Calls for amnesty among those who defended and implemented the protocols of the COVID-19 pandemic are hardly news. Emily Oster was the first to call for clemency of advocates for governments’ restrictive measures. She argued that many officials simply did not have sufficient knowledge . . . Continue reading →
Christian Life
Review: Thank God By Reuben Bredenhof
“Thank God!” It rolls right off the tongue. It is so easy to say most times that you do not even need to think about it. But perhaps that is the problem. How often do we think about giving thanks? When and . . . Continue reading →
Why Are Baptistic Evangelicals Attracted To Anglicanism?
By now, the pattern is familiar. A young evangelical becomes disenchanted with her religious upbringing, discovers the liturgical church, and “walks the Canterbury Trail,” joining an Anglican or Episcopal church. She may even conclude the Anglican tradition is insufficiently Catholic and turn . . . Continue reading →
Evangelical Repentance, The Marrow, And The Auchterarder Creed
How did theological examination of a man in a presbytery (body of regional church elders) in a small town in Scotland in 1717 fuel a deep-seated theological schism among ministers in the Church of Scotland and result in a movement that still . . . Continue reading →
Is There Distinctively Reformed Medicine?
After a visit to my father at his local hospital, I had a worldview moment. What should have alerted me from the outset was the name of the place – St. Mary’s. But then I noticed that the spiritual services wing of . . . Continue reading →
Church Membership And Our Witness To The World
What does it mean to be a member of a local church? Those who take church membership seriously recognize it comes with a lot of responsibilities. The faithful church member attends worship regularly and engages meaningfully in the divine service. They pray . . . Continue reading →
Trueman On STD’s And Stupidity
According to a recent CDC report, cases of syphilis are rising in the United States. The report offers an interesting window on contemporary American culture. First, it features the usual exceptionalism for health issues that are a part of the progressive remaking . . . Continue reading →
The Fruit Of The Spirit: The First Fruit—Love
In the first article of the series, we learned that the fruit of the Spirit are Christian virtues that glorify God, bless other people, and benefit us. When Christ redeemed us, he gave us his Spirit and united us to himself, giving . . . Continue reading →
Who May Read The Scriptures In A P&R Service
It’s a rare week when I don’t receive a message from someone in the conservative Presbyterian and Reformed world reporting a practice that the scandalized sender has witnessed in a NAPARC church. Often the report is of females reading scripture or leading some . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Rome Is An Old Testament Religion
It is further to be observed that Paul says the fathers of the Old Testament “were in bondage under the law,” after the manner of servants, specially by reason of rites and ceremonies. And hence it follows that the observation of a . . . Continue reading →
Public Bickering And The Silent Suffering: A Response To John MacArthur
By now, much digital ink has been spilled on social media and in the blogosphere concerning inflammatory, if not unsurprising comments made by Pastor John MacArthur on the socially dynamic issue of mental health and illness. Speaking at a church conference in . . . Continue reading →
Perkins’ Defense Of Infant Baptism
Infants of believing parents are likewise to be baptized. The grounds of their baptism are these. First, the commandment of God, “Baptize all nations” (Matt. 28:19), in which words the baptism of infants is prescribed. For the apostles by virtue of this . . . Continue reading →
We Are Just Children
It was 1975 and our family was living in Regina, Saskatchewan. In this prairie city my Dad had his first posting as a pilot for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He’d been serving as an RCMP officer for a few years already, . . . Continue reading →
Forty Years Earlier . . . The 1984 (12th) GA: Unity Frays
The PCA General Assembly convened again a large convention ballroom at Baton Rouge’s Bellemont Hotel for its next Assembly. Meeting in the deep South and the furthest west to date, the 12th GA would continue hashing out areas of mission and expansion. The . . . Continue reading →
Video: Speaking The Truth In Love
Chris Gordon, Rev. Bill Boekestein, and Rev. Joel Dykstra continue their conversation as they discuss the blatant opposition to morality in today’s culture. Continue reading →
Perkins: Believers And Unbelievers Both Need Civil Government
Objection II. Believers are governed by God’s Spirit, and therefore outward government by magistrates is needless. Answer. In the visible church, hypocrites are mingled with true believers, and they are not governed by God’s Spirit, but by the spirit of the devil. . . . Continue reading →
The Fruit Of The Spirit: An Introduction
Although we know better, Christians often think that life would be much better if we only had more money. If we had more money, we could have more stuff, and if we had more stuff, we would be more happy. That is . . . Continue reading →
Machen Saw And So Should We
J. Gresham Machen was certainly prescient about the havoc theological liberalism would wreak on the mainline churches in the 20th century. He also saw the rise of fascism and ethnonationalism in the 1920s and 1930s. We would do well to consider those . . . Continue reading →
Video: The Truth About Sexual Sin
Chris Gordon, Rev. Bill Boekestein, and Rev. Joel Dykstra discuss the Sexual Revolution’s explosive effect on society and the church, and pinpoint the one thing that didn’t happen that led to the end of Christendom. RESOURCES Resources On The Rule Of Worship . . . Continue reading →
Perkins On What Union With Christ Does And Does Not Mean
Believers are not one with Christ by transfusion of the properties and qualities of the Godhead or manhood unto us. It may be said, how then are they one with Him? I answer, by one and the same Spirit dwelling in Christ . . . Continue reading →