Should You Give Yourself Communion At Home?

Joe writes to ask Hi Dr. Clark, My church is currently streaming service online and advocating for family worship at home. They are also encouraging us to get bread and juice/wine and take communion during service hours with our families. Is this . . . Continue reading →

ICYMI: Indulgences Are Still A Thing In Rome (And The Reformation Still Matters)

The Reformation was a complex event, which happened for many reasons but the triggering event on which many have focused over the centuries was Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses (1517). Though provocative, the theses were not themselves all that radical. Luther’s discovery of the . . . Continue reading →

The Church And The Virus: Is This An Acts 5:29 Moment?

Introduction The Covid-19 Shutdown of 2020 has begun to produce a reaction, at least in the USA. Recently we have seen large-scale demonstrations in several states. The various orders issued by governors, mayors, and county executives to restrict movement has produced a . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 151: Christ, Culture, And Covid-19

Heidelcast

The Covid-19 Shutdown of 2020 has begun to produce a reaction, at least in the USA. Recently we have seen demonstrations large and small in several states and particularly here in California. The various orders issued by governors, mayors, and county executives . . . Continue reading →

Coronavirus, Civil Liberties, And Crisis

In California we are in phase 2 of unlocking the public-health lockdown imposed in light of the Coronavirus (Covid-19). One of the costs of the stay-at-home has been a prohibition of all public gatherings. In phase two meetings are now allowed but . . . Continue reading →

Virtual Communion Is Not Communion

There are several reasons why the meal that was in Jesus’ presence which he constituted as the Lord’s Supper cannot be shared across the internet’s bandwidth. First, this Supper is a churchly meal. The Supper that we receive has to be “this . . . Continue reading →

NYT Blames Churches For Spreading Coronavirus, Ignores Protests And Riots

In this morning’s New York Times three staff reporters filed a story datelined “Pendleton, Ore” (odd question—why not use the standard postal abbreviation for Oregon, which has been in use for decades?) and it begins ominously: “Weeks after President Trump demanded that . . . Continue reading →

Between Conscience And Defiance: Questions For Grace Community Church

Introduction Grace Community Church met for worship this past Sunday. Ordinarily that would not be news but we are not living in ordinary times. In order to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the State of California has forbidden churches to meet indoors . . . Continue reading →

Of Masks And The Weaker Brothers

Introduction One of the stranger controversies to emerge in the broader Christian community and within congregations in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic has been over masks, whether the state has the authority to require citizens to wear masks, whether the church . . . Continue reading →

Church Services, Covid-19, Civil Liberties, And The Culture War

Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA has been at the center of a heated theological and cultural controversy over whether churches should abide by public health orders (ostensibly) intended to curb the Coronavirus and if so, how. As previously chronicled in this . . . Continue reading →

A Useful Distinction Regarding Church And State In Our Covid-19 Controversy

For better or worse John MacArthur and Grace Community Church have become the public face of resistance to California’s onerous Covid-19 regulations. They have also become entangled in the culture war over masks and aligned with the Trump administration, since the president . . . Continue reading →

What “Science!” Cannot Do

Science is a tool with limitations. Science does not tell you how you should live your life, and science does not tell politicians what policies they should set. It may and, in many circumstances does, provide helpful information in making such decisions, . . . Continue reading →