Suspect Submission
Most of us are willing to submit until we don’t want to
Submitting to the authority of God’s Word means to set aside our own will and way in deference to the One we claim as our God. Usually there is a price to pay, something we sacrifice. We don’t get what we want or would prefer. But God is honored and trusted. Our model is the... Continue Reading
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America Synod Meeting: Report 2
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America Synod is meeting June 23-27, 2014 in Marion, Ind.
Synod spent some time discussing how the kingship of Jesus Christ applies to us in a culture growing ever more hostile. A seven man committee was recommended to study current applications of the mediatorial kingship of Christ. At least three of the committee members will be from countries outside North America. The charge to this... Continue Reading
Sudan Charges Christian Mother Meriam Ibrahim With Fraud and Bans Her From Leaving
Advocate Says US Bungled Case
Christian mother Meriam Ibrahim, who was recently released from death row for being a Christian, was banned from leaving Sudan Tuesday after she was charged with fraud for trying to leave the country with documents bearing her Christian name and not the Muslim name she was assigned at birth. According to a MailOnline report, just hours... Continue Reading
An Irenic Conversation
A parable on the 42nd PCA General Assembly
Husband: No, the right way of making decisions like this is to never revisit them. Wife: I’d like to change what we call “the right way” of making decisions. Here is my proposal… Husband: Even though this is something totally new, it incorporates one element of the way we used to make decisions, which I... Continue Reading
How to Tell the Difference between the PCA and the PCUSA
Here are several key differences between these two distinctive Presbyterian denominations.
Last week NBC news reported that the “top legislative body of the Presbyterian Church in America” voted to recognize same-sex marriage as Christian in their church constitution. The news report, which was quickly corrected, was confusing the Presbyterian Church of the USA—whose general assembly was meeting in Detroit, Michigan—for the Presbyterian Church in America—whose general assembly was meeting in Houston, Texas.... Continue Reading
3 Reasons to Think about Persecution
For many in the American evangelical church, persecution is something that happened a long time ago, or that is happening somewhere else.
Persecution is close at hand. It already came to the wedding cake bakers and photographers and craft-supply store owners and public-university evangelical groups. In our current culture, it often comes through biblical stands on homosexuality and the sanctity of life, but it came recently in my life from the T-ball coach at the annual meeting... Continue Reading
Lessons I’ve Learned From False Teachers
When and where there are teachers of truth, there will necessarily be teachers of error.
False teachers cause division within the church and often cause division even among true Christians. Because false teachers tend to remain within the church, and because they claim to be honoring the Bible, they confuse true believers and drive wedges between them. Amazingly, it is often those who stand fast against falsehood who get labeled... Continue Reading
New Calvinism and Legalism
Legalism is an unavoidable consequence of the doctrinal choices the New Calvinists have made.
If the devil were to design a system to subject the believer to the ever-expanding rules and regulations of man-made legalism, could he do better than this? Get rid of God’s law, invent a doctrine of revelation in which the Spirit may or may not be speaking to us, and allow a generation of dynamic,... Continue Reading
If Christ Is Preparing a Place, What Are Transformationalists Doing?
Doesn’t the idea of transforming this world conflict with the place that Christ is preparing for his children?
Wouldn’t the truth that Christ is going to receive us at the place he is preparing also encourage us not to be too deeply attached to this world, no matter how much the transformers transform it? It is an odd thought if you partake of the neo-Calvinist worldview, the thought being that Christ has... Continue Reading
Reformed Presbyterian Church, NA Synod Meeting: Report 1
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America Synod is meeting June 23-27, 2014 in Marion, Ind.
Rev. Phil Pockras of Belle Center, OH was unanimously elected as the moderator of 2014Synod. Rev. Pockras has served faithfully for 30 years in Belle Center, a rural congregation. He is a godly example of a pastor with an ordinary-means-of-grace and confessional ministry and who exhibits love for his flock and love for the church... Continue Reading