Final Thoughts On the United Methodist Church General Conference
In the final act of GC2019 the episcopal leaders of the entire Western Jurisdiction stood to announce they will ignore all that was passed and become even more radical in expanding their agenda.
In the final minutes of General Conference, the delegates managed to pass both the Traditional Plan and a gracious exit plan, but both without the necessary legislation to implement them. The delegates were never allowed the opportunity to vote on that. We are left with a lot of good words, but no one is required... Continue Reading
Can I Pray Imprecatory Prayers?
In Hebrew Wisdom Literature, lament psalms are the individual and corporate cries of God’s people.
At root, an imprecatory psalm is an invocation of divine cursing. Examples of these imprecations include Psalms 5, 6, 35, 69, and 109, all of which are cited in the New Testament. Curse pronouncements are interspersed throughout the biblical canon. For example, Jesus calls down woes of judgment on religious leaders in Matthew 23. Yes. And... Continue Reading
Ordination of Women to the Office of Deacon or Deaconess?
Deacons are servants, but not all who serve are ordained as deacons.
These texts demonstrate diakonos is normally functional and only rarely limited to the definition of a local church office. When it refers to an office, the context makes it clear that meaning is intended as in First Timothy 3 where offices are the subject of the chapter. In other contexts, where church offices are not... Continue Reading
Expository Thoughts: Luke 19v11-27 – Why Do We Have Misplaced Sympathy For The Wicked Servant In The Parable Of The Ten Minas?
We too readily jump to the conclusion that the king is a “harsh master” who expects too much of his servants and treats them appallingly.
Given that the king is clearly meant to stand for God and/or Jesus in the parable this plays into our deep-seated fears that perhaps he is harsh and unfair and will treat us badly. However, this is to read the parable with our cultural eyes, and to miss the real point because of a misplaced... Continue Reading
If It Saves Even One Life
I could think of hundreds of ways we could save more lives than we do.
What is so irritating about it as an argument is that it isn’t really an argument at all. It is more an a prioriassertion. This will save a life and thus it is worth it. Worse, it then casts anyone who demurs as a lover of death and one who is happy to see people killed for the sake of... Continue Reading
The Value of Biography
The best way to learn about leadership is by reading good biography.
In Seven Leaders: Preachers and Pastors (Banner of Truth, 2017), his most recent volume, Murray presents shorter biographical reflections on the following Christian pastors and preachers: John Elias, Andrew Bonar, Archibald Brown, Kenneth MacRae, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, W. J. Grier, and John MacArthur. Much like his previous volume entitled Heroes, this book combines a variety of biographical sketches from... Continue Reading
The Lies of Feminism
What you believe about women and men is not a political issue, it’s a theological one.
What you believe about people—our nature, our purpose—flows from what you believe about God. What the early feminists believed about God’s design for women and men, particularly in how we relate to each other, is still alive today. A quick perusal of the writing of women such as Susan B. Anthony and Emma Goldman tells us that they believed... Continue Reading
The Redeeming Depression of Jesus
There is, in the Bible, both a natural and a spiritual depression.
There is a sinful and a sinless spiritual depression. Again, Ferguson explains, “In the Bible, we can divide melancholy and depression into two categories–there is a melancholy that is natural and there is a melancholy that is spiritual. We then have to divide between a spiritual melancholy that has a holy origin and a spiritual melancholy... Continue Reading
Why Should I Pray?
We pray because we were made to commune with God.
God’s people have been called to prayer from the beginning. In Eden, the Lord walked with and talked to His image bearers. But after they followed Satan’s lies and rebelled against Him, they hid when the Lord showed up. Prayer was, in the most radical way, hindered. Our triune God is a communion of... Continue Reading
Fellowship Presbytery Overtures 47th PCA GA to Commend and Distribute the RPCNA’s ‘Contemporary Perspectives on Sexual Orientation’
Overture 11 from Fellowship Presbytery requests the 47th Presbyterian Church in America General Assembly “Commend and Distribute the RPCNA’s ‘Contemporary Perspectives on Sexual Orientation: A Theological and Pastoral Analysis’”
Fellowship Presbytery approved an overture at its January 26, 2019 Stated Meeting, asking the 47th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America to “Commend and Distribute the [Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America] RPCNA’s ‘Contemporary Perspectives on Sexual Orientation: A Theological and Pastoral Analysis.’” An overture is a means by which a Presbytery can... Continue Reading
