There is still another area in which the Reformed view of the law is influenced by the idea of the covenant. Even after the fall, the law retains something of its covenantal form. The law was not included in the federal relationship . . . Continue reading →
Christian Life
PCA Christian Nationalism Study Committee Announced
Kevin DeYoung, moderator of the 52nd General Assembly, has selected the elders to serve on the Ad Interim Study Committee on Christian Nationalism. The committee will consist of three teaching elders, four ruling elders, and two advisory members. The committee members are . . . Continue reading →
What You Consider Traditional Worship Is A Modern Innovation
To be fair, congregational singing has been under assault for a century or more. The “contemporary” worship of 100 years ago in some P&R churches already suffered from invasive species propagated by Oxford Movement’s high-church, Anglo-Catholic tendencies. Low churches got high. Organs . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Do Not Make An Idol Of Me Or A Jerusalem Of Geneva
Now, as they did us injustice in that, it appears to me that you ought to have been too reasonable and humane to suffer us to be mixed up and implicated in their follies. One of them, of whom I had heard . . . Continue reading →
A Critical Appreciation Of Anglicanism (Or Why I Did Not Become Anglican)
Regular readers of this space will know that evangelical elements of the Anglican tradition have played a significant role in my spiritual development. As a very young Christian the first piece of Christian literature of any substance that I read was John . . . Continue reading →
Re-Thinking Thomas On The Effects Of Sin
One of the most common critiques of Thomas Aquinas to be found in contemporary Protestant theology and apologetics is that Aquinas either outright denies the noetic effects of sin (that is, the effect of original sin on the human intellect) or at least minimizes . . . Continue reading →
Warfield On Calvin’s Doctrine Of The Natural Knowledge Of God
The first chapters of Calvin’s “Institutes” are taken up with a comprehensive exposition of the sources and guarantee of the knowledge of God and divine things (Book I. chs. i.-ix.). A systematic treatise on the knowledge of God must needs begin with . . . Continue reading →
Thinking Rightly About Images
Worship is a vital part of the Christian life, in fact, the most important facet of our life. It is how both the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms direct us on what our proper end is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify . . . Continue reading →
The Incredible Shrinking Mainline
In 2008, I commented on a post by the Aquila Report: “The PCUSA continues its statistical decline. As a firm believer in Scottish revivals I might be tempted to take this as a sign of health but, in this case, it doesn’t . . . Continue reading →
What Is Missio Dei?
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 →
What Is American Reformer?
The mission of American Reformer (a project that fancies itself the brains of a movement that seems to major in morphing and losing its mind) sounds tame and broad enough: American Reformer’s mission is to promote a vigorous Christian approach to the . . . Continue reading →
The American Presbyterians Were Correcting The Tradition
I’ve written before about how Presbyterians changed their views on the civil magistrate and how this shift is reflected in the American revision of the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF). When the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America adopted the . . . Continue reading →
The Ark Means More Than You Think It Does
At first glance, the flood narrative may seem like a simple tale of an ancient deluge or even God’s love for animal life. That was what I was taught growing up in the church. However, it’s so much more than that. When . . . Continue reading →
Yes, It Is Really Happening
“I hope everyone is enjoying the podcast that no one is allowed to admit they listen to.” When temptation arrives, it rarely announces itself. Instead, it speaks like a familiar friend. It preys on our vanity, arrogance, and curiosity—buttons it knows how . . . Continue reading →
Truth Without Love Is Brutality, Love Without Truth Is Hypocrisy
“Jesus, why are you being so insensitive? Why don’t you care more about the people? Don’t you realize that the people you just chased out of the Temple are good guys?” In our day, we wouldn’t be surprised if this was in . . . Continue reading →
Brad Was Wrong Until He Was Right
Mr. Moderator, Brad Isbell, ruling elder, Tennessee Valley Presbytery. At the risk of sounding like a politician—or Mel Duncan, for that matter—I was against the study committee before I was for the study committee, but this is a speech in favor. Last . . . Continue reading →
What Meekness Is
We tend to misunderstand what it means to be meek as the Bible uses that word. Perhaps you’ve heard of the group founded by J. Upton Dickson called DOORMATS. That stands for “Dependent Organization Of Really Meek And Timid Souls.” Their motto . . . Continue reading →
What Good Is A Neglected Tool?
Taking a step back and considering trends more broadly perhaps suggests missional pragmatism is behind some of the disuse or change. In a desire to be relevant or more easily understood, the catechism used and taught is changed to something newer, or . . . Continue reading →
The Tender Love A Father Has: The Christian’s Comfort, Even In Death
Our culture is not one that likes to think about death. Culturally, as others have pointed out, we have done away with the traditional churchyard. No longer are we forced to walk past the graves of our family, friends, and neighbors on the way in and out of Lord’s Day worship and, thus, forced to confront our own mortality. Continue reading →
Growing Reformed Churches: First Impressions Matter
It got me thinking about church. How many times does it happen that a visitor has a really unfriendly experience their first-time at church? You could have the best “meal” on offer in the city, the best preaching of God’s Word, but . . . Continue reading →