He was, in my experience, relentlessly cheerful. He had a ready smile and an encouraging word. A midwesterner, who earned his spurs on the Plains, he was an endless fount of stories. This was a source of irritation to some of my fellow students but on the Plains, stories are a part of life. I am sure that I learned as much about pastoral ministry from Derke’s stories about ministry as I did from his lectures. Continue reading →
Johannes Wollebius (1589–1629) was a professor of Old Testament, theologian, and pastor in Basel. His Compendium of theology was widely used in the 17th century and even it was so well regarded that it even replaced William Ames’ Marrow in the American . . . Continue reading →
Cut some of the leading evangelical writers of the last decades and they bleed Socinus—without even knowing his name. For example, Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, the most widely read text of its kind in English-speaking conservative evangelical circles, rejects eternal generation of . . . Continue reading →
Language regarding accreditation of religious insti- tutions of higher education in the Higher Education Opportunity Act could be interpreted to require accrediting bodies to accredit religious institutions that discriminate or that do not meet science based curricula standards. Continue reading →
(HT: Ezra Levant)
Or if anyone should think this is untrue, I am not going to quarrel about it. After all, I am clearly dealing with Christians, who rejoice over their knowing the holy Scriptures without human guidance; and if that is the case, it . . . Continue reading →
If your congregation does not have a lawyer, it should. Continue reading
It is a little overdue but it is finally here: our latest call-in episode in which we take Heidelcalls from Arizona on choosing a college, on B. B. Warfield’s eschatology (was he really postmillennial?), from Chicago on what must happen before Jesus . . . Continue reading →
Very few laymen are aware of the fact that over the last 15 years there has been a secret organization in our Church working quietly behind the scenes to gain control of the political machinery of our denomination. This group, composed mostly . . . Continue reading →
God the Son, the substance of the covenant of grace, was Continue reading
“The Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. It says nothing about the freedom to play craps or blackjack, to feed tokens into a slot machine, or to engage in any other game of chance. But the Governor of Nevada apparently has different priorities. Claiming virtually unbounded power to restrict constitutional rights during the COVID–19 pandemic, he has issued a directive that severely limits attendance at religious services. A church, synagogue, or mosque, regardless of its size, may not admit more than 50 persons, but casinos and certain other favored facilities may admit 50% of their maximum occupancy—and in the case of gigantic Las Vegas casinos, this means that thousands of patrons are allowed.” Continue reading →
It is a deeply-held conviction among more than a few American Christians that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that it was such until relatively recently. Further, it is widely thought that if only there were a religious . . . Continue reading →
If the 1950s gave us Communists under every bed, 2020 has given us fascists in every boardroom. The cultural Left cannot abide so much as sharing the same 3.8 million square miles with “those people,” let alone the same workplace, or even . . . Continue reading →
After nearly two months of advising that Hermiston Christian School could provide in-person instruction to the 51 students enrolled in its K-12 program, Brown reversed course and, on July 29, ordered private schools in Umatilla County and elsewhere to remain closed while . . . Continue reading →
I am reading a draft of an MA Thesis right now but later this afternoon I will be diving back into Carl Trueman’s latest, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. I have an extra copy and I am giving it . . . Continue reading →
The liberal worldview was one that recognized that there were things—indeed, the most important things—in life that were located outside of the realm of politics: friendships, art, music, family, love. This was a world in which Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg . . . Continue reading →
In Matthew 28:18–20 our Lord gave a mission to the visible, institutional church: preach the gospel, administer the sacraments, and make disciples. He did not give that mission to a million evangelical para-church organizations. He gave it to the visible church. The . . . Continue reading →
As Garrison Keillor used to say, it has been an interesting week in Lake Wobegon and our passage for this episode, 1 Peter 1:13–21, has never been so relevant. The Apostle Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote this epistle . . . Continue reading →
(1.) The life which he now led was a life of faith with respect unto things spiritual and eternal. For he had for the foundation and object hereof, [1.] The promise of the blessed Seed, and the spiritual blessing of all nations . . . Continue reading →
When it comes to assurance, the equation stops with Christ. Did he finish the work? Is he enough? You will NEVER (yes, I’m raising my voice a bit) achieve the sanctity you want without first trusting in the sufficiency of the finished . . . Continue reading →