When And How To Draw A Line In The Sand? (Updated)

UPDATE 7/5/13 Below. Original Post 7/1/13 PCA Pastor Robert Dekker, pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian Church wanted to hold worship services this summer on the beach near Lewes, Delaware. He applied for a permit from the city to use public space. The . . . Continue reading →

Just In: Hart’s Calvinism: A History

D. G. Hart’s latest is just out: Calvinism: A History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013). It just arrived in the post so I’ve not had time to read it and we have a dinner guest arriving any minute. I hope to . . . Continue reading →

Strategic, Authentic, and Confessional

Introduction: What Do You Want? I spent an encouraging evening with a enthusiastic group of young people at pastor’s house recently. Over dinner we discussed the challenges of planting Reformed Churches. We agreed that whatever we do we need to be strategic, we . . . Continue reading →

Deaths From Church Shootings Rose 36% In 2012

A congregation at prayer, hearing God’s Word preached and responding by singing God’s Word should be the safest place in the world. According to a story in Christianity Today, however, in 2012 it was not. Security experts describe them as “soft targets,” places . . . Continue reading →

Ministers All?

The uniqueness and centrality of the official preaching of the Word is diminished when we  equivocate between the official, public, ordained administration of the Word and the unofficial witness to the gospel by the laity. The tendency among evangelical is to describe all . . . Continue reading →

Bog Standard Evangelicalism Circa 1962

I’m cleaning out my office and clearing out a great lot of books One of the volumes I found is Carl F. H. Henry, Basic Christian Doctrines (New York: Holt, Rhinehart, Winston, 1962). Included in this collection of very brief entries are G. . . . Continue reading →

How Many Mediators?

In a 15 May essay in The Christian Century, Richard Mouw argues that we Protestants should perhaps re-think the question of praying to deceased Christians. He confesses that he wasn’t really well acquainted with the Roman doctrine of prayer and the intercession . . . Continue reading →

Resources For Those Beginning To Study Covenant Theology

For those just getting started in covenant theology I recommend: R. Scott Clark, “A Brief History of Covenant Theology.” Audio: What Is Covenant Theology And What Are The Implications For The Church And Family? Mike Brown and Zach Keele, Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology . . . Continue reading →

Going Back to Egypt?

The evangelical wing of the internet is buzzing today about an apology last night by Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, and his announcement that the organization is being disbanded and will be replaced by another entity with a different mission. In . . . Continue reading →

Is Faith a Work?

The question comes (paraphrasing): Since Scripture says, “believe,” (e.g. Acts 16:31) it seems that we are commanded to believe. If the command to believe is an imperative and an imperative is “law,” and if the answer to the command “believe” is faith, . . . Continue reading →

Audio: Covenant Curses and Covenant Blessings

Here’s a recent sermon preached in my home congregation, the Escondido United Reformed Church, on Hebrews 6:4–20: Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and . . . Continue reading →

Jack and the Kingdom of God (Updated)

In a piece that appears in Christianity Today online Ted Olson argues that a plan, which was cancelled, to free the Korean hostages in Afghanistan by taking hostage the families of the kidnappers is a bad idea because the Apostle Paul wouldn’t . . . Continue reading →