Both the prideful and the self-depreciating views are a product of a conformed mind, a mind that takes its cues from the world or self or Satan rather than from God. The transformed mind is very different.   Just because God has made us righteous and guiltless in Christ doesn’t mean we automatically experience the... Continue Reading

When they do things without grumbling. Grumbling shows that there is a lack of trust in plans or provisions. A lack of grumbling is a display of trust. When they submit to discipline. While no child likes discipline, submission to discipline shows that they trust that their parents don’t intend their harm, and they also... Continue Reading

When we’re waiting to fall asleep at night, where do our thoughts turn? The very best place is the Scripture that we’ve memorized. Through protection. 8 I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. What does it mean that David has “set the Lord... Continue Reading

Jesus was without sin, but not without suffering, not only on the cross but during the rest of His life. All this matured Him. It wasn’t that He was deficient, but it was God’s design for Him to feel the effects of living in the fallen world, and for Him to rise above it in... Continue Reading

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how... Continue Reading

While we know that time in prayer is beneficial and vital, it is something that most Christians have to fight for in their daily life. Much of the time this neglect isn’t intentional, hence the command to be watchful. Other ways that we can translate this command are ‘be alert,’ or ‘be awake.’ It’s the... Continue Reading

As much as children need their mothers, God implanted a divine need in the heart of children for a father who is more than a passing contributor to their existence. A child who can look up to, love and respect his or her father is well on the way to a healthy and successful emotional... Continue Reading

In dramatic overreaction, Peter blurts out. “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” (John 13:9) But Jesus reins him in and clarifies His mission. “Jesus said to him, ‘He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of... Continue Reading

Dr. Tipton’s contention that I teach that Christ needed redemption himself and that his adoption bore redemptive efficacy for him is simply careless. The idea that our sinless Savior personally needs redemption and adoption is repugnant and blasphemous. Not only do I repudiate such views; I don’t know anyone who holds them. 366 pages of... Continue Reading

If we are all adopted sons, then we are all part of the blood royal. We are royalty with Him—not by physical descent, but by our union with Christ, the true and natural Son.   This article from The Aquila Report is a critique of a book written by David Garner called Sons in the... Continue Reading

A father forms. He blesses. He corrects. He protects. He teaches. He commissions. With a word, he can instill courage or fear. He can strengthen a child for the journey ahead or leave wounds that linger for decades. A father’s voice can penetrate places explanations never can.   Father’s Day can be complicated. For some,... Continue Reading

AI has made it easier for the true desires of our hearts to be exposed in inglorious new ways. Instead of allowing ourselves to be turned inward toward our new idols, we must help each other turn outward to the God who gave us the precious breath for both life and redemption   [Modern Reformation]... Continue Reading

The gospel transforms people from the inside out. Socialism strives to transform society from the outside in according its own standards and godless ideologies. One trusts the power of God. The other trusts, and enforces, the power of the state above all else.   Modern socialism/progressivism present themselves as compassionate, enlightened, and morally superior. They... Continue Reading

Our identity is not found in the passions that wage war within us. Our deepest identity is found in our covenant representative. You are either in Adam or you are in Christ. Every other identity is far too small to carry the weight of an immortal soul.   One of the strangest ideas ever smuggled... Continue Reading

Pastors must be strengthened by…a supernatural work of God through the Spirit. It’s experienced—not just affirmed—and the experience comes from outside as we meditate on the reality of grace—“remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead” (2 Timothy 2:8).   In 2 Timothy, Paul gives Timothy more than 30 imperatives to guide his ministry to the... Continue Reading

The AIC has offered no historical witnesses for its cavalier interpretation of Scripture and the Confession and Catechisms; it is because there are no witnesses. For the AIC to suggest that 17th Century Puritans who wrote the Westminster Standards would approve of celibate homosexual ordination is false and preposterous, and they must surely know it.... Continue Reading

