When my wife and I married, she was nineteen and I was twenty-one. “Young” and “foolish” were used more than once to describe our swift romance. We did not care. We were excited about our life together and especially the prospect of . . . Continue reading →
In this episode of the Heidelcast, the Superfriends discuss churches and homeschooling “ministries” Continue reading →
As is the case with many aspiring readers, I have filled my bookshelves with titles with every intent to devour them—but they remain unopened. To my shame, the Ninety-Five Theses is one such work in my library; a seminary class first incited . . . Continue reading →
On June 11, 1936, a small company of ministers, ruling elders, and laymen gathered in Philadelphia and constituted what was then called the Presbyterian Church of America and would later become the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. To their opponents, the meaning of the . . . Continue reading →
Schism is a serious sin. Presbyterian history gives us no warrant to treat the visible church as a purely voluntary association from which Christians may withdraw whenever they are disappointed, inconvenienced, or persuaded that they could construct something better. This is why . . . Continue reading →
John Calvin is frequently recruited into the current debates about schism, usually by isolating one side of his ecclesiology. Calvin’s severe warnings against abandoning the visible church are quoted as though he regarded nearly every institutional separation as schismatic. Alternatively, his denunciations . . . Continue reading →
Over one million violent crimes were committed in the United States in 2025. The staggering number of perpetrators and victims in the United States means it is likely you attend church with someone whose life has been changed by violence. You probably . . . Continue reading →
The Protestant Reformation undeniably divided the visible church in Western Europe. Congregations ceased communion with Rome, rejected papal jurisdiction (the pope), reconstituted worship according to Scripture and the early church,1 and established new ecclesiastical governments. In that descriptive sense, the Reformation involved . . . Continue reading →
Of the three controversies surveyed briefly in this chapter, perhaps none of them better illustrates the diminished influence of the Reformed confession, and the rise of the QIRC in the conservative Reformed churches, than the thirty-year struggle over the doctrine of justification. . . . Continue reading →
It is my opinion that one of the more detrimental developments in modern evangelicalism has been the rise of the celebrity pastor. While the church has always been tempted to elevate gifted and influential leaders beyond their proper place, our digital age . . . Continue reading →
Church division has troubled Christians from the earliest generations of the church. The New Testament repeatedly warns against factions, quarrels, false teachers, and those who disturb the unity of Christ’s body. Those warnings did not become less urgent after the death of . . . Continue reading →
In a previous article, we considered the argument against schism in the Old Testament. Redeemed Zoomer’s (RZ) argument does not rest on the Old Testament alone. He also maintains that Jesus and the apostles remained within the temple and synagogue system until . . . Continue reading →
As the baby-boomer generation came of age in the 1960s and 1970s, it led a broad cultural and religious reaction to traditionalism in various spheres. This is the era that brought us Woodstock and post-Vatican II guitar masses. The evangelical version of . . . Continue reading →
“David sure seems to complain a lot.” These were the words of thirteen-year-old yours truly after reading through the Psalms for the first time. Even in my unsophisticated (and apparently unsympathetic) reading, it was obvious that many of the Psalms contained lament. . . . Continue reading →
Continuing our discussion on the recent debates over schism, we now turn to what the Old Testament has to say. Redeemed Zoomer’s (RZ) case against Protestant separation rests heavily on the Old Testament. In a debate with Douglas Wilson hosted by Reformation . . . Continue reading →
I always appreciate clarity and directness. These are not missing in the discussions of schism with Richard Ackerman, the Redeemed Zoomer. He has stated his position in the strongest possible terms in an X (formerly Twitter) post on July 20, 2026: “No . . . Continue reading →
Too many Christians talk about the presence of God like the weather: “It was really saturated tonight.” “It felt dry this morning.” One person walks out of a Sunday service saying, “God really showed up,” while the person sitting right beside him . . . Continue reading →
Humans are amphibians—half spirit and half animal. (The Enemy’s determination to produce such a revolting hybrid was one of the things that determined Our Father to withdraw his support from Him.) As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals . . . Continue reading →
There is no denying that the visible church in our day is a mess. Some people hold a view of what has been called “Christless Christianity,” a watered-down, self-help version of the faith that uses Christian language but replaces the atoning, redemptive . . . Continue reading →
On the internet, I am a nobody. I do not think of myself as anything more than a local pastor who is trying to be faithful in the discharge of his duty. I like to write, so I do that as well. . . . Continue reading →
