From Metaphysics to Mealworms
How the resurrection changes everything.
The resurrection is the best argument for the reality and significance of Jesus Christ that has ever been made, and it is so because it is an argument made by God Himself. Thus, in an age of pluralism and profound epistemological uncertainty (which is to say, paganism and unbelief), I think the best course of... Continue Reading
Every Leader’s Fight of Faith
Wrestling with Faith
Every man of God’s great challenge is self-doubt. We wrestle with whether or not we’ve heard God properly and if we are leading in the right direction. No honest leader wants to misrepresent God. And we’re human. But God uses humans. He has made us in His image and calls us to rule over this... Continue Reading
Let the Children Come
The legacy of faith is the most important thing you can pass down.
When older believers see younger believers as an invaluable investment of care and teaching of faith to them, amazing things happen in the family of God. There are only a certain number of Sundays that young people have before they graduate high school and move away. If you are a part of the body of... Continue Reading
Three Fold Office – Jesus the Anointed One (Part 1 of 3)
Laying The Confessional Foundation
The roles of the Prophet, Priest, and King are crucial in the scriptures—each of the three offices functions in some way as the mediator. The prophet brings the Word from God to His people. The priest represents the people before the Holy God. Finally, the king is to protect God’s people and exemplify the character... Continue Reading
Against “Coming to Faith”
Come to Jesus, not to Faith
By far the worst thing about the expression “coming to faith” is that it leaves Jesus out. The obvious response is, “No it doesn’t—because we all know that ‘coming to faith’ is shorthand for ‘coming to trust Jesus.’” But do we all know this? Won’t at least some of our hearers take our words at... Continue Reading
Rejoicing in the Blessing of Preaching
The Role of the Sermon in the Life of the Minister and the Believer
Ministers must take seriously the preparation part of their ministry and do the work necessary to not only maintain competence, but desiring to use their time in their study to feed their people with the full measure of faith in offer in the Bible. Here we see why the Directory of Public Worship encourages men to... Continue Reading
Do We Really Need God? (Part 2)
If theism is the best way to understand reality, how can we hope to make sense of theism?
The idea of God makes sense of a lot of things. But we can’t pretend that an argument for God in itself means we understand God. To understand God, we need God to communicate with us, to initiate some sort of relationship. He must stoop to our level and use words and concepts that make... Continue Reading
Whatever Happened to the Lord’s Day
The consistency of gathering for worship on Sundays must be demonstrated practically and emphatically taught in pulpits.
If the church stands by and folds its hands, the corruption and evil in society will only grow. In a modern world, historical creeds and confessions are seen as outdated and retrogressive by the masses. But, unbeknownst to those starved of such delicacies, they are of importance because they serve as a guide and standard of historical... Continue Reading
Past Faithfulness Fills the Reservoir of the Soul
If your reservoir is dry, then remember all the times when He has been who He is before.
When we look back, then, across the landscape of what was and what He did during those times, we see time and time again these big and small examples of His faithfulness. Everything from providing a job to helping you take the very next step still in faith is a testimony to His unchanging character... Continue Reading
Help! My Hometown is Growing Too Quickly
Christians should follow our Lord in “seeking the welfare of the city where God has placed us.” (Jeremiah 29:7)
In pastoring I’ve heard the quip, “ministry would be great if it weren’t for the people.” When you complain that there are too many people, it’s worth remembering that you classify as part of that unfortunate category to someone else. Sometimes we epitomize cities as dens of sin while nature reflects purity and innocence. But... Continue Reading
The Serpent That Deceived Eve Deceives Women Today
The Serpent continues to use the same tools to deceive us that we can be like God.
The nature of this current deception involves the serpent seducing women to take God’s prerogative and decide the life or death of their child in vivo by abortion. This is accomplished by convincing her that the nature of her pregnancy is not two persons but just about her body alone. The living entity she carries,... Continue Reading
Woke History on the Left and Right
We should wrestle with the past, but ultimately our allegiance is with Christ our King.
Humans are not mere victims of the flow of history, but responsible actors. Made in the image of God, humans are not only central to the story but uniquely valuable. We are also deeply fallen, often operating from selfish, racist, or other sinful motives. We need not think of America or Americans as either flawless... Continue Reading
The Word of God is Already Weaponized
Our battle is not against “flesh and blood” but against spiritual principalities and powers.
Even though our battle is not against physical “flesh and blood” this does not mean our battle is against purely ethereal spirits who have no concrete presence within this world. The principalities are grounded in all sorts of ways, ideas, and – yes – people. This means we are to wield our spiritual sword (Eph.... Continue Reading
When Churchmen Defile the Church
There will always be false prophets in the church of God.
God takes special notice of the sins of prophets. They are mentioned first in the general corruption that affected all sorts. There were priests’ sins, princes’ sins, and people’s sins, but the prophets are set in the front. They provoked God greatly. They did the most hurt. “From the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone... Continue Reading
On Aging into Childhood
The older I get, the more I feel like a child.
To grow jaded, cynical, condescending, and bitter as we age should not be normal for Christians. Instead, as we age, we should grow in Christ. And as we grow in Christ, we ought to grow in humility. And as we grow in humility, we will find that we are aging backward in our own minds,... Continue Reading
Until Christ Is Formed in You | Galatians 4:8-20
In an act of pure grace, God created us to share in His eternal joy in Himself.
We, therefore, most image God whenever we love, enjoy, and glorify Him, in the same way that He loves, enjoys, and glorifies Himself. We least image God whenever we turn our love, enjoyment, and glory inward upon ourselves. As Christ is formed in us, we are being remade into the image of Christ, who is the... Continue Reading
“The Church Is Not Tired”
Evangelical pastors in Ukraine say that despite the war, congregations are flourishing.
