The practical fruit of T.U.L.I.P blooms beautifully within and among those who humbly and sincerely believe the truths summarized within. None of us is a finished product of grace. But as we believe the truth represented in T.U.L.I.P. and see its practical fruit in our lives, we may know without fear of self-deceit that our... Continue Reading

Why is it a “jerk” thing to do? Is that a mean word? No, it just fits the definition. Much of this feels very personal, not against a virtual nobody (and happy to be so, most days) like me, but against other good men. The point of this whole exercise is “we don’t want to... Continue Reading

Immaturity is thinking we are always right all the time. Immaturity is shining a spotlight on the faults of another (whether a movement, an organization, a person) and thinking we are above their flaws. It’s engaging in criticism and being unwilling to be criticized in return. We seem to be courageous when it comes to... Continue Reading

I’m raising two daughters in this world and my heart cries for Jesus to rescue us all. But until He does, I can’t always protect or shield them, so I will tell them the truth. I can’t change (all this) in the world, but I can prepare them for it.   I took my daughter... Continue Reading

“Even if we are doomed, and I’m totally naïve, I think it’s important that I do this work anyway,” said Mr. Teetsel, of the Manhattan Declaration. “If what I believe is true is true, then I’ve got a responsibility to be on its side for as long as I can be.”   They hear that... Continue Reading

Or perhaps the end game really is to have the conservatives leave the PCA. If that is the case I’d caution you to beware of what you wish for. Imagine if you will the PCA as an ideological seesaw. On one end we have the liberals, on the opposite end we have the conservatives and... Continue Reading

According to 1 Corinthians 7:14 God views our children as “holy”—separated to his work and his purposes, “clean” and not “unclean” or pagan—as a result of their relationship with us as believing household heads. Acts 2:38-39 says that the promise of the Holy Spirit was not to discrete individuals who believed, but to households who... Continue Reading

That’s right, the main reason for rookie pastors getting fired or, even worse, rookie pastors destroying a church, is not intellectual, moral, or theological failure, but failure in basic common-sense humanity. We’ve all seen it, haven’t we: exceptionally clever, technically skilled, and self-disciplined people utterly fail in pastoral ministry. They just couldn’t connect with people... Continue Reading

This is usually a positive statement, but it didn’t turn out that way for David. I’m sure you are familiar with the clever confrontation Nathan the prophet had with Kind David in 2 Samuel 12:1-15. I’ve been reflecting on it this week. First of all, there’s a little history. We see Nathan introduced earlier in... Continue Reading

So then, Dr. Belcher asked, what should our response be? There is a good solid response which Dr. Belcher called the historical, biblical, confessional view: Adam was formed from the dust as the very first human being. Dr. Belcher noted that Dr. Jack Collins had written his own response to the question of the historicity... Continue Reading