The Assembly ratified most BCO amendments approved last year (with Item 3 defeated and Item 7 approved. The Overtures Committee continued its work, recommending approval for electronic meetings of committees, four-year terms for coordinators, and an amendment requiring both wine and grape juice for the Lord’s Supper at GA   Assembly Convenes The 53rd General... Continue Reading

God has put His righteousness on display for all people, including the Philistines. And yet, unless our hearts are softened to the Gospel, we will wriggle every which way in order to avoid His righteousness, and cling to the more accommodating moral standards of our idols.   Japanese lore has it that a powerful 17th... Continue Reading

The world God made is not our enemy. It is our home. The distinctions God established are not prison bars. They are load-bearing walls. They hold up the roof over our heads. Tear them down and the house does not become freer. It collapses.   There was a moment when I was deployed in Iraq,... Continue Reading

We are in the midst of a spiritual war, and the Devil crouches at the door. Am I strengthening my defenses or undermining them? Am I doing the things that will help me to be morally and spiritually strong, or am I becoming comfortable and complacent in the midst of moral and spiritual dangers?  ... Continue Reading

It is never too late to repent. The time to repent is always now. You cannot go back, but you can respond in the present.…Consequences may still come, but for a true believer, it is never too late to be restored to fellowship with God.   One of the most vivid biblical stories of a... Continue Reading

Believers love, obey, trust, worship, enjoy, and serve Christ in everything. As they do, they look ahead to an eternal future where they will see Christ face to face and live with him forever.   Paul’s Prayer Believers who know God should always want to know him more, to be where he is, to meditate... Continue Reading

The genuine Christian will show by his life and by his beliefs whether or not he is truly part of God’s family. And it can be hard to tell at times, which is why we must also recognise that while folks can fool others, they cannot fool God.   We now have plenty of men... Continue Reading

One spouse on fire for the recently discovered Reformed faith, devouring books on imputed righteousness, the regulative principle, and supralapsarianism, while the other wonders what’s wrong with their old Methodist (or similar) church. What counsel should pastors and churches give such couples?   One of the regular patterns I observed in my pastorate was the... Continue Reading

This novel adoption thesis cannot survive exegetical, historical, and especially metaphysical scrutiny without compromising the unity of the incarnate Christ or the integrity of the atonement, it must be rejected as incompatible with Chalcedonian Christology.   Why Add My Voice To this Watershed Issue? I cannot remain on the sidelines of this debate because the... Continue Reading

Among key recommendations: a day of prayer and fasting for revival (as amended), thanksgiving for adult professions of faith, and gratitude for the nation’s 250th anniversary. The committee also voted to keep current BCO language on deacons, rejecting overtures to allow women in the office, while advancing several targeted amendments on judicial processes, session records,... Continue Reading