Michael Smith, a communications professor at Campbell University, complains that “using online petitions to make policy is as weak a business plan as counting the horns in a ‘honk if you love brand X’ campaign. It’s a lot of noise, little hard data.” But if the tactic works, what’s to stop an activist from employing... Continue Reading

If Keller is truly concerned about the faith of the current slate of presidential contenders, this list is a better place for a journalist to begin. The questions we ask have a way of revealing a tone of either our “advocacy or news reporting.” Bill Keller’s column in the New York Times, Asking Candidates Tougher... Continue Reading

“Genesis says that God created the universe and everything in it in six twenty-four-hour periods. According to the Reformation hermeneutic, the first option is to follow the plain sense of the text. One must do a great deal of hermeneutical gymnastics to escape the plain meaning of Genesis 1-2” – R. C . Sproul Last... Continue Reading

We are told by sociologists of religion that three of every four of these individuals neglect church participation, meaning there are more than 99 million men and women in this category. While these people generally describe themselves as Christian, they are in fact only “partially evangelized,” Angela’s Ashes is the autobiography of Frank McCourt, who... Continue Reading

As believers, we are often guilty of shopping for a new church home like we’re buying a house. We begin our search with a pocket wish list that has more to do with fulfilling secular desires than spiritual designs. My husband and I are shopping for a new home. Anyone who has endured a new... Continue Reading

Let me begin by saying that I greatly value my friend G. I. Williamson’s lengthy legacy of faithful parish ministry and service to the broader church. One of the happier memories of my years of involvement in NAPARC was chairing a committee that oversaw the translation into Spanish and publication of his commentary on the... Continue Reading

People are obviously interested in this woman who would voluntarily and literally banish herself to a corner of her home’s roof for speaking contentious words to her husband. You may have heard of Rachel Held Evans. She’s the blogger who is making headlines for her year-long experiment to practice all of the Biblical laws relating... Continue Reading

Vastly broadening the scope of health “insurance” causes a dramatic increase in the cost of health care and especially, health insurance. (Imagine the cost and accessibility of auto “insurance” if it covered door dings, oil changes, etc.) At the most recent GOP presidential debate, there was a famous exchange between CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Rep. Ron... Continue Reading

According to the Reformed faith, there are three things that are necessary in order for a person to be assured that he is elect and thus will with absolute certainty be saved forever: 1. He must be a believer and thus saved and effectually called. 2. He must know that he is a believer from... Continue Reading

People who are not broken are insufferable. People with all the answers –with perfect families as the result of perfect methods, and perfect outcomes. People with perfect churches that go according to perfect plans, and attract perfect people. It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply… A.... Continue Reading