As a Protestant, Witherspoon understood that the sure foundation for a Christian civilization is not an established state church imposing generic morals on a population; it is the presence of actual Christians with converted hearts and minds.   Christian Political Action at America’s Founding Introduction In October of 1753, John Witherspoon wrote a discernment blog.... Continue Reading

Her most famous work, however, is Miroir de l’âme pécheresse (The Mirror of the Sinful Soul), a 1,434-line poem first published anonymously in 1531. In this, the sinful soul offers to the readers the mirror in which they can see their own souls. Most of this work describes the soul’s astonishment and frustration at the awareness of... Continue Reading

We may rightly regard Calvin as a hero of the faith, but he didn’t ultimately see himself that way. Humility had taught him to walk modestly before God and others—and, in the end, the freedom to lie down in a forgotten grave.   On May 27, 1564, just after eight o’clock in the evening, a... Continue Reading

We prayed for a miracle, we sought the best medical care, we listened to experts and would-be experts, and it could easily have become frantic. But underneath are the everlasting arms (Deut.33:27). God’s determining of our days did not make for fatalism – we wish His will were very different – but did provide comfort... Continue Reading

Many have held up Marie Durand as an inspiring heroine for their own causes. Few, however, have examined her life. Fewer again have examined her remarkable forty-eight surviving letters, forty-one of which were written from her dungeon.   My life was a tissue of tribulations. —Marie Durand, 1772 In 1730, French authorities arrested nineteen-year-old Marie... Continue Reading

God has already taught our family much. Our daughter’s rare condition does not make her enigmatic, but precious (Genesis 41:38; Proverbs 31:10). Her missing segments don’t make her incomplete, but our family would be incomplete without her. She is and ever will be, as her middle name Dorothy suggests, a gift from God.   A... Continue Reading

Don’t go looking for the painful stuff – trust me, I know this is true – it will find you sure enough in this broken and fallen world. But remember that God redeems pain, suffering, hardship, loss – and the most precious lessons are learned in the midst of the most difficult circumstance.   Board... Continue Reading

Founded in 2008 as South Bay Church, Echo now has four campuses and draws about 3,000 people to weekly services. Like Saddleback, Echo has ties to the Southern Baptist Convention, though neither church uses the word Baptist in its name. A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Andy Wood has also worked with church planters... Continue Reading

God did not build his church upon suave, charming, likeable men. He built it upon a man of sorrows who was rejected by men and acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3), and upon irascible fishermen who lopped off someone’s ear (Jn. 18:10), and upon other men who were not wise or attractive by worldly standards (Acts... Continue Reading

Mr. Joseph has been a life-long member of Trinity Presbyterian Church, and has served first as a deacon from 1955 to 1962, then as an Elder from 1962 to 2014. In 1979 he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the Church’s highest court, and served during the... Continue Reading