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 →
Heidelminicast: Heidelberg Catechism 86—Why Should Believers Do Good Works?
The Heidelberg Catechism is one of the most beloved and well used catechisms to emerge from the sixteenth and seventeenth century Reformation. Published in its final form in 1563, the catechism has been used by millions of Christians to teach the faith . . . Continue reading →
The Idea Of Reverent, Orderly Worship Did Not Begin In The Reformation
A reverent restraint in worship did not begin with the Reformation. Clement of Alexandria in the second century A.D. decried all sorts of revelry in the church, which he called “an inebriating pipe” serving only to arouse the sensuous passions. “For,” he . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 225: From Every Tribe, Tongue, And Nation (3)—Introduction To The Canons Of Dort (3)
In this episode Dr Clark continues the series on the Canons of Dort (1619). The Remonstrant (Arminian) narrative has long been that they are victims of Reformed ecclesiastical aggression. The facts, however, tell a different story. The Arminians had powerful ecclesiastical, political, . . . Continue reading →
Jesus In Gethsemene
The Catechism Was Meant To Be Heard More Than Read
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 →
Heidelminicast: Heidelberg Catechism 85—How Is The Kingdom Of Heaven Open And Shut By Church Discipline?
The Heidelberg Catechism is one of the most beloved and well used catechisms to emerge from the sixteenth and seventeenth century Reformation. Published in its final form in 1563, the catechism has been used by millions of Christians to teach the faith . . . Continue reading →
Repentance Comes From Faith
Believers Repent, Unbelievers Do Not
The Westminster Shorter Catechism has a helpful, biblically-based definition of repentance: Q. 87. What is repentance unto life? A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy . . . Continue reading →
Heidelminicast: Heidelberg Catechism 84—How Is The Kingdom Of Heaven Opened And Shut By Church Discipline?
The Heidelberg Catechism is one of the most beloved and well used catechisms to emerge from the sixteenth and seventeenth century Reformation. Published in its final form in 1563, the catechism has been used by millions of Christians to teach the faith . . . Continue reading →
The Mainline Is Dying
If you aren’t a baby boomer or a student of religious history, it can be hard to fathom the cultural influence and social cohesion that once resided in mainline Protestantism. At its height in 1965, mainline Protestant churches counted 31 million members . . . Continue reading →
Against Berenson: Why Abortion Should Not Be Legal
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 →
Heidelminicast: Heidelberg Catechism 83—What Is The Office Of The Keys?
The Heidelberg Catechism is one of the most beloved and well used catechisms to emerge from the sixteenth and seventeenth century Reformation. Published in its final form in 1563, the catechism has been used by millions of Christians to teach the faith . . . Continue reading →
Trueman: Expressive Individualism LGBTQ Style Comes To Baylor
The news that Baylor University has officially chartered Prism, an LGBT student organization on campus, marks an important moment in Christian higher education in the USA. …The charter itself is interesting. It contains no reference to Christ or Christianity, an odd lacuna . . . Continue reading →
Hammers And Nails (And PCA Overtures)
Prior to the 21st century, it was not uncommon for one’s elders in home, church, or community to have a significant influence on one’s attitudes, beliefs, and general outlook on life. If Marc Prensky was right (I believe he was), this changed . . . Continue reading →
New Resource Page: On Mainline (Liberal) Christianity In North America
The expression “mainline church” is drawn from an old-money neighborhood in Philadelphia known as “the main line.” The mainline churches were what are sometimes called the “tall steeple” church along the mainline. Scholars of American Christianity sometimes speak of the “Seven Sisters . . . Continue reading →
Heidelminicast: Heidelberg Catechism 82—Are The Obviously Impenitent And Unbelieving To Come To The Lord’s Table?
The Heidelberg Catechism is one of the most beloved and well used catechisms to emerge from the sixteenth and seventeenth century Reformation. Published in its final form in 1563, the catechism has been used by millions of Christians to teach the faith . . . Continue reading →
Vos: All Our Works Are Excluded From Justification
Not only the works that we do in our own strength, or that we do before regeneration, or that we do without the merits of Christ, but all works, of whatever sort, are excluded from justification. This is so repetitively certain Scripture . . . Continue reading →
Heidelminicast: We Believe In The Free, Well-Meant Offer Of The Gospel
The Reformed churches confess the well-meant and free-offer of the gospel. Continue reading →
Heidelminicast: Heidelberg Catechism 81—Who Are To Come To The Lord’s Table?
The Heidelberg Catechism is one of the most beloved and well used catechisms to emerge from the sixteenth and seventeenth century Reformation. Published in its final form in 1563, the catechism has been used by millions of Christians to teach the faith . . . Continue reading →
Parachurch or Pastoring (Part 2)
Previously began a discussion about parachurch ministries in relation to the church. The point was to raise a concern about how, frequently, parachurch ministries implicitly, if (perhaps) unintentionally, try to usurp the visible, institutional church’s primary role in God’s plan to save . . . Continue reading →








