I am a cheer leader and supporter of black men planting churches for black people in black communities, and in the Presbyterian Church in America we have far too few of them. The racial and cultural handicap for black men to be trained in our circles, and to identify with our denomination (which is mostly... Continue Reading

The unconditional character of the covenant of grace in Christ requires us to recognize faith as the sole instrument. The conditionality of faith is unique not because it is a condition that God’s grace provides. The total response of those united to Christ is given by grace. Faith is unique because it presents nothing, but... Continue Reading

If justice is directed by the need to bring redemption to wherever the curse is found Christians would be involved in all sorts of issues. Missional churches in major cities, for example, would consider abortion a social justice issues and suburban churches would be much concerned about material poverty. I’m beginning to wonder if one... Continue Reading

So beware of perfect peace in your aspiration for church. Whether you are looking to lead a church to perfect peace or to find one that does not have conflict, your search will be more successful if you look for a church who has a perfect peacemaker, because perfect peace in this fallen age will... Continue Reading

It is indispensable to our success in this war that those we ask to fight it know that in the discharge of their dangerous responsibilities to their country they are never expected to forget that they are Americans, and the valiant defenders of a sacred idea of how nations should govern their own affairs and... Continue Reading

There was a time when Presbyterianism served the common good by producing church leaders who were involved in local, state, and national politics to fight for the civil liberties that allow the church to faithfully fulfill her calling. Presbyterian clergymen could be counted on to bring the truth to bear in the arenas of civil... Continue Reading

After a few years of carnality, you’d settle down, get married, start having kids, and you’d be back in church, just in time to get those kids into Sunday school and start that cycle all over again. If you didn’t get divorced or indicted, you’d be chairman of deacons or head of the Woman’s Missionary... Continue Reading

We—Protestants especially—are inclined to think of our buildings like our sacramental elements: symbols, representatives of mysteries residing solely in the spiritual realm. We also view them as instruments of worship—necessities to carry out our modern rituals. But are they—and in particular the church building and grounds—holy? I thought I might write about the kerfuffle surrounding... Continue Reading

Same-sex marriage is not an idea that emerged from a vacuum. The project of normalizing homosexuality has deep roots and ideological momentum. The elites, the entertainment culture, the news media, and the educational establishment celebrate all three of these ideas as central to the modern experience and as ideological propulsion into a better future. Why... Continue Reading

I find this hard to understand since it sounds like worship is about God but then I read this [from John Piper} and start to wonder if I am experiencing God’s glory. And if I am not, then I am in trouble because I am not sufficiently interested in God’s glory. But how can I... Continue Reading