keep in mind that by this time the Jerusalem church probably numbered between fourteen and eighteen thousand. As the church grew, new men were needed to continue doing what the elders had been handling, that is, if the elders were to continue to focus on the Word and prayer. The deacons took up three duties... Continue Reading
Why Is the Organ Relevant for Major League Baseball and Irrelevant for Local Churches?
The organ as a single instrument is far superior than the modern praise band.
If relevance is based on cultural trends rather than congregational engagement—it’s easy to see how the organ can get pushed out the back door. However, if relevance is based on congregational engagement—the organ will beat out all other instrumental choices hands down. Recently, my children and I watched the Atlanta Braves take on the... Continue Reading
First Presbyterian Church Session, Ft. Oglethorpe, GA, Report on the National Partnership
A report from the Session of First Presbyterian Church, Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga., on the National Partnership, a group within the Presbyterian Church in America.
In response to questions regarding the pastor’s role in disseminating files associated with the National Partnership that had previously been made public, Session was forced to consider the nature of those files before making any other determination. The report of that study is below. You may have been alarmed at the recent circulation of files... Continue Reading
Should We Stay or Should We Go?
It is not time to depart the PCA. It’s time to contend for the PCA—to humbly contend for the biblical and confessional faithfulness of our beloved church.
Don’t give up on the PCA. Double down in your commitment to pray, stay informed, and get involved. Obviously, there may be a time in the future to organize and depart together as a large group of confessional churches. But now is not the time. There is much to be encouraged by after the last... Continue Reading
Relativism in the Church
It is interesting how many Christens and/or Christian organizations think God forms approval judgments based on relative righteousness.
The assumption is that if good outweighs wrong, then there should be no criticism. However, the economy of God’s Kingdom does not operate by weighing the amount of right against the amount of wrong as a way of justifying the wrong. It is not as if the right counterweighs the wrong then all is well. ... Continue Reading
The Realpolitik of the PCA National Partnership
The National Partnership, while established in “confidence,” is a clearly organized political apparatus within the Presbyterian Church in America.
It is clear that, regardless of whatever disclaimers they proffer, and whatever misgivings its members have expressed in the past concerning the church’s enthusiasm for partisan politics in the national sphere, the National Partnership has essentially become a political party within its own denomination. It is time that the leadership of the National Partnership at... Continue Reading
The NP and the Ninth Commandment.
A general analysis of what the National Partnership emails reveal about its members and their view of the church.
However, if they put their case in such clear terms, it couldn’t do the other thing that such assurances are designed to do: to ease the consciences of the chosen members of the NP that they are not doing anything wrong. As a result, the NP emails almost all sound like this: the PCA is... Continue Reading
Smells Like Party Spirit
The National Partnership, a PCA sub-group, is now out in the open, though not by its own design or on its own terms.
What did eight years of organizational communication reveal? Well, thankfully, nothing terribly personal or scandalous — what has become public is mostly political. The messages show a highly-organized group comprised almost exclusively of pastors (teaching elders in PCA parlance). There are members, though how one becomes a member or who decides is never revealed. What... Continue Reading
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 520
- Next Page »
