Scriptural authority, gift of salvation ‘inextricable,’ Mohler says
Mohler preaches that scriptural authority and salvation go hand-in-hand.
Mohler said the inerrancy of Scripture is inseparable from the gift of salvation, and to believe otherwise is dangerous because without the first, the second is impossible. “Scriptural authority and the gift of salvation are inextricable,” Mohler said. “We cannot have one without the other. We cannot be a gospel people without also being a Bible... Continue Reading
Systematic Theology: An Introduction
A review of John Frame's Systematic Theology
No one can ever accuse Frame of not loving his Bible, and making it pre-eminent in his theological discourse. For that I am grateful. No wonder his writings have been hugely beneficial to the Reformed, evangelical world. This work has, as its crown jewel, much of Frame’s thought in one volume. John Frame. Systematic Theology:... Continue Reading
Who Selected Elders?
The Scripture neither affirms nor denies congregational election of officers.
Not uncommonly, proponents of Plymouth Brethren ecclesiology will utter (sometimes with significant emotion), “The Bible nowhere shows sheep electing their shepherd!” What they mean is that Scripture does not depict congregations selecting elders. This seems like a meaningful and even persuasive statement until one realizes that the Bible never depicts any actual mechanism whatever by... Continue Reading
Learning As A Banker What I Did Not Know As A Pastor
The ethic of a Christian is loving others, which is often learned in the world.
There is a saying among pastors with a kind of dark humor. It goes like this —”Ministry would be great if it wasn’t for the people.” It’s funny because ministry exists for the sake of the people. It’s dark and sad because ministry exists for the people. It is no secret I don’t like... Continue Reading
Menlo Park to Vote on Leaving PCUSA; Price Tag Set at $8.8 Million
Church leadership is encouraging the congregation to accept the terms of the agreement.
A team from Menlo Park and from the Presbytery of San Francisco had been negotiating together to “determine the amount our dismissal will be,” Ortberg told the congregation, and came to the “price tag” last week. With a price tag of more than $8.8 million, the congregation of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California will... Continue Reading
Anglican Church in North America Develops New Catechism
To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism released
Led by the Rev. Dr J.I. Packer, the Task Force has developed a unique and powerful resource for helping inquirers come to an understanding of the Christian faith, and for helping disciples deepen their relationship with God. Written in a “Question and Answer” format, this Catechism, in the words of Packer, “is designed as a... Continue Reading
A Small Display of God’s Impressive Power
As our culture grows increasingly insane in its mockery of God and His moral standards, we all need to be reminded that we are absolutely powerless when God decides to act
Meanwhile, the church is so concerned not to offend people and so eager to grow that the harder truths about God’s holiness, justice and power are buried under marketing campaigns, felt-needs-oriented messages and general bland banality. Our pulpits no longer thunder. In fact, we prefer not to have pulpits at all, just hipster pastors who... Continue Reading
What’s Up Among the Evangelicals?
Perhaps we’re seeing a new wave of searching for deeper theological roots within American Christianity
But that doesn’t necessarily explain why Calvinists are looking to Luther, or Baptists are looking to Calvin, figures outside the center of their own traditions, rather than looking deeper into their own. I suspect at this point Skip Stout would remind us that, in one way, this isn’t surprising at all. Calvin, and those who... Continue Reading
Beware of Backdoor Legalism
Have we traded a grace-sucking isolationism for a worldly sophistication that has almost no filter for good and bad
So getting back to the Grammys, we can disagree on what kind of displays merit walking out on. We can disagree on what kind of displays we will endure for the sake of gospel witness. But let’s not tag Natalie Grant with a kind of unenlightened Christianity that makes those who might not have walked... Continue Reading
So Many Popes!
Even in our circles, there is a tendency to create stars whose models of “doing church” divide the ordered life of local and wider assemblies of mutual accountability.
Many in the orbit of the “Young, Restless, and Reformed” today seem to be drawn to extremes: either the independent egalitarianism that ends up creating many popes or the older top-down hierarchy of Rome. In case after case that I’ve witnessed, the moves have been made by leaping over biblical models of church government. ... Continue Reading