Hattiesburg, Mississippi Tornado
An update from TE Sean Lucas, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church (PCA) Hattiesburg
An EF-4 tornado struck Hattiesburg, MS two days ago causing considerable damage. While there are a number of people who were injured, by God’s grace, no deaths have been reported. The University of Southern Mississippi was in the path of the storm and has sustained damaged to several buildings. What follows is an update from... Continue Reading
Are Millennials More Self-Sacrificing and Community-Minded Than Previous Generations?
It's taken as a nearly uncontested reality. Except it's not true
Millennials were less likely to think about social problems, make efforts to conserve natural resources, be interested in or participate in government, voting, contacting their representatives, participate in demonstrations or boycotts or giving money to political causes. The decline in environmental concern and action are markedly steep. Remarkably, three times as many Millennials said they... Continue Reading
I Confess: The Discipline of Being Confessional (Part II)
Confessions provide protection from tyranny and accountability
In short, confessions serve to curb the power of the elders by making the limits of their power clear to the congregation and thus making them publicly accountable. This is vital, as even the church leader with the most cheerful Celtic smile and avuncular sexagenarian demeanour can fall prey to the temptations of exerting too... Continue Reading
What is the Greatest of All Protestant “Heresies”?
The assurance that nothing can separate us from Christ
If final justification is dependent on something we have to complete it is not possible to enjoy assurance of salvation. For then, theologically, final justification is contingent and uncertain, and it is impossible for anyone (apart from special revelation, Rome conceded) to be sure of salvation. But if Christ has done everything, if justification is... Continue Reading
He Wants Your Heart
A Word to Church Planting Wives
God was allowing the difficulty of church planting to sift me, to bring the issues of my heart to the surface. I realized that if I didn’t address these things, my marriage, my family, and my own heart were in danger. God was refining me, cleaning me out, and teaching me dependence rather than self-reliance.... Continue Reading
From the Boy Scouts to the British Parliament: Left behind?
Conservative Christians and the gay revolution
Evangelicals cannot join the moral revolution on homosexuality, but it seems unlikely that we can stop it, either. The issue of homosexuality, by itself and in tandem with other moral issues, may well lead to the marginalization of evangelical Christians within the larger society. This is already the case in secular Europe and, increasingly, in... Continue Reading
My Sunday at an Atheistic Church
Everyone missed the music and community of their childhood experiences in church and want to bring it back into their lives
Everyone at The Sunday Assembly seemed to believe that by adding community once a month and singing random songs, they will fill that nagging void in their life. The more I though about this, the more I wanted to stand on my chair and yell “You’re missing the point! It’s not enough!” But, perhaps the... Continue Reading
Early Maturity: The Blessings of Young Marriages
Having children tends to mature one like few other life events
We all know, of course, that in God’s providence some folks will not find the right mates until they are older, and some are called to singleness. Let’s hope, though, that most Christians see the value of marrying when they are closer to 20 than to 40. If some couples wait and wait until they... Continue Reading
Is N.T. Wright Wrong about Jesus?
Wright's answer to "Is Jesus God?"
“I do not think Jesus “knew he was God” in the same sense that one knows one is tired or happy, male or female. He did not sit back and say to himself, ‘Well, I never! I’m the second person of the Trinity!’ ( N.T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus, 154).” I have found... Continue Reading
Post-Evangelical Blogging for Dummies: Harnessing the Zeitgeist for Fun and Prophet
How to be a successful post-modern blogger
The trick of post-evangelical blogging is to take the issue du jour, be it gay marriage, birth control, gun control, abortion, or assisted suicide, and re-interpret it as a fundamental and authentic challenge to the assumptions of the suburban evangelicalism which for you represents the sum total of Christian belief and experience. A lot... Continue Reading