Departing from the “progressive” church, Bolz-Weber does not believe in catering to a “customer-friendly” environment in order to attract young Believers. During her discussion at Calvary Baptist she stated, “I don’t feel responsible for what people in my church believe, but I feel really responsible for what they hear.” “If a community has a more ‘progressive’... Continue Reading

While it was a foregone conclusion that the Conscience Clauses (which permitted complementarians to serve in the RCA without fear of persecution of any kind) would be removed from the BCO it still merits a mention.  We now enter a time when complementarians are fully dependent upon the grace of the seminaries and the MFCA... Continue Reading

Milton admits that the primary work of pastors, like himself, is the gospel ministry of Word, Sacrament, and Prayer.  Fulfilling the role of shepherds, pastors are to be on watch to announce with clarity the enemies of truth who are storming the walls of our soul.  So pastors, who are being faithful, must stand in... Continue Reading

The Reformation isn’t over, not at least for the confessional Protestant churches, who don’t equivocate, who understand what Rome is really saying, who still submit to the Word of God as the sole, unique authority for faith and life, who affirm the sole sufficiency of Christ and righteousness for us for acceptance with God, for... Continue Reading

Such threats are no doubt nasty and frightening.  But does the wider world need to know about them?  Does placing such knowledge in the public sphere serve to do anything other than enhance our own delusions of importance?   Perhaps I am alone in this but maybe, just maybe, there are others out there who... Continue Reading

Pastoring is like being a Gumby doll. You will get pulled in many directions and sometimes feel a limb will fall off. There are cards of encouragement to write, sick to visit, leaders to equip, lessons to plan, staff to mentor, couples to counsel, prayer to offer, weddings and funerals to perform, your own heart... Continue Reading

And all the people said … “Amen!” The “amen corner” has had an important place in the life of the church throughout the ages. However, it is rare to find such a spot among Presbyterians. We are known as God’s frozen chosen for a reason. It has been said that the Methodists like to shout... Continue Reading

In the Southern Baptist Convention, many conservatives would have objected to the “fundamentalist” label as a Yankee epithet, a synonym for a barefoot bumpkin sorely lacking in southern grace. But if their self-perception was not fundamentalist, many of their goals and tactics were.   Excerpted from “Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism” Fundamentalism... Continue Reading

Maybe Americans want public policy to reflect their moral judgments as much as ever, but they no longer regard smoking marijuana or casino gambling—or sodomy, gay marriage, or pornography consumption—as morally suspect. At the same time, maybe jurisdictions are implementing tough new laws in other areas—mandates to recycle, laws against dog-fighting, marital-rape statutes, trans-fat bans—because people... Continue Reading

There it is. We mess up. It is not just that we mess up, as it were, by accident or because things just tend to go that way. Rather, we have a propensity to mess up – to mess up ourselves, others, everything we touch.   “Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression... Continue Reading