Union with Christ: A Matter of Spiritual Life and Death
Apart from union with Christ, it is impossible to receive any of the saving blessings of God
Simply put, if we are not in Christ, we have no part in His death on the cross to atone for sins and no share in His resurrection from the dead. We are not justified, adopted, sanctified, or glorified without being united to Christ. “I do not see,” wrote Calvin, “how anyone can trust that... Continue Reading
Confusion leads teacher to ban God as a role model for school assignment
The misunderstandings surrounding the issue of separation of church and state lead to such unfortunate consequences.
Erica Shead understands the issue and is right to recognize and speak out against the “cultural changes that have stripped faith from the public square.” It is a shame that she had to experience the matter personally with her daughter’s assignment. Even when such matters as the one at Lucy Elementary School are resolved and... Continue Reading
If It Be Your Will
Praying as the Son prayed, with the Father's will in mind.
This is what it means to pray that the will of God would be done. It is the highest expression of faith to submit to the sovereignty of God. The real prayer of faith is the prayer that trusts God no matter whether the answer is yes or no. It takes no faith to “claim,”... Continue Reading
Strange Fire Conference: First Day Reflections
The conference is garnering a great deal of attention.
What remains to be seen, and what may take quite a long time to see, is whether this event will call Christians to work to find greater agreement on the issue of the miraculous gifts, or whether it will polarize the camps even further. The first day of the Strange Fire conference has come... Continue Reading
Why Fundamentalism Often Works
Fundamentalist don't compromise, which is both the strength of fundamentalism and its weakness.
“These yuppies want to have good kids,” I told my wife. “But they are terrified of being like people who actually do what it takes to raise good kids.” Via Andrew Sullivan, here’s a blog post by a woman named Lana Hope, who was raised in a homeschooling Christian fundamentalist family, and who has left all... Continue Reading
12 Reasons
The analogy of the church as a sporting event.
Think about it. This list equates churchgoers with spectators at a sporting event. … But is this a good analogy? Perhaps part of the problem is that we all, Christians and non-Christians, laity, clergy, and leadership tend to view church in this spectator mode. The following was making its way around Facebook recently. It is not... Continue Reading
The Central Claim of Jesus
Culture claims His purpose is everything except what He claimed as His purpose.
These voices—and countless others down through the centuries—clearly differ on who Jesus was and what he came to do. But they are united in this unfortunate tendency to misdirect our attention from Christ’s central claim about himself and what he calls us to do in response. In Western culture, Jesus of Nazareth remains the... Continue Reading
Kirk’s Historic Churches for Sale
BUYERS have been moving to secure a slice of Scottish heritage after a surge in the number of historic churches being put up for sale by the Kirk.
The Church of Scotland’s website last week had 77 properties for sale, including churches, halls, manses and plots. When the asking prices are totalled they are worth well beyond £10 million. Bargain hunters have been looking at properties ranging from £20,000 for an island church to £500,000 for a city-centre site in the Edinburgh... Continue Reading
The Bible Motivates Us In Many Ways
There’s no doubt that justification is fuel for our sanctification, but it is not the only kind of fuel we can put in the tank.
I have no problem acknowledging that sin is always an expression of unbelief. But there are a lot of God’s promises I can disbelieve at any moment. Justification by grace alone through faith alone is not the only indicative I can doubt. I can disbelieve God’s promise to judge the wicked or his promise to... Continue Reading
What Should a Parishioner Know About Homiletics?
A lay person need not be an expert in homiletics, but we should have some insight on the construction of a good sermon, shouldn’t we?
So as lay people (that phrase always sounds weird to me), we first need to know Scripture well. We at least need to have the ability to discern for ourselves whether or not the teaching coming from the pulpit is true. There are many false teachers out there! This takes spending regular time in God’s... Continue Reading