Why How We Worship Matters
Protestants understand that there is an inseperable connection between way we worship and whom we worship.
The Protestant reformers (from whom we have learned much about Scripture) understood two things often lost on moderns. First, they understood that the liturgy (the set forms of corporate worship), media, instruments and vehicles of worship are never neutral, and so exceeding care must be given to the “law of unintended consequences.” Often the medium... Continue Reading
Why is Happiness Such Hard Work?
Is “the pursuit of happiness” worth the effort?
Today, there are thousands of definitions of happiness, maybe millions, and they can’t all be right. If we don’t know what true happiness is, we won’t know where or how to look. If we’re looking for something that doesn’t exist, we ain’t gonna find it! Lots of happiness-hunters are chasing a shadow. The US... Continue Reading
The Pastor’s Kid: My Happy Childhood
Being born the son of a pastor is one of the greatest gifts that God has ever given me.
I realize that being the son of a pastor can at times be tough, but so can being the son of pharmaceutical salesmen who travels every week, or the daughter of a high school football coach after a losing season. I had a great dad who overcame the challenges of ministry to make me feel... Continue Reading
Outside the Camp
The recipients of the letter to the Hebrews faced uncompromising pressure to compromise.
Put more colloquially, following Jesus is weird. It is counter-cultural. It is foreign and foul to unbelieving senses. Accusations about believers’ judgment, emotional balance, and failure to love others will surely come—and maybe in droves. Such unpleasantries are only for starters. Some brothers and sisters around the world discover that “outside the gate” means “inside... Continue Reading
The Federal Vision, the Dual Aspect and the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism is not compatible with a system in which membership in the visible church guarantees without any qualifications a personal, saving union with Jesus Christ
The visible church is the church in history as seen through fallible human eyes at any given point in time. The mention of the visible church here reminds us that we do not have an infallible certainty that every single person who is baptized with water will have a personal, saving union with Jesus. In... Continue Reading
Insider Movements Study Committee Report Endorsed by the PCA
The Presbyterian Church in America, the Presbyterian Church of Bangladesh, and other churches, are committed together against IM’s theology and methods
The PCA Study Committee Report is an excellent resource for pastors, missionaries, mission committees, and others who support or are involved in missionary efforts. It also has significant implications for the local outreach of the church not only to Muslim but also to the Jewish, the GLBT, and other communities. However, it can appear a... Continue Reading
How to Fight Evangelicals with Narrative, Part 2
Narrative rather than logic rules the day in terms of convincing most people
So where do we stand as traditional orthodox Christians? Too many stories for and against are surrounding these matters to grant a helpful strategic clarity on the ground. However, this is how the culture war is going to be fought in most hearts and minds: with sound bites and narratives. Evangelicals must realize this and steel... Continue Reading
Mother to Hospital Staff Regarding Her Daughter’s Exam: ‘I. Am. The. Mom.’:
It didn’t go over well when a hospital allegedly told a mother they’d need to have a ‘private’ conversation with her teenage daughter
The sign in the hospital read: “Attention parents of adolescent children age 12y-17y: New Michigan Medical Records access laws have been put in place. This will require a nurse to have a short 5 minute private conversation with your child. We will explain the purpose and process at the time of the visit and answer... Continue Reading
A Sexual Revolution for Young Evangelicals? No.
Defying the secular culture, churchgoing Christians are sticking to Biblical teaching.
As American culture secularizes, the most basic Christian tenets seem ever more detached from mainstream American culture. Those who identify with Christianity, and who gather with the people of God, have already decided to walk out of step with the culture. Beliefs aren’t assumed but are articulated over and against a culture that finds them... Continue Reading
The Left’s Hollow Complaints About Hobby Lobby
Progressives attribute to conservatives who seek to accommodate both religious liberty and women’s freedom faulty motives
Still more pronounced, however, is the evident aversion among prominent progressives to living in a society with those who disagree with them about religion and reproduction. So great is their distaste for the diversity of views characteristic of a liberal democracy and so strong is their resolve to control the conduct of others that they... Continue Reading