Eastern Europe’s Christian Reawakening
In Hungary, Croatia, and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, a pro-family, pro-life revolution and a rediscovery of Christian roots is occurring
Hungary and Croatia are only two examples of post-Communist societies where the public role of religion is growing. Whereas Hungary and Croatia are experiencing a rebirth of Western Christianity, the Orthodox Churches are also booming east of the Elbe. Russia is rediscovering Orthodoxy. Patriarch Kirill’s influence is growing, more monasteries and parishes are reopened, growing... Continue Reading
Worship According to the Word
Worship is the purpose for which we were made—and only the redeemed can worship the Father in spirit and in truth
While all Christians affirm the necessity and reality of the experiential dimension of faith, the experience must be grounded in and accountable to the Word of God. This is of central importance to the question of worship, for, left to our own devices, we will be inclined to seek worship that meets our desire for... Continue Reading
Overture on ‘Child Protection’ Sent to the 42nd PCA General Assembly
The overture ‘exhorts all church leaders to become informed and to take an active stance toward preventing child sexual abuse in the church’
“We urge all church leaders to use their influence for the protection of children, by any and all godly means, including preaching and teaching against the heinous sin of child sexual abuse, warning anyone with knowledge of these sins to “take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose 1 them” (Ephesians... Continue Reading
Olympians for Christ
Several of this winter’s athletes find their true strength in the Lord
Bobsledder Brock Kreitzburg placed his faith in God at age 13, after losing his father to cancer. “God used the worst experience in my life—losing my father—to bring forth the best experience in my life—knowing my Heavenly Father. God is the Father I can never lose, who will be with me forever, and truly, unconditionally... Continue Reading
Top 10 Ridiculous Responses Regarding My Third Pregnancy
The announcement of our third pregnancy has received some ridiculous responses
At some point in my short 30-some years, times changed. People started getting married later — if at all — and having babies later — if at all. Children became either burdens to be prevented or commodities to be planned for and acquired at any cost, but always on the parents’ schedule. Three has become... Continue Reading
Patriarchal Pathological Liars
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: these patriarchs and their wives were pathological liars
Ultimately, it was Satan’s lie in the Garden of Eden that led to all the chaos experienced in the world today. This first lie resulted in the patriarchal madness presented above. Abraham and Isaac ruined their testimony before Pharaoh and Abimelech. Abraham and Isaac harmed their relationship with their spouses by encouraging them to lie.... Continue Reading
Do I Have to be a Member of a Local Church to Follow Christ?
By committing myself to the local church, I’m committed to a body of people that is, in turn, committed to me
But we are deceived if we think we’re free because we have no commitment. In reality, Christians who think they’ve made no commitments, who believe themselves free, are slaves to the worst kind of obligation: commitment to self. All of our personal histories should be enough to convince us that the First Christian Church of Me is... Continue Reading
America’s Moral Foundation
Review of ‘Slavery, Abortion, and the Politics of Constitutional Meaning’
Undoubtedly, there are differences between slavery and abortion. But the parallels are chilling. Dyer’s book shows that America today is rehashing much of the same debate that occurred 150 years ago. Running throughout the book is a sense of the moral foundation of America’s constitutional order. The Constitution is not just a document that sets... Continue Reading
The Closing of the Secular Progressive Mind
The secular academy is closed to understanding conservatives when it comes to marriage and abortion.
What I am saying – and what religious conservatives actually believe – is that without charity first being nurtured in home and hearth, it becomes more difficult for our nation to understand what it means to love the desperate stranger, the lonely neighbor, or the homeless immigrant. There are many unfortunate consequences of the... Continue Reading
5 Ways to Pray for Your Church Family in 2014
A call for a planned prayer for the New Year.
If the goal of the church is Christlikeness, then the diet for the church must be the Bible. After all, it is the Bible that God uses to make the child of God more like the Son of God (John 17:17). Therefore, we can pray that the church would be filled with people who hunger... Continue Reading