A considerable percentage of church planting in the USA is done under the influence of a model that is likely to lead to congregations that are not Reformed in their practice and perhaps not in their theology and piety. That model says, . . . Continue reading →
John Piper has complained that the historic Reformed understanding of the Christian faith and life produces what he calls a “debtor’s ethic.” The assumption is that a “debtor’s ethic” is something that we are supposed to reject out of hand. I have . . . Continue reading →
In Kennedy v Bremerton, the Bremerton, WA School District argued that, were Coach Kennedy allowed to go to the 50 yard line to pray after games, student-athletes might feel pressured to join him for fear of losing playing time etc. Continue reading
There is a remarkable article on Insider.com which features a series of comments from young people who belong to “Generation Z.” Sometimes described as “Zoomers,” GenZ are those who were born after 1996. The article purports to reflect the fears of Generation . . . Continue reading →
One of the episodes of Christianity Today‘s Mars Hill podcast series was actually about the problem of sexual harassment at Christianity Today (to their credit, after exposing the cultic nature of Mark Driscoll’s control over Mars Hill–in the sense that Jim Jones . . . Continue reading →
I do not remember exactly when I read Jack Miller’s 1986 critique of the NAPARC world, Outgrowing the Ingrown Church, but I suspect it was about 1990. I was pastoring a small NAPARC congregation and I had been charged with helping the . . . Continue reading →
I love a good film. I took three courses in film criticism as an undergraduate. They were more difficult than one might think. First, taking notes in the dark is challenging and reading them afterward is even more difficult. Second, I had . . . Continue reading →
A significant part of the process of recovering and applying classical Reformed theology to our contemporary situation (sometimes called ressourcement, a French word which refers to getting back to original sources) is recovering the distinctions that we lost in the 19th and . . . Continue reading →
One of the more pernicious misrepresentations of the distinction between the eternal and temporal spheres of Christ’s kingdom, which Calvin called the “twofold kingdom” (Institutes, 3.19.15), is that it counsels or leads Christians to withdraw from society (e.g., politics). Nothing could be . . . Continue reading →
The Spring 2022 issue of the Nicotine Theological Journal is now available. This issue features essays by D. G. Hart, “The PCA In A Negative World” Brad Isbell, “What’s In A Denominational Name” R. Scott Clark, “Old Side Presbyterians and The Ordinary . . . Continue reading →
One finds profound truths in odd places. Today I found one on a fast-food sign. “Join The King’s Army Today” it read. “That is really good counsel,” I thought to myself. I am reasonably certain that the fast-food corporation and I are . . . Continue reading →
The Ancient Near Eastern culture described in the Old Testament and in which the Old Testament scriptures were given can sometimes seem foreign to our postmodern world. There are, however, some striking points of contact. One of these is the cult of . . . Continue reading →
Tom Hervey has published an interesting essay on the Aquila Report. In it he questions the legitimacy of “winsomeness” as a virtue. He is correct. It should be questioned. Continue reading
For many evangelicals and for some ostensibly Reformed folk it has been fashionable for the last several years to teach that we are justified now by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), based on Christ’s righteousness imputed, but that . . . Continue reading →
Jessica Chasmar has published what should be a blockbuster of a story. Continue reading
The Presbycast (Brad “Chortles Weakly” Isbell and Wresbyterian) put up the bat signal yesterday so I filled in for the redoutable Chris Drew. There was some confusion over the number of episodes in which I have appeared. The correct number is 25. . . . Continue reading →
When I first began to become Reformed (c. 1980) I was familiar with the second service because my Southern Baptist congregation had an evening service. Indeed, we had a Wednesday evening service in addition to the Sunday morning service. Oddly, much to . . . Continue reading →
This year on the Heidelcast the HRA has been releasing an audio version of one question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism daily 6 days a week. The first reason that we are doing this is to get the catechism into peoples ears, heads, and . . . Continue reading →
The classic Reformed theologians distinguished between three uses of the moral law (e.g., the Ten Commandments): 1) the pedagogical use, whereby sinners come to know the greatness of their sin and misery; 2) the civil use, whereby the moral law—traditionally both tables . . . Continue reading →
