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
A Review of Religion & Republic by Miles Smith
Who We as American Protestants Actually Were and What We Might Still Strive to Be
Religion & Republic shows that we have positive examples to work from within our own national history and that we do not necessarily have to look outside the American tradition in order to conceptualize a Christian America. It is worth repeating and reemphasizing that as Americans, unless we intend to be revolutionaries, our approaches to reform... Continue Reading
God in Three Persons, not Three Personalities
To be true to trinitarian doctrine, there can be only one personality in God.
We should think of the essence of God as the one personality of God, and yet expressed three times over. Each Person fully indwells the other, expressing the one personality of God to each other as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No one will “solve” the doctrine of the Trinity, as if it is... Continue Reading
Who Is the Real King?
We default and defer to any ruler but King Jesus.
Are we all that different from what these folks did 2000 years ago? When crunch time comes along, how many will simply submit to whatever dictates the State hands down to us – even those that conflict with our Christian faith? If the Covid wars of 2020-2022 were a test run to see how easily... Continue Reading
Polity of the Plymouth Pilgrims
The Pilgrims developed their congregationalism in opposition to the episcopal polity of the Church of England.
These dissenting Christians had separated from the Church of England and were living in exile in Leyden, Amsterdam, and Plymouth Plantation so they could practice their doctrine as congregational churches with each church bound by its covenant. Introduction The church at Leyden was the mother church for the Pilgrim congregation in Plymouth Plantation in... Continue Reading
How Did Jesus Escape Eternity in Hell When He Died in the Place of Sinners?
The difference between Jesus and me.
As sinners, we cannot satisfy God’s wrath or fully pay for our sins no matter what we do or how long we do it. Furthermore, even if we tried, we would keep on sinning while seeking to fully pay for our sins. An endless loop of sin and punishment would ensue. As a result, a... Continue Reading
Blessing and Cursing
The contrast between God’s blessing or cursing reminds us that we do not automatically enjoy God’s favor regardless of how we live.
Only those who have truly trusted in Jesus as their Savior and submitted to His lordship will experience God’s eternal blessing. Obedience brings blessing, not because it merits salvation but because it demonstrates the reality of our faith in the One who blesses His people. Although it is rarely noted, the concept of blessing... Continue Reading
A Recent History of the Christian Reformed Church
Recent Synodical decisions maintain the CRC’s long-held view of sexuality against some very deliberate strategies to undermine it.
The Abide Project began, not as an attempt to chart a new direction, but precisely to avoid it. The only unprecedented developments have been the deliberate attempts to protest and defy the decisions of Synod, and the subsequent failure of classes to keep such congregations accountable. Recent Synods of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC)... Continue Reading
The New Divide in Global Anglicanism
Orthodox Anglicans have continually decried liberal departures from biblical teaching about marriage and sexuality.
“Respect” for tradition is not enough when cultural hurricanes threaten to blow Anglicans off the narrow pilgrim way. Just as “respect” for God is a far cry from the “trembling at My word” that God seeks (Isa. 66:2), and just as the Ethiopian eunuch asked how he could understand Isaiah without someone guiding his interpretation... Continue Reading