Many others will debate the politics and the next steps, but I am wondering: where are the religious voices from the left on this issue? Where are those bloggers, and speakers, and social justice organizations who have spoken up on so many injustices?   The Planned Parenthood video has received (and deserved) wide coverage. It... Continue Reading

Evolution is an equivocal word. This means that it can have more than one meaning. For instance, it can mean anything from simple, biological change over time—change in allele frequency—to universal, common descent of all organisms from a single, common ancestor. The former is accepted by virtually everyone, including the staunchest young earth creationist. The... Continue Reading

The five persons apprehended were collectively charged with meeting to read and study an English Bible together, in direct violation of recent Scottish laws prohibiting the possession and/or reading of vernacular editions of Scripture. Judging by the nature of the additional charges brought against the members of this illegal Bible study, their corporate reading and... Continue Reading

I also agree that a church’s doors ought to be wide open to sinners. If we close our doors to sinners then we all better stay home. I happily serve as pastor of a church that includes among its members former homosexuals and those who struggle faithfully against same-sex attraction. We have former adulterers, former... Continue Reading

By showing the shaky foundation of the “gay rights” or “marriage equality” movement, hopefully believers will take a more sober approach to the rapid changes in society. Changes can take unexpected turns and backfire. This socio-historical analysis is not meant to be predictive, because new circumstances can arise overnight, and we serve a God who... Continue Reading

Yesterday I noted Calvin’s discussion of the third use of the law – the biblical teaching that the law is useful for us in the Christian life as a guide unto righteousness.  Right after Calvin mentioned this, he spoke against those who think we do not need the law (the Libertines and Antinomians): Some unskillful persons,... Continue Reading

Do you believe that the moral distinction between lust and love matters for LGBT people’s romantic relationships? Not anymore than the distinction holds in matters of fornication and adultery, meaning, many fornicating couples love each other, but their relationship is still sinful, and many adulterers truly fall in love with their adulterous partner, yet their relationship... Continue Reading

Just as the pastor goes through sermon preparation for the effective ministry of the Word, so must the people—and in much the same way. While the pastor spends time in diligent study of the Word, he must also attend thereunto with diligence, preparation and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in... Continue Reading

It is the task of the preacher to be led by the text, even if the questions he brings to that text are shaped by present concerns, pastoral and otherwise. Our ministry should be as wide ranging and as balanced as the Bible.  But it is the task of the concerned citizen to speak specifically... Continue Reading

“Expository preaching magnifies the absolute sovereignty of God since the preacher has no inherent power to convert or sanctify the hearers but it is God, and God alone, by His marvelous grace, who works in the hearers through the proclamation of sacred Truth.”   Expository preaching allows God to speak to the people through His... Continue Reading