“What we did was we explained to them, ‘Well, you’re right. You’re not asking forgiveness for something you didn’t do. You’re asking God to take away any discipline for something your forefathers did. You’re basically asking God to remove the spiritual inheritance of the former church and instead restore to us the spiritual inheritance that... Continue Reading

“Evangelicals” is an elastic term, and FitzGerald intermittently shrinks or stretches it. But she does direct us to the right starting point, to the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Great Awakenings, major religious events in our early history when the word “evangelicalism” came into wide American use. Evangelical religion is revival religion, that of emotional contagion.  ... Continue Reading

In moving forward, practical and intentional actions should be considered. The PCA Book of Church Order encourages the elders of our churches to “select and appoint godly men and women” to assist the Deacons in “caring for the sick, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, and others who may be in any distress or need” (BCO... Continue Reading

This is the spot where, week after week, my enthusiastic soprano notes join the booming bass of the church elder two rows ahead to create a joyful noise. This is the place where my heart adds its “Amen” to the united prayers of the whole congregation. This is the seat where the Word of God... Continue Reading

“Plead earnestly that every home would be, as it were, a little church, earnestly and consistently about the worship of God in the home, led by the father, with the families gathered together to read the Word, sing God’s praises, and pray together — all for God’s glory.”   The Lord calls all believers to... Continue Reading

“Preaching comes through Christ’s sent messengers. This implies that preachers are necessary for preaching and that God must equip and send them to preach on Christ’s behalf. This point builds upon the previous post, which defined preaching as a public authoritative proclamation of the gospel through Christ’s ordained ambassadors.”   Salvation is an expansive term.... Continue Reading

“Ministers are slandered, vilified, addressed in anger – not by those who are the enemies of Christ and his gospel, but by professing Christians. And when the watching world catches glimpses of such behavior within the family of God, they rightly wonder what kind of ‘family’ it really is.”   I recently found myself in... Continue Reading

“Five hundred years after the Reformation, the religious revolution that swept across Europe, the leaders of the Church of England – itself created in the decades of upheaval – have called on Christians to repent for the divisions, persecution and death.”   It unleashed an orgy of death and destruction across Europe. In England alone,... Continue Reading

For the last several years, I have been a member of a group of seven other men—all PCA pastors—who get together monthly (via gotomeeting.com) to talk about life and ministry, to share our struggles and concerns, to encourage one another, and to pray for one another. And it’s made all the difference in the world. ... Continue Reading

There are treasures that we should keep and be thankful for, but there is junk in our “attic” too. We have not always done as we ought nor have we always treated our brothers, sisters, and neighbors with the dignity and respect due to fellow image-bearers. It will be very hard to move on until... Continue Reading