I Don’t Like Paula Deen but I’ll Defend Her
The need for cultural-historical perspective
We seem largely unable to judge people by the times and the societies in which they lived. Yet we can be quite oblivious to our own sins. We see very clearly what are admittedly beams, not mere motes, in the eyes of those of other times and places, but we don’t even get a glimpse of... Continue Reading
Study: Religious Oppression Rises Despite Arab Spring
People who hoped the Arab Spring would lead to greater religious freedom across the Middle East have been sorely disappointed
And because some of the most restrictive countries are very populous, more than 5.1 billion people (74 percent of the world’s population) were living in 2011 in countries “with high government restrictions on religion or high social hostilities involving religion, the brunt of which often falls on religious minorities,” the study’s authors report. WASHINGTON (RNS)... Continue Reading
My Coming Out Story: Telling My Liberal Parents I’m Pro-Life
“We are spreading the message of life, and it’s working!”
But for me, I just have a hard time ignoring the scientific facts. I have a hard time believing that the testimonies of people who have worked in the abortion industry are “fake.” I know that those pictures of aborted children aren’t Photoshopped. I know countless women who regret their abortions. My mother-in-law hung out... Continue Reading
The RPCNA Synod Day Three
Report of Day 3of the RPCNA Synod meeting in Marion, Ind.
The court discussed an invitation from the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP) to hold joint Synods at Bonclarken in 2015. The ARP said that for the sake of conscience, all worship services and singing would be acapella psalmody for the sake of the RPCNA. The court accepted this invitation and looks forward to deepening the... Continue Reading
What the Supreme Court Decision Means
Thoughts on Justice Antonin Scalia's dissent in the Defense of Marriage Act case
Emboldened by the Supreme Court’s declaration that all who oppose same-sex marriage are haters, the only thing that will keep Christ-haters from giving Christians a choice of silence or jail will be the social left’s sense of what it can get away with. As Edmund Burke wrote when reflecting on the French Revolution, “In the... Continue Reading
How Should Same-Sex Marriage Change the Church’s Witness?
This is an opportunity for gospel witness, to serve as a light in a dark place.
Same-sex marriage is headed for your community. This is no time for fear or outrage or politicizing. It’s a time for forgiven sinners, like us, to do what the people of Christ have always done. It’s time for us to point beyond our family values and our culture wars to the cross of Christ as... Continue Reading
“What’s Happening to the PCA?”
Is the PCA on a similar path as the PCUSA?
And consider also the continuing discussion over women deacons. And what after that? The example of so many churches that have “gone liberal” charts a clear path. Women elders, then women teaching elders, then non-practicing homosexuals, then practicing homosexuals, then John Shelby Spong. I remember when I joined the PCA, my pastor told me... Continue Reading
Reflections on the 2013 ARP Synod: The ARP in the Present and Future
An assessment of the 2013 ARP Synod
The ARP has a rich and storied heritage in the faith. This blessed heritage is a direct result of the faithfulness of God, which he has demonstrated time and time again to us over the past 200+ years. He was present with our Scottish forefathers as they sought the reformation of the church in Scotland.... Continue Reading
Why Does the Universe Look So Old?
Creation days, inerrancy of Scripture, the Fall, and the age of the Earth
If I’m asked why does the universe look so old, I have to say it looks old because it bears testimony to the affects of sin. And testimony of the judgment of God. It bears the effects of the catastrophe of the flood and catastrophes innumerable thereafter. I would suggest to you that the world... Continue Reading
Syrian Christians Caught in Crossfire
Proportionally more Christian refugees are leaving Syria than any other religious or ethnic group
Christians are not always targeted deliberately, he says, but this “does not mean they are not a vulnerable group… and implies they are in varying degrees liable to suffer specific threats”. More than two years have passed since the beginning of the civil war between President Bashar al-Assad’s government forces and the Free Syrian Army... Continue Reading