In Ukraine, an evangelical minority living in the shadow of the Orthodox Church is now blooming in the fog of war. After 2½ years the conflict grinds on, with more than 90,000 Ukrainian troops and civilians killed so far, hundreds of thousands wounded, and millions internally displaced. But interviews with local pastors suggest the good... Continue Reading
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Points Christ’s Church Forward
One hundred thirty-two years after Charles Spurgeon’s death, the Metropolitan Tabernacle continues pointing Christ’s church forward.
Speaking with two of the elders after the evening service, they told me that the Metropolitan Tabernacle made a conscious determination that the way to advance the gospel forward was to go back to the old, straightforward paths. Christ’s kingdom does not advance through gimmicks or man-centered worship but by proclaiming the pure word of... Continue Reading
A Surprising Generational Rift in the Christian Reformed Church
In their denominations and elsewhere in the church, some progressive Baby Boomers have been caught by surprise at younger people not sharing their cultural values. But should they have been surprised at this generational rift in the church? Looking at how different generations have been formed morally, socially, and culturally may help address this question.
Throughout church history, comments like these (made at the most recent CRC synod meeting) would be seen as ordinary and unremarkable. In this case, though, there was indeed something striking about them. For the two speakers mentioned were not among the wizened heads at the denominational meeting: they were both relatively young pastors. In the... Continue Reading
A Change in Ecclesial Affiliation for the Ecclesial Calvinist!
A change was in order and faced with the impending dissolution of my own ARP Presbytery, I applied for reception as a retired minister by Foothills Presbytery of the PC(USA).
The reality is that liberal and conservative Christians need each other, and the sad polarization we see in American Christianity today began in earnest when liberals and conservatives largely stopped talking to each other and ceased to learn from one another. Apart from those needful conversations, Protestant liberals often lose touch with the tradition and... Continue Reading
Finding Contentment Through Boasting
Seeking to exalt ourselves through our own accomplishments or associations is a deception that divides Christ's church and robs Him of the glory that belongs to Him alone.
True contentment comes when our boast is in the Lord. It comes when we remember our complete unworthiness to be given any good thing, receive God’s “inexpressible gift to us in Christ Jesus” (2 Cor. 9:15), and recognize with heartfelt gratitude and overflowing praise that every gift, whether to us or to others, is wisely... Continue Reading
How J. I. Packer Married Theological Study and Spirituality
No theology should ever be taught to enrich the head while impoverishing the heart.
Packer rejected a merely scientific approach to theological study, arguing that cool and clinical detachment when studying doctrine was intolerable. He instead proposed a marriage in which systematic theology would be taught as an element of a student’s spirituality and spirituality taught as an expression of systematic theology. He believed systematic theology should be a devotional... Continue Reading
John 3:16 and the Gospel
What exactly is the gospel that we must present to non-believers?
Let me refer you to a very good book that David Pawson released some years ago: Is John 3:16 the Gospel? (Terra Nova Publications, 2007). His thesis is simple: John 3:16 as such is not the core gospel message. The righteousness of God and our unrighteousness, and how to bridge that gap in Christ is. It is... Continue Reading
Election 2024: Grace Super-Abounding
The message of 2024 is clear: Sin no more, lest something worse than the previous decade befall you (John 5:14).
Surely God’s message in our recent election includes this most loving command: “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all who put their trust in Him!” (Psalm 2). Do we... Continue Reading
Anti-Slavery Activist William Wilberforce: Christian Hero
Wilberforce was eventually called the "Conscience of Parliament."
The “Slavery Abolition Act” was passed in 1833. This made slavery illegal and mandated that slaves would be freed (immediately for children under 6, while those over 6 would be part slave and part free for a further four years and be paid wages). Fortunately, Wilberforce lived to see this. He had become seriously ill... Continue Reading
The Ruling Elder and the Public Worship of God
What Are Ruling Elders There For?
Ruling elders ought to visibly and actively participate in the leadership of public worship, the church’s most important weekly activity. When ruling elders call the congregation to worship, lead prayers and confessions, read scripture, and assist in the administration of the sacraments the people are reminded that they have several pastors, not just one. Ruling... Continue Reading
Can We Make Moral Judgments About Other Cultures?
Yes, with the right criteria of eternal truths.
A helpful critique of culture is whether or not human dignity is recognized and valued. Are the powerless, particularly women, the elderly, the poor, and the outcast, given opportunity and protection? Is human ingenuity encouraged in areas such as science, the arts, as well as practical and personal liberties? And are these areas aimed at... Continue Reading
Everything Enchanted: Humanity is Desperate for Transcendence, but Where Can it be Found?
Everything is enchanted, if only we have eyes to see and ears to hear.
We should be equipping people to discern God’s still, small voice encountered through the Scriptures or the Body, not teaching them to ask God to say it again, this time to them personally and audibly if possible. The truth is, our “frame” may be immanent, but reality itself inherently participates in the transcendent. If it is... Continue Reading
Pastors, Beware the American Dream
Biblical Principles on Contentment and Materialism for Pastors
There are obvious advantages to gaining wealth. You get the cool car, the nice house, and of course, the knowledge that your healthy bank account means that you are shored up for the future. But wealth doesn’t come easy. It may mean sacrificing time with your wife and children or neglecting the needs of your... Continue Reading
Robbing and Broken Promises
If our lives belong entirely to Christ, holding anything back—whether time, resources, or attention—is a kind of theft, a failure to give what is due.
As followers of Christ, we are His ambassadors in a world that ultimately belongs to Him. Yet, how often do we stay silent about our faith out of fear of offending others? Imagine a doctor who, out of a desire to avoid upsetting his patient, withholds a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness. This isn’t love;... Continue Reading