A Summary of Actions Taken by the 46th General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church held its 46th stated General Assembly in Denver, Colorado June 16-18, 2026.
From the conclusion of our executive report (drawn from the Pastoral Letter): We affirm that only those “who conform to the biblical requirement of chastity and sexual purity in their descriptions of themselves, their convictions, character, and conduct should be considered for leadership.” Additionally, we affirm that “Courts may consider for ordination candidates whose ongoing... Continue Reading
The Lie of Living Your Truth
Your truth or The Truth? Today’s culture calls for bold proclamations in both the church and the public sphere. We must roll up our sleeves and tell the truth.
I believed the slogan “LGBTQ lives hurt no one.” My friend, a biological male who lived as a woman and was chemically castrated after years of estrogen, gave me a box of books on Christian theology. He had left the church for transgenderism, and I seemed to be interested in Christianity. So, he dropped off... Continue Reading
The Divine School: Theology as Taught by God (Theologia a Deo Docetur)
A proud theologian is a walking contradiction.
Loved ones, this is where the academic-practical bridge must be crossed with immense care. If we truly believe that theology is taught by God, it must radically alter our posture as students. It is incredibly easy for young, intellectually driven men to turn the study of Reformed theology into a blood sport. We want to... Continue Reading
From Anxiety to Assurance: Why Theology Matters for the Christian Life
The work of the cross was not the Father punishing an unwilling Son, but a unified act of Triune love toward believers.
When a Christian understands not just that they are saved, but the biblically grounded theology that informs them of how they are saved, their assurance shifts from a fragile and emotional “hope so” to an objective and rooted “know so.” By pursuing a theology of consistency, coherence, and explanatory power, we do not complicate our... Continue Reading
Created Creatures or Creating Creators?
The next great theological question.
We speak in code, in algorithms, in the vocabulary of enhancement and optimisation and human flourishing. But the underlying grammar is the same. A unified global civilisation, sharing tools and platforms and ambitions, is engaged in a coordinated attempt to build its way out of creaturely existence. The tower has many names, artificial general intelligence,... Continue Reading
Is Mormonism Christian? The Pentagon’s List Made Everyone Pick a Side
"The fundamental beliefs of Mormonism about Jesus and Scripture are not the same as historic, orthodox Christianity".
The most common claim from Mormons was that Christian is in the name, as in “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” and that the doctrinal differences are secondary. However, using the same vocabulary does not mean we are using the same dictionary. When it comes to the contrast between Mormonism and Christianity, the differences make all the difference in the world. On Monday, the Pentagon announced... Continue Reading
A Letter to a Discouraged Pastor
You gotta love the church. You can’t love Christ and despise His body.
Our Lord described the church as an institution that included both tares and wheat. Sometimes the tares gain the upper hand and lead the church into apostasy. Some churches have degenerated to such a low degree that they cease being churches at all. But no church in any age has been utterly pure. It was... Continue Reading
Responding to the Islamic Accusation of Taḥrīf: Standing on the Bible’s Historical Integrity
We have good reasons to trust the Bible’s integrity.
A common argument lodged by critics against the New Testament’s integrity is that it was wildly unstable in its earliest stages. That is, our copies of the New Testament do not reflect the content of the original autographs (the original written documents of the biblical authors). Muslim polemicists adopt these arguments to support their accusation... Continue Reading
The Ugliest Thing in the World
Reflecting on a quote from Francis Schaeffer.
Maybe you know the intricacies of the atonement; perhaps you know the five solas and affirm the doctrines of grace. Your favorite hobby is to study the deepest theology and all you like to do is read Puritan after Puritan. To be sure, all of those things a great in themselves. (Yes, read the Puritans!)... Continue Reading
EPC Opens Door to Ordination of Celibate Homosexuals
By a majority of 57 to 43 percent, the EPC Assembly voted to approve a Pastoral Letter that opens the door to ordain those who struggle with same-sex attraction as long as they are celibate, repentant, and seeking to mortify their sin.
As I listened to the debate, I had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu – that I had seen this all before. Seventeen years ago, I helped lead my congregation into the EPC to escape from the homosexual agenda that infected the PC(USA). Now, I was witnessing the very same thing in the EPC General... Continue Reading
On Being Moved
A theological anthropology of the emotions.
