And all the people said … “Amen!” The “amen corner” has had an important place in the life of the church throughout the ages. However, it is rare to find such a spot among Presbyterians. We are known as God’s frozen chosen for a reason. It has been said that the Methodists like to shout... Continue Reading

In the Southern Baptist Convention, many conservatives would have objected to the “fundamentalist” label as a Yankee epithet, a synonym for a barefoot bumpkin sorely lacking in southern grace. But if their self-perception was not fundamentalist, many of their goals and tactics were.   Excerpted from “Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism” Fundamentalism... Continue Reading

Maybe Americans want public policy to reflect their moral judgments as much as ever, but they no longer regard smoking marijuana or casino gambling—or sodomy, gay marriage, or pornography consumption—as morally suspect. At the same time, maybe jurisdictions are implementing tough new laws in other areas—mandates to recycle, laws against dog-fighting, marital-rape statutes, trans-fat bans—because people... Continue Reading

There it is. We mess up. It is not just that we mess up, as it were, by accident or because things just tend to go that way. Rather, we have a propensity to mess up – to mess up ourselves, others, everything we touch.   “Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression... Continue Reading

We’re not leaving the Presbyterian Church. We’re moving from one part of the Presbyterian family to another part,” he said. “We’re being faithful to God’s call.”   More than three years have passed since First Presbyterian Church of Kingwood started its journey to a new denominational home. At long last, the trek out of the... Continue Reading

I am delighted to inform you that Dr. Davis has agreed to come on a more permanent basis as Minister in Residence where, among some other things, he will be the Sunday evening preacher. Truth is, Dr. Davis retired a few years ago and lives in Tennessee, but he and his wife Barbara have already... Continue Reading

To add ‘cultural transformation’ to Christ’s command to his first disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel, would (in Calvin’s view)  jeopardise Christian liberty, and no doubt we could add that it would be to privilege the educated middle-class Christians over their blue-collar fellow believers. A command, or a kind of culturally-correct pressure... Continue Reading

Yesterday I learned that Leithart is now teaching at a place called The Trinity House in Birmingham, AL. I Googled it and found this: http://trinityhouseinstitute.com/solomon-among-postmoderns/. The announcement says: “Trinity House fellow Rev. Jeff Meyers and Peter Leithart will lecture at the annual All Saints conference at Community Presbyterian church in Louisville, Kentucky, November 1-3. Click... Continue Reading

Modeling for my children how to be a minority has a bigger purpose than merely learning how to have dark skin in a white world. My lessons are about how to wear Christ’s skin. How to conduct yourself among a majority people who are instinctively prejudiced against you for who you are, and for who... Continue Reading

Which is why my first reaction to the proliferation of even some of Reformed theology is profound gratitude. Do I think TULIP is the essence of Calvinism? No. Do I wish many who think of themselves as “Reformed” would go a lot farther back and dig a lot deeper down? Yes. But does it bother me that... Continue Reading