Steve Baugh helps us wrap up our study of the book of Hebrews this season. We’re studying Hebrews 13 in this episode. He’s an expert in the 1st century background of the New Testament and Greek and he brings those skills to . . . Continue reading →
There is some excitement in some quarters over the question of whether the United Reformed Churches confess the revised or unrevised version of the Belgic Confession. There is no evidence from the minutes of the URCs, of which I’m aware, that speaks . . . Continue reading →
Working on Hebrews 6 and this seems appropriate (it’s not a great recording but you get the point).
I just got an email request from my internet service provider asking me to rate the service call I received yesterday. As far as I know he did a good job but only time will tell whether the problem is fixed. These . . . Continue reading →
The other day I was talking with a student at a local coffeehouse in beautiful downtown Escondido. He was telling me about his experience in seminary. He said he began at another seminary, even though his pastor recommended WSC, because he was . . . Continue reading →
The act of blogging has come under criticism in both civil and religious spheres. Recently, Senator Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina) wondered aloud whether bloggers are protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Last week Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) raised . . . Continue reading →
I’m a big fan of Booker T. Jones (of Booker T and the MGs). What follows, however, isn’t about taste. It’s about principle. So, I was just minding my own business, checking out the usual Monday morning morning flood of social-media, and . . . Continue reading →
Zeke Piestrup has made a documentary following Harold Camping (and see this post) and company in the days leading up to and just after May 21, 2011, the day Camping had said Jesus would return—Apocalypse Later: Harold Camping vs. The End Of The . . . Continue reading →
Over at the Puritanboard Sebastian asks I find often that people think the Refgormed undiscrimantely reject(ed) the communicatio idiomatum. However, the 2nd Helvetic Confession is as clear as any in accepting it. However, it does not qualify the way later theological formulations . . . Continue reading →
In part one I sketched the biblical evidence for the claim that homosexuality is a sin. In part two I address the argument that some make in defense of the notion that there are such things as “gay Christians” is the appeal . . . Continue reading →
I’ve been speaking with an especially thoughtful young person recently who asked me whether it was appropriate to speak of “Gay Christians.” My first response was to ask whether it is appropriate to speak of “Murderer Christians” or “Thief Christians” or “Idolater . . . Continue reading →
Hebrews 12 is a vital chapter in the book. In it we get a clearer sense of the challenges they faced, the persecution they were experiencing for Christ’s sake, and the temptation they had to overcome by God’s grace. The pastor invokes . . . Continue reading →
Time was that church historians also taught church polity and what is sometimes called pastoral theology. This was, I suppose, because we used to recognize that the study of the history of the practice of the church gives a certainsight into how . . . Continue reading →
It’s the season for final exams at Westminster Seminary California. I always get a little nervous during a final, even though I’m the one giving it and not the one taking it. Naturally I want the students to do well but by the . . . Continue reading →
Originally published 18 May, 2013. Updated 23 May 2013 (below). From the 16 May 2013 Memo to the Hon. Aaron Schock, Member of Congress, Committee of Ways and Means, from Thomas Brejcha, Peter Breen, Sally Wagenmaker, Esqs. Thomas More Society. The IRS . . . Continue reading →
More than 30 years ago, when I first came into contact with Reformed theology, piety, and practice (the Reformed confession broadly defined), I also came into contact with a movement within the Reformed world known as “Christian Reconstructionism” and its child “theonomy.” . . . Continue reading →
Darrel, writes, “After reading your paper, The Israel of God, it struck me that you did not mention any of the as yet to be fulfilled prophesies concerning the Nation of Israel. Why? Also, it seems that you cast things in a . . . Continue reading →
The church always exists in some culture, somewhere. Prior to the new heavens and the new earth, the church will never be free of the influence of the prevailing culture where it finds itself. Because we’re in the culture, because we are . . . Continue reading →
Seminary students and future seminary students frequently ask how to discover whether one is called to pastoral ministry. It’s a challenging discussion because there are two aspects to the call to ministry, internal and external, and both take time to discover and . . . Continue reading →