God’s Faithful Providences in Arkansas: An Addendum to the “Jonesboro 7” Series
Seven men disagreed with their Session on the selection of a pastor. The Session indicted and censured them, the MNA Committee tried to close the church. But God preserved a witness in Jonesboro.
Covenant Presbytery took up the Jonesboro matter again; this time with the hope of reconciliation between members of the Jonesboro congregation and the original Session. This is very good news. It would be a wonderful testimony if the Presbytery not only reconciled with the Jonesboro 7, but also with those who left the visible church... Continue Reading
What’s the Impact of Asbury’s Outpouring? John the Baptist Offers 3 Lessons
How the prophet’s ministry helps us understand what may come next a year after revival broke out.
John the Baptist was always clear that his role was to point to the one coming after him: “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). He was also keenly aware that his ministry was a preparation for a movement that would follow. In the same way, Asbury kept Jesus at the forefront... Continue Reading
This ‘He Saves Us’ Ad Redeems Everything Wrong with the ‘He Gets Us’ Super Bowl Spot
Jesus preached a gospel of radical repentance, not tolerance or acceptance of sin.
Bambrick is an associate pastor of Hope Church Craigavon in Northern Ireland. His ad draws a strong contrast to the “He Gets Us” Super Bowl ad campaign. It featured art of various people washing other people’s feet, a reference to what Jesus did for his disciples in John 13. I criticized the “He Gets Us”... Continue Reading
The Commission of Christian Leaders
Christian leadership means ministering by the power of the Spirit, by the mind of Christ, and with the wisdom of God.
To be a Christian means that we follow Christ, and to be a Christian leader means that we lead in the name of Christ. We are not free as Christian leaders to teach our own gospel. We are not free to throw away the teachings of Jesus and replace them with our wisdom. The world... Continue Reading
Witnessing at a Pride Parade
The call went out: repent of your sin and believe in the Son of God.
As Jesus prepared to ascend into heaven, he gave his church her marching orders, her commission, her duty until he returns (Matt. 28:18–20). That commission begins with one simple word, “Go”! If the church remains inside her walls, she can maintain a measure of comfort and safety, but it comes at a massive cost in... Continue Reading
How Consumerism Trains Us to Devalue the Past
In today’s topsy-turvy world, youth has status.
The impact of consumerism is one reason why church sessions and elder boards often spend more time than is decent on discussions about worship and programs. Someone will make the point that certain young people have left because the worship is not to their liking and thus the church needs to rethink how it does... Continue Reading
Preach for America
Rethinking the pastoral recruitment process in an era of talent shortages.
Why can’t churches be working to identify people whom they believe would be highly effective pastors – using whatever criteria they think is most Biblical and appropriate – and encouraging those people to go into ministry? There’s a lot of opportunity in local churches to do a stealth vetting of these folks before tapping them... Continue Reading
The Teaching Elder and Church Leadership
Modeling the word of life to struggling saints.
Leadership isn’t about power as much as it is a unique opportunity to glorify the Lord by displaying His great power in our tremendous weakness. Rather than finding our identity in some sense of authority or accomplishment, we may return to meditate on the Savior’s merciful work in us and the great privilege we have... Continue Reading
A Response To “When the ‘Harvard of Christian Schools’ Goes Woke”
Dr. Philip Ryken, President of Wheaton College, responds to an op-ed referring to the college.
Contrary to what appears on the web piece, Wheaton College remains fully committed to Christian service—which we embrace as “service” in our very mission statement—to biblical orthodoxy and Christ-centered education, including in matters of human sexuality, gender identity, and race relations. For accurate information about our convictions, please visit our webpage on Institutional Commitments. ... Continue Reading
Can Christians Attend Gay Weddings?
Attending a gay wedding involves approving of a ceremony that makes a mockery of a central New Testament teaching and of Christ himself.
There are also obvious reasons why a Christian should never attend a gay wedding. If marriage is rooted in the complementarity of the sexes, then any marriage that denies that challenges the Christian understanding of creation. It is one thing for the world to do that. It is quite another for Christians to acquiesce in the... Continue Reading
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