Overture 2 to the 2022 OPC GA: Help or Hindrance?
If appointed, could the proposed committee honor Jesus Christ, help the OPC, her members, the broader church, and even our world? Or could it be a hindrance?
I believe that the greatest need the OPC has right now is not another committee, but rather men in leadership and members in our churches who are committed to true and decided piety. This stands as the chief necessity for the eldership and the Christian life (1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Peter 1:16). John Calvin provided... Continue Reading
Dozens of Georgia Churches Split From United Methodist Church Over LGBTQ Issues
The departing Georgia churches mark the latest in a growing divide among Protestants over LGBTQ issues
During a special session in 2019, the UMC adopted a disaffiliation agreement allowing churches to leave the denomination through the end of 2023 “for reasons of conscience regarding a change in the requirements and provisions of the Book of Discipline related to the practice of homosexuality or the ordination or marriage of self-avowed practicing homosexuals... Continue Reading
The Christian Conquest of Pagan Rome
Some examples of cultural engagement: the early Christian church and its triumph over the pagan culture of Rome.
The early Christians, acting in obedience to Christ, began to care for the poor, the sick, and the marginalized. So alien were their charitable acts and self-sacrificial lives that the Romans referred to them as “the third race.” In the centuries to follow, even though Christians were still a demographic minority, their care of the... Continue Reading
Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren to Retire in September, Names Andy Wood as His Successor
Andy Wood, 40, is currently Echo’s lead pastor, while Stacie Wood is a teaching pastor. They will have the same roles at Saddleback.
Founded in 2008 as South Bay Church, Echo now has four campuses and draws about 3,000 people to weekly services. Like Saddleback, Echo has ties to the Southern Baptist Convention, though neither church uses the word Baptist in its name. A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Andy Wood has also worked with church planters... Continue Reading
Desiring The True Catholicity Of The Church While Maintaining Significant Distinctions
“We love Christ, we love Christ’s Church, and we do not believe that Christ is best served when the Church is employing her gifts and expending her time and energy in an inward facing war.”
Contrary to the uncharitable assumptions of some of our detractors, we do not rejoice in being a “micro” denomination, either in terms of size or strictness. We believe that there are many who share our convictions and look for the Lord to add to our number in His time. We believe that there should be... Continue Reading
Jesus’ Response to Massacres – Why?
Mental health experts cannot save us. Education cannot save us. Politicians cannot save us. Sadly, even the modern church today cannot save us.
In our battle to protect the doctrine of justification by faith alone, the Law of God disappeared from the church, and then it disappeared from America as a country. Christendom was first killed by the church and then by the civil magistrate. We need to consider looking at these events as a result of corporate... Continue Reading
Unless The Church of Scotland Returns To The Gospel, It Will Die
When the world lauds the Church for adopting its values, it is a sign that the Church is unnecessary, irrelevant and judged by Christ.
Unless the Church of Scotland returns to the Gospel, it will die. To some, this seems a strange statement. What does same-sex marriage have to do with the Gospel? It’s straightforward. We do not make up the Gospel. We receive it by revelation from Christ – through his word. Part of that is his teaching... Continue Reading
Church Of Scotland To Allow Same-Sex Marriages
The Church of Scotland has voted to allow clergy to conduct same-sex marriages for the first time.
The Covenant Fellowship Scotland, a think tank of evangelicals within the Church of Scotland, issued a statement:…”The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, in converting an overture permitting ministers and deacons to officiate at same-sex marriages into an Act of the Church, has acted in a way which is both unbiblical and sinful…But we... Continue Reading
Abuse, the OPC, and the Psychologizing of Sin
The preference of the term abuse over sin moves abuse out of the moral and spiritual realm and into the psychological.
Here is the real problem that I believe underlies the failure of those frequently using the term abuse to provide a clear, biblical definition: the preference of the term abuse dislocated from sin, moves abuse out of the moral and spiritual realm and into the psychological. In other words, it tends to shift the serious matters at hand from that which is... Continue Reading
Deep State? What About Deep Church?
The deep state is the bureaucratic control and secret manipulation of government policy behind the scenes. Is it possible that there a “deep church" in the body of Christ?
One example can be seen in larger bodies where both teaching and lay elders once governed the church; they’re called “ruling” elders. Today, some churches reduce the role of ruling elders to merely shepherding and have established a smaller group of men, including possibly non-ordained staff members, to govern and exercise authority over the church. ... Continue Reading
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