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What is God doing in creation? What is He aiming to achieve? The answer shapes how we think about what the world needs, what the church’s purpose is, and what it means for Christians to live on mission. The answer also has . . . Continue reading →
Book Review
Recently, I have been removing a large stump from my back yard. The task has required more than one tool at different phases of the process. At times, I need a chainsaw to get deep cuts on certain sections. Other times, I . . . Continue reading →
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Few Christians today doubt that our relationship to our civil governments has gotten at least more complicated, if not outright harder, in recent years. Still, we often do not know how to navigate that challenge very effectively. We can be left thinking . . . Continue reading →
Book Review
Books on New Testament theology are often stale and lack depth of real theological analysis. I have regularly felt that when biblical studies attempt to do theology, the fruit is either obvious or seriously off track. Against this backdrop, Matthew Harmon’s exploration . . . Continue reading →
Book Review
The church has had pastors since our very beginning. Although that observation may seem obvious, we may yet overlook the important point that the pastoral craft is very ancient. We likely often envision the pastoral role only in terms of our modern . . . Continue reading →
Book Review
Whenever someone introduces himself to me as a worship pastor, my standard response is, “Me too.” Inevitably, my reply prompts inquiry about how I lead worship. So, I explain that I call the church to worship, I pray a lot, I read . . . Continue reading →
Article
It is convocation season again! Each summer, Reformed denominations have their national gatherings to weigh, deliberate, and even celebrate various issues going on throughout the churches. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s General Assembly met June 4–10 at Trinity Christian College just outside Chicago. . . . Continue reading →
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When I was in college, I worked in a warehouse that refurbished science kits for elementary and middle schools. As part of my job, I had to replace used-up supplies for various experiments, like the used-up tape, staples, or flour. One summer, . . . Continue reading →
Article
In one elementary school science lesson, we were given bug eggs that we were supposed to help get through the various life-cycle stages. However successful I was at that endeavor with those particular bugs, the principle is something I think we all . . . Continue reading →
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Our first point initially then helps us see the rich blessing of corporate worship. This spirit-fullness requires the church and is not an individualistic experience. This singing is addressing one another, namely other people. The style of worship where you blend into a . . . Continue reading →
Book Review
Leadership comes with the territory of pastoral ministry. The trouble is that we do not always embrace it as a reality. It can be hard to see how the obviously distinct aspects of the pastoral call fit alongside normal assumptions about leadership . . . Continue reading →
Article
When I was a kid, my grandfather would often talk about his hypothetical outline for what he would do if he won millions of dollars. He intended to pay off his own debts and the debts and expenses of all his children . . . Continue reading →
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The phrase often goes around that “blood is thicker than water.” One of the ways people use this phrase is to mean that family relationships are more important than relationships made by baptism. In other words, when a family member does something . . . Continue reading →
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When I lived in the UK, I had to go on one occasion to the US embassy in London. As I entered the embassy, I was struck by how different the atmosphere of the whole place was. A list of things stood . . . Continue reading →
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I lived in New Zealand for a few months during college for a mission trip. We went to help a church start outreach efforts on the nearby university campus. One day, we attended an event where various organizations set up tables to . . . Continue reading →
Book Review
Eschatology is one of those perennially discussed (and often debated) topics in Christian theology that, in my estimation, can often miss the main point by getting caught in the details. Usually, the first question it prompts is about what someone’s view of . . . Continue reading →
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Casablanca is one of the most famous movies in cinematic history, leaving us with more than its fair share of artifacts ingrained in cultural memory even eighty years later. Humphrey Bogart alone left us with a stack of lines most of us . . . Continue reading →
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The final layer is that Christ is the substance of the covenant of grace since He was always its Mediator…. Moreover, the New Testament explicitly designates Christ as the Savior who was active in the Old Testament. Harrison Perkins | Reformed Covenant . . . Continue reading →
Article
It is a common bug of humanity that we do not like saying goodbye. We even have stock phrases like, “I’m bad at goodbyes,” or, “Let’s say ‘see you later’ rather than ‘goodbye.’” Even “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” as true . . . Continue reading →
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Without Christ’s resurrection, Christian hope disappears. Among many indispensable articles of our faith, Christ’s resurrection crowns the list. Part of the reason for its critical role is because we worship the risen Christ, who is God the Son in power with all . . . Continue reading →
