Being nice or civil is now a sign of weakness. Having friends across the aisle is too. We can’t turn the other cheek or love our neighbors if they disagree with us. Loving our neighbors who are gay now means we have . . . Continue reading →
Twofold Kingdom
Godfrey On Being Disestablished
We Reformed conservatives need to become missionaries in our mentality. Missionaries recognize that they are not established. They do not have power. They must understand a new culture and learn to communicate with it. They depend on the Spirit to persuade their . . . Continue reading →
Preach God’s Word, Not That Of The Silly Vassal
Megan Basham caused a stir a few weeks ago with her article exposing the Federal Government’s use of Evangelical influencers to spread COVID talking points. In interviews with multiple Evangelical Thought Leaders, National Institute of Health Director Francis Collins called on pastors . . . Continue reading →
What’s A Commissioner To Do?
Incredibly, the Governor of Iowa has nominated me for a place on a statewide commission.1 My nomination is pending confirmation by the state senate in April. It is an out of the way, low level commission. The stakes are low. There won’t . . . Continue reading →
Who Needs The Church In A Post-Christian World? Christ Reformed DC’s Spring Speaker Series
It is rare to have a United States Senator speak at a church conference. It is even more rare for the Senator to have something theologically interesting to say. On Thursday evening, March 31, Senator Ben Sasse will speak at Christ Reformed Church . . . Continue reading →
Sasse: The Church Is An Embassy
To Those Who Left
The obvious effects of Covid are easy to spot. Not only have millions died, but also many have long-term illness from the virus, and an unknown number of people are suffering from the various treatments. There are small children who do not . . . Continue reading →
Sean Moore: Serving Christ In The Secular Sphere By Serving His Neighbors
Sean Discovers The Reformed Confession
Sean Michael Moore (BA, University of San Diego) is a native of and Mayor-elect of Hollywood Park, TX. He has been a businessman for 25 years and has served as a member of the city council in Hollywood Park. He is married . . . Continue reading →
The Integralist Abandonment Of Classical Liberalism: The Quiet Revolution
As much as the debates in Commonweal and the Times revealed that Roman Catholics were not of the same mind about the church’s relationship to modern society, those disputes were mild compared to a revival of antiliberalism from Roman Catholic intellectuals. In . . . Continue reading →
Review: Estelle, The Primary Mission Of The Church (Mentor, 2022)
Western culture is ripping apart, to varying degrees depending on the country, over issues of social justice and cultural welfare. That increasing pressure has also often included the advocates of various social causes demanding assent from everyone else. This no exception approach to ideological uniformity has also often affected the church, as proponents of cultural issues impose their views upon us as another institution that must get in line with secular orthodoxy. Continue reading →
On The Limits Of Winsomeness
And I started to recognize another danger to this approach: If we assume that winsomeness will gain a favorable hearing, when Christians consistently receive heated pushback, we will be tempted to think our convictions are the problem. If winsomeness is met with . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 227: Is Distinguishing Between The Two Spheres Of God’s Kingdom “Radical”?
Recently someone posted some criticisms of what they characterize as “radical two kingdom” theology or R2K. What are we talking about? In the 16th and 17th centuries our classic Reformed theologians regularly distinguished between “two kingdoms.” This way of talking was not controversial . . . Continue reading →
God Is Sovereign Over His Twofold Kingdom
God is sovereign over his twofold kingdom and he administers it in two distinct spheres. Continue reading →
Christendom Was A Renewal Of The Old Testament Theocracy
In terms of the relationship between Church and State the policies so far mentioned and the reactions to them may be classified between two extremes. There was the ‘totalitarian’ view set forth by Eusebius, caricatured by Athanasius picture of Constantius shouting ‘Let . . . Continue reading →
Understanding The Times: Did Christianity Become Marginal In America In 2014?
To refresh, my framework posits that during the period of secularization post-1965, America has passed through three distinct phases or worlds in terms of how secular culture views Christianity. Positive World (Pre-1994). Christianity was viewed positively by society and Christian morality was still . . . Continue reading →
Join The King’s Army Today
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 →
Christian, Get Involved
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 →
Heidelcast For July 3, 2022: A Mailbag Episode
During Dr Clark’s summer trip to Nebraska the mailbag (and Heideltext inbox) filled up so what was supposed to be an episode on the Canons of Dort became a Q&A episode. Never fear. The episode for next week returns to the Canons. . . . Continue reading →
Millennials And The Fallout Of Post-Political Evangelicalism
Young Evangelicals, we are told, leave the faith because Evangelicals have changed political and social behaviors. There is little evidence for that. What evidence that is offered—Trump’s supposed popularity—is more evidence of Evangelicals not changing their political habits than of them changing. . . . Continue reading →
Pseudo-Masculinity And The Qualities Of The Kingdom
Rather than being formed by the King of heaven, it can be tempting to soak up hours of the Joe Rogan podcast or to become imitators of Jordan Peterson. Rather than living out the ethical qualities of the kingdom (Matt. 5-7), some . . . Continue reading →