I grew up with formulas—as you probably did, too. Study hard, and you’ll get a good job. Be good to others, and they’ll be good to you. Raise a child in the way he (or she) should go, and when he is old, he won’t depart from it. Then I grew up. College friends lost... Continue Reading

I am sorry that my Mormon readers have put all their eggs in one basket by constantly writing to me quoting Matthew 7:16. So I am sorry that I must now apply that verse to the very first Mormon. I am sorry that among the 33 well-documented plural wives of Joseph Smith, there were close... Continue Reading

There is one bright spot. Japanese researcher, Shinya Yamanaka, who had rejected embryonic stem cell research as unethical, and who won last year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine, has pioneered the creation of stem cell lines from skin cells without destroying embryos. Consequently, with hardly a whisper and certainly no apologies, most stem cell scientists have... Continue Reading

I am not saying these findings do not indicate legitimate problems in American families. They certainly do and there is room to critique the rise of single motherhood, mothers of young children working away from home, or even the matter of wives earning more than their husbands. But to make sweeping statements about the demise... Continue Reading

There’s an emphasis in our culture on being tolerant of other individuals and their ideas. This mentality has infiltrated the church as well. Various interpretations of Scripture are tolerated, often based on the perceived sincerity of an individual instead of the intrinsic social, historical, and grammatical properties of the text itself. The text does not... Continue Reading

Do you load the future on your shoulders, with all of its questions and concerns? Or do you give yourself to the work of the present, leaving the future in God’s capable hands? How much are you haunted by the “what ifs”? Do you greet the unknown with expectancy or dread? Do God’s presence and... Continue Reading

In examining both the text of the revised Belgic 36 and the accompanying historical record surrounding the revision, we should clearly conclude that: 1. the Magistrate is subject to both tables of God’s law; 2. the Magistrate is subject to the authority of God’s Word; 3. the Magistrate is ordained to advance the kingdom of... Continue Reading

Perhaps I am being melodramatic. But I want Isaac to know I would rather be in his rank than wear a hollow badge – a spotlighted badge which has come to represent the evils of idealism and absolute freedom. I do not wish to identify with an organization that preaches traditional virtues of leadership one... Continue Reading

Roughly twenty years ago, I began teaching the course on Presbyterian Denominational Standards at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. About a fourth of the course addressed Presbyterian polity and three-fourths addressed Presbyterian worship. Students in those days will recall that I often expressed concern about performing choirs and overly-loud organs. In each case (performing choir and overly-loud organ)... Continue Reading

Back to Ben Franklin’s “What is the use of a newborn baby?” In his time, the question was understood as satirical. Babies are not “of use”; they just are. They are the future—not a sappy metaphor, but a literal fact. The current generation produces the next generation and so it’s always been. But an odd... Continue Reading