Can I Be Forgiven If I’ve Had an Abortion?
Though what I have done cannot be undone, I can be forgiven
Since the Bible mentions an unforgivable sin, there has been much speculation concerning its specific identity. Some people have jumped to the conclusion that abortion is the unforgivable sin, because murder is one of the most heinous of sins and abortion has been considered a form of murder. Is this a valid conclusion concerning the... Continue Reading
The Worst Sin in Downton Abbey: It’s not what you think
Is it wrong to have a lust for justice?
Is watching Downton Abbey justified for no other reason than because, in the end, the sinners get their “just reward”? Sin is bad, and none of us here would promote it. But lest we become, quite literally, like the Pharisee who, while gazing at a group of sinners, said, “God, I thank you that I am not like... Continue Reading
Jesus, the Propitiation of God’s Wrath
God himself makes the offering that turns away his own wrath
God propitiates his own wrath. Know anybody else like that? Will China pay off the US debt? Will any of the victims of Bernie Madoff personally pay his financial debts? When does the offended personally provide the means to take away his own offense? Only God. This is why he is love. Not that his... Continue Reading
Sovereign Grace Ministries: Courts Shouldn’t ‘Second-Guess’ Pastoral Counseling of Sex Abuse Victims
Does clergy-penitent privilege apply to denomination accused of covering up crimes?
In response to a civil lawsuit alleging that it covered up numerous cases of child sexual abuse, Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) has pledged to “carefully review” each accusation. However, the lawsuit—which claims the association of Reformed church plants discouraged victims’ parents from reporting abuse to authorities and had victims forgive their abusers in person—has also... Continue Reading
Why the Good News Turns Bad Without Adam
It makes God bad and disembowels our salvation
Let’s put it this way: what if sin did not enter the world at a particular point in time, with a real, historic first sin? Well then we have to say that God must have created a sinful, fallen world. Sin must be a part of what God considers ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31). Now either... Continue Reading
Is It Time for the PCA to Remove Chapter 21 of the Westminster Confession?
Either follow, amend or remove Chapter 21 of the Westminster Confession of Faith
The very fact, however, that our own Directory of Worship (DOW) could never hope to be approved by a majority of our Presbyteries and thus gain constitutional authority, and the fact that the DOW actually adds to rather than takes away from the elements of worship considered acceptable under the Regulative Principle, should indicate that... Continue Reading
The PCA, Toxic Cultures and Nickelback
Growing weary of men who are selling the church culture/blogger bogeyman card as a legitimate excuse to leave
It’s practically an obligation for younger pastors in the PCA to question the motives of the founders of our denomination. For many it’s self-attesting in the same way Nickelback’s music is considered unlistenable. I’m certainly not young but I share the uneasiness about much of what is constituent in our short institutional history. There is,... Continue Reading
Reading Luther Not Wisely But Well: Part One
Luther's theology must be read against the background of his life story
I suspect that which was terror for him has lately become a marketing opportunity for others, that the closest some of his modern acolytes come to Anfechtungen is finding out that the release of the new iPhone has been delayed by a week. To adopt the aesthetics of the hipster or the stand-up comic and... Continue Reading
How to Prepare For Hostility
How will the church of Jesus Christ respond when the things that the church must believe are considered laughable, backwards, or worse?
It’s always been the case that Christianity has been derided by some. But now it’s not just people in far off Hollywood or in far away academia. It’s people next door. It’s the people you work with, the people you live with, the people you go to school with. How will the church of Jesus... Continue Reading
NAACP, Hispanics Fight Government Intervention
Working together to stop the government's ban on beverages in New York
The absolute absurdity of government telling business owners the number of ounces they can or cannot sell warrants a much longer comment than this blog allows, but America beware: this type of intervention is coming to a town near you. Politicians, yet again, have put themselves in the seat of omniscience to tell the rest... Continue Reading