Are Tongues Real Languages?
Did the gift of tongues produce authentic foreign languages only, or did it also result in non-cognitive speech?
If we consider the history of the church, we find that the gift of languages was universally considered to be the supernatural ability to speak authentic foreign languages that the speaker had not learned. We begin today’s post with a question: In New Testament times, did the gift of tongues produce authentic foreign languages only,... Continue Reading
Emphasize the Gospel, Not the Garnishes
The arts we use in our preaching (homiletics) must serve Scripture instead of hiding it.
Special revelation is indeed special. God has spoken, clearly revealing Himself to us through His inerrant word. Through His special revelation, we can know God, His creation, our fall, and our redemption that came from the Father through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. Everything we do, say, and display when we preach must serve... Continue Reading
The Spiritual Temperature of Cities
Knowing the spiritual temperature of a city will influence how we do ministry.
The point is, cities such as Birmingham and San Francisco have very different spiritual climates. And while people’s spiritual needs are the same everywhere, and the gospel is the same, and Christ is the same yesterday today and forever, it helps to understand the climate were ministering in, just as Paul did in Athens. Cities have... Continue Reading
The Strange Yet Familiar Tale of Brian, Rob, and Don
Is it a fluke, an anomaly that the three leading voices for a new evangelicalism have all, to one degree or another, left the church's teachings and worship?
As a movement, we treasure the individual getting right with God, the religious born-again experience, the innovative way to do mission. Sounds good, but when individual trumps communal, experience trumps received teaching, and innovation trumps the Great Tradition, you get exactly what we’ve all just lived through. It can go no other way. It... Continue Reading
More on Montreat College: Exchanges of Letters and Statements
Exchange of letters from the Montreat Interim President and the Alumni
The Point University board plans to meet on February 24. Here are a few potential outcomes of the Point board meeting, though we are not certain what may unfold: The Point board may decide to affiliate with Montreat College and keep two residential programs, one in Georgia and one in North Carolina; the Point board... Continue Reading
Movements and the Means of Grace
Ordinary means of grace are the things the Lord has given his church; they are not the inventions of man
I am troubled by movements which promise fresh experiences with God or a new movement of God and then market products to support this new outpouring. Those of us raised in conservative but non-confessional evangelicalism were steeped in that language. Everything had to be new and fresh. A steady sanctification wrought by God’s ordinary means... Continue Reading
Of Camels, Archaeology, and CNG Pickups
False conclusions that the camels mentioned in Genesis are anachronistic insertions ignorantly committed by a post-exilic compiler
Liberal biblical scholars are not honest brokers in pursuit of an objective truth about the Bible. They are dishonest truth suppressors peddling a false alternative religion. They don’t want the Bible to be true. If it were true, it would get in the way of their pursuit of their own sinful agenda, a pursuit which... Continue Reading
Where Were the PCA’s Founding Fathers Educated?
From a list of 180 pastors, as found in the Minutes of the First General Assembly, the following list indicates where these men were educated
By comparing some of the above dates, it becomes clear that as soon as RTS opened up [Fall of 1966], students soon began going there instead of to Columbia. Some appear to have finished at Columbia rather than transfer, while others did transfer mid-program. It may also be noteworthy that the entire group of RTS... Continue Reading
Hans Kung’s Suicide Plan
Hans Kung is planning to take his life
The analogy between birth and death seems entirely inappropriate to the case Kung is trying to make. His birth, after all, was no more his responsibility than my birth was mine. That is not just basic Christian teaching; it is a really rather obvious fact of life. Hans Kung is planning to take his... Continue Reading
Welcome Same-Sex Couples Or Be Damned As Bigots, Archbishop Of Canterbury Justin Welby Tells
The Church of England's stance on same-sex relationships risks being viewed as “akin to racism”, the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.
“There is great fear among some, here and round the world, that that will lead to the betrayal of our traditions, to the denial of the authority of scripture, to apostasy, not to use too strong a word,” he said. “And there is also a great fear that our decisions will lead us to the... Continue Reading