The Reformed faith includes reference to total inability, unconditional election, limited efficiency of Christ’s satisfaction, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints, not as the sum total of the church’s confession but as elements that can only be understood in the context of a larger body of teaching including the baptism of infants, justification by... Continue Reading

“…. I have great respect for the office of the presidency but about five or six weeks ago, our president made a comment in a speech and he said, ‘God bless Planned Parenthood.’ ” Birk, a devout Christian, has taken public stances before, especially recently when it has come to gay rights issues. Birk notably... Continue Reading

In Anne Steele’s life, the rain was falling.  She longed for the sun to warm her days, but often she was given no respite from pain and loneliness.  She felt out of control.  And the gracious, merciful Father she saw in the Scriptures picked her up, and held her, and it calmed her down.   ... Continue Reading

The excitement started when The Norwegian Bible Society published a new Bible translation in 2011. Contributors included many Greek and Hebrew scholars, as well as many well known authors and poets. They worked from the original Greek and Hebrew texts.…People lined up outside stores to be the first to purchase the new translation. A year... Continue Reading

Christianity Explored is an informal seven-week course for people who would like to investigate Christianity, or just brush up on the basics. Looking at Mark’s gospel, it explores who Jesus is, why he came, and what it means to follow him.  This can be summarized in three words: Identity, Mission, and Call.   Dr. Alan... Continue Reading

But I often find those churches that call themselves “contemporary” or “seeker -sensitive” to be facile and sophomoric. We now actually have young adults, those in their late teens and in their twenties, who were raised in a seeker –sensitive environment, who are now joining “liturgical” churches. When asked why, some answer to the effect... Continue Reading

A big part of the assembly will be the integration of hundreds of new delegates from churches that have realigned their denominational affiliation to the EPC in the past 12 months. Every minister member of the EPC and a complement of elders from every EPC congregation may be seated as commissioners. With more than 400... Continue Reading

I attended the public school. My entire childhood. And yet my father and mother homeschooled me. Such an understanding of the biblical mandate to train children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord should be a uniting truth among Christians who disagree over formal methods. Christian nurture is not about any specific formal or... Continue Reading

Paul evidently thought he was exorcising some kind of evil spirit, but this must have been all in his mind. What he was actually doing, the bishop surmised, was depriving the slave girl of “her gift of spiritual awareness.” Paul is filled with prejudice, she thinks, and so does something sinister by refusing to recognize... Continue Reading

There are some who are glad that a family has found a way to be happy even though there are racists haters out there (and that’s a good thing to be happy about). However, mixed into the celebration over racism is a celebration over the idea of breaking the mold of “traditional” marriage which, if... Continue Reading