The Danger of Preaching Biblical Truth, Yet Missing Christ
Preaching bare moral truths (moralisms) often drives people away from fellowship with Christ.
When ethical and moral imperatives are proclaimed as sufficient, even abstracted from Jesus, the result is a crossless Christianity in which the central message becomes an exhortation to live according to god’s rules. Satan does not mind expository preaching — as long as it misses the main point of God’s Word. In fact, Satan... Continue Reading
‘A Living Martyr’: Daniel of the Year
Held in Turkey on charges of espionage and terrorism, facing a life sentence for doing the work of the church, American Pastor Andrew Brunson’s dramatic release was the work of high-powered diplomacy and prevailing prayer.
The first year of his imprisonment was full of fear and grief over the uncertainties. He suffered over separation from his family and from Christian fellowship. “If I’d been let out after the first year, I’d have been lying on the floor, curled in a fetal position with PTSD,” Brunson confessed. “The second year God... Continue Reading
Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation’s David Powlison Has Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer
Powlison, the executive director of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation, has revealed following major surgery that he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
“I desire with all my heart that Psalm 112:6-7 will be formed at the very center of who Nan and I are individually and together. The sense of weakness and need is a gift from God. It makes us realize we need Him, we need all of His mercy to us, and we need people... Continue Reading
Candle in the Dark: Robert Copeland on the RPCNA’s Anti-Slavery History
A well-researched, fascinating history of