If I am reading the current situation correctly, we often seem to be living in the past, trying to recapture the halcyon days of Calvin’s Geneva, or the Puritans, or the continental Reformed scholastics, or the Dutch Second Reformation, or the southern Presbyterians, or the Afscheiding, or whatever. Here the temptation to hagiography that avoids critical treatments or pesky discussions of historical development is great.

In a Gospel perspective, this is a healthy development. It is good that non-believers know that they are, in fact, not believers. Cultural Christianity is not Christianity, and no one will find salvation through merely identifying as Christian. The disappearance of cultural Christianity will weaken the culture, but it should strengthen the church. The church, after all, had better know the difference between authentic Christian faith and “fuzzy fidelity.”

A little dignified respect is in order, for the sake of God’s image if for nothing else. And most crucially, as we look at the fine print of some present controversy may our eyes not become so squint that we can no longer behold the wonders of being God’s children and the beauties of God’s world.

Just to be clear, this is not a post against “mom blogs”, or whatever they’re called. If you write a mom blog, that’s cool with me. This is a post to encourage the moms who tend to freak out and feel like complete failures when they read the mom blogs and mom Facebook posts.

It is often said by commentators you are the back of your baseball card. That is, you are defined by facts. The same is true of the Child of God. They are what they are according to God’s Word and not how they feel about themselves at any given moment.   I realized the other... Continue Reading

Love is not driven by what we like or don’t like about the church (Jesus’ love wasn’t, was it?). Christian love is minimum sentiment, maximum commitment, isn’t it? (See 1 Corinthians 13!) Have you drifted from the basic Jesus-like life-style involved in loving the church? I would not be the first minister to be concerned about that (whoever wrote Hebrews knew all about this—see Hebrews 10:24-25).

In the United States, where speech is given the most protection among Western countries, there has been a recent effort to carve out a potentially large category to which the First Amendment would not apply. While we have always prosecuted people who lie to achieve financial or other benefits, some argue that the government can outlaw any lie, regardless of whether the liar secured any economic gain.

What is the role for denominations? What is the role for broad parachurch ministries or organizations? How should we understand confessional identity? If we are to have unity in essentials, what are those essentials? Where should Christians agree to disagree? Where should churches agree to disagree? What are the right doctrinal boundaries for churches, for denominations, for movements, for institutions, for friends?

It’s a terrible thing to do to someone: to suggest that hope for abundant life in Christ goes only so far, and they’re permanently on the other side of the fence. Many people with mental illness may not seamlessly fit into church life the way most of us experience it on Sunday morning. But let’s be honest—how many of us really do?

Human flourishing is a fundamental component of the plan of God. As a result, using economic and business tools, including, yes, borrowing money, to pursue such flourishing is consistent with the themes of Christian service. It is in this light that the recourse to debt must be examined. So the question of taking on debt becomes different. It is not a case of what you are borrowing, but for what are you borrowing.