The task given to human beings at the beginning of Genesis relates to the concept of dominion.[14] It is, of all the creatures, this one whom God addresses as his partner in the project of creation. For the Psalmist it is a matter of wonder: ‘what is man that you are mindful of him?’ (Ps... Continue Reading
The Yoke of Christ
Why the ‘Beast of Burden’ image is the answer for weary souls needing rest.
“So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you. . .” Be content with who you are and all your not-enoughness. We are not God. He remembers how He formed us—limited, finite creatures of dust—He was there after all! But how often do we forget this?... Continue Reading
The Real Bottom Line
In the decisions you’re facing right now, are you seeking his kingdom first or your bottom line first?
“[S]eek first his kingdom and his righteousness…” Not second. Not when things settle down. First. A.W. Tozer put it plainly: “We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God.” Not an occasional preoccupation. Everlasting. Every leader I know tracks numbers. Revenue. Attendance. Headcount. Growth. There’s nothing wrong with that. Data matters. But here’s a... Continue Reading
The Sin We’ve Stopped Taking Seriously
“Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.”
We often remember the church father Augustine for his preconversion life of sexual sin—his illicit lover and his famous prayer (“Grant me chastity, but not yet”). But the more I read Confessions, the more I notice how pride runs just as deep and just as long, and arguably does more damage. Augustine describes his younger... Continue Reading
Restlessness
And the goodness of just consistently showing up over and over and over again.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about restlessness and consistency. It’s easy to get bored, to feel like life isn’t shaping up to be what you expected. We look out and see the kinds of lives others appear to be living and we wonder why ours may not be quite what we want. ... Continue Reading
God, Machines, and Biblical Christianity
Use the new technologies and things like AI carefully and for good outcomes, but take great care in being seduced by their dehumanising and anti-God proclivities.
Being new to Christianity, I can’t pretend it’s not convenient. I’ve never read the Bible all the way through, but I have an app that summarizes it for me, that texts me a passage every day. I use #Bible and Hallow and Glorify. And I’m sure this kind of thing has attracted more young people,... Continue Reading
The Wonderful Christololgy of Thomas Goodwin
"Thy misery can never exceed His [Christ's] mercy. . . . Therefore let neither [sin nor misery] discourage any from coming unto Christ for grace and mercy."
Goodwin labors to show us, Christ’s church, especially from the Book of Hebrews, that our Messiah is very active in heaven for His people on earth; and that, in His human nature, He sympathizes with us and shares our griefs and sorrows (and joys). Goodwin teaches that Jesus Christ, as God’s Great High Priest, given... Continue Reading
Does God have emotions?
God is constant in his love, goodness, wrath, and mercy.
The Confession states that God is without body, parts, or passions (Chapter 2.1). I believe that means, in part, that God does not experience emotional reactions to his creation. In fact, God is pure act, and never reacts. My friend, on the other hand, believes that, God loves as a man loves. Though in a... Continue Reading
Experiencing Your Identity in Christ
The more you fill your mind with the biblical truth about who you are, the more your self-image will come into line with God-revealed reality.
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
Seven Ways Children Can Honor Parents
I wonder though, did we come to read a list of things for our kids to do for us, or for a reminder that we are children of God Himself?
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
On Pleasant Places, Part 4: Delight in God’s Instruction
We can read, believe, and meditate on the same Scriptures that David had—and many more—and we can apply them to our decisions.
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
Growing Pains
“…he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” Philippians 1:6b.
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
How We Became Hypocrites
A reflection on Matthew 7: 1-5 and selected passages.
“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
Continue Steadfastly in Prayer
Prayer is effective. God uses the prayers of His people as a means by which to do miracles, from physical healing, to provision, and of course to save. Knowing this, how can we neglect prayer?
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
Fathers: An Endangered Species
God intended fathers to have both a position of great honor and awesome responsibility.
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
Peter’s Protest
Only by the cleansing He provides can any be washed of their iniquity and cleansed of all unrighteousness.
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
Resurrection and Adoption: A Response to Drs. Letham and Tipton
Dr. Garner’s response to Dr. Robert Letham and Dr. Lane Tipton published essays interacting with Dr. David Garner’s view of the Son’s adoption.
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
Sons in the Son
Reflections on the Letham-Tipton Critique of David Garner’s Book “Sons in the Son”
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
Daddy’s Here
When explanations fail, that Voice still calls to His children. Perhaps that's why those words still move us after all these years: "Daddy's here;. Daddy's here."
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
There Is No Breath in Them
The benefit to recognizing AI as a potential idol is that we can avoid providing it our affections while using it for good.
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