Harsh men “persuade” their wives through physical, mental, or verbal strength rather than through love. They use harsh language with their wives. They treat them with a severity that others would find offensive if they could see it. This bitterness clearly fails to reflect the tender and faithful affection with which Christ loves the church... Continue Reading

There are wonderful things happening, but we in the ARP need to be watchful and careful in how we approach leadership and the leading of the Synod.…We would be wise as a denomination to repair relationships, encourage one another in love, and to see that all the oars on the ship are rowing in the... Continue Reading

A biblical order of the administration of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper would provide a meaningful framework for the exercise of proper shepherding of the flock at the high and holy moment of the distribution of the elements of the Lord’s supper.   Introduction It’s a celebration, a festive moment in the life of... Continue Reading

Every student of Scripture should consult John Calvin, who wrote commentaries on almost every book of the Bible.…[nor should they] skip Matthew Henry’s older commentary. It is easy to dismiss Henry in this age of modern technical commentaries, but his work is a gold mine—especially in terms of practical application.   In 2008 I put... Continue Reading

As a Christian, your identity is resurrected in the image of God. You have the seed of God in you now. But you’re also becoming something much more glorious.   The hope of Christian identity is a resurrected self. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above…for you have... Continue Reading

Honest speech, household leadership, and joyous discharge of responsibility are offensive to our dying, feminized culture. Davis’s roadmap for discipling young men may just issue in renewal—of both church and civilization.   Offensive Christianity: Restoring the Strength of Men in a Feminized Age By J. Chase Davis Founders Press, 184 pages, $19.98 Feminism forces us... Continue Reading

The God who governs all things is the God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ. He is infinitely wise, perfectly righteous, and unfailingly good. Because of this, believers can trust that no event is meaningless and no circumstance falls outside his fatherly care.   A missed flight. A delayed job offer. An unexpected illness. A... Continue Reading

It’s time that the church expected more from her ruling elders. They are not CEO’s who make decisions behind closed doors. They are godly, gifted men who have been equipped by the Spirit for the work to which they’ve been called. They are to serve as models of what it means to worship in Spirit... Continue Reading

Every time we see the rainbow we should remember God’s covenant faithfulness in sending the Redeemer to save a people for himself. Just as God had placed a rainbow in the sky to show his steadfast covenant fidelity, so there is a rainbow around the throne of Jesus Christ in glory (Rev. 4:3). We, like Noah,... Continue Reading

Rev. Ben Glaser, who served as chair of the Inter-Church Relations committee of the ARP, wrote…”Our Synod had sent several letters of concern, and had met with representatives of the EPC, about the rising rigidity of the EPC on women’s ordination, charismatic gifts, centralizing of institutional authority, and the recent flirting with Side B Christianity.”... Continue Reading

“It is Christ’s Godhead, united to His manhood that makes Him to be Christ; therefore to picture His manhood, when we cannot picture His Godhead, is a sin, because we make Him to be but half Christ,—we separate what God hath joined,—we leave out that which is the chief thing, which makes Him to be... Continue Reading

Seven pillars—submission, political totality, communal identity, the drive for supremacy, the concept of jihad, absolute divine oneness, and the absence of assurance—do not describe any single Muslim you will ever meet. They describe a framework within which many different individuals, with many different temperaments and levels of devotion, are living out their lives.   On... Continue Reading

Our Protestant forefathers in the British North American colonies—later, the United States, as we will soon celebrate—established the Christian Sabbath as one of the pillars of their new societies. They brought the Sabbath with them from England and Scotland. While the day’s observance varied widely—particularly in the South where Sabbath-keeping was never as rigorous as... Continue Reading

The Bible is written by Jesus, to Jesus, about Jesus.…We should, therefore, read confidently expecting to find Jesus as we read.   You are what you eat, said St Augustine. Well, he said ‘you become what you consume’ in the context of teaching on the Lord’s Supper. Nevertheless, the point is important. Consumption of the... Continue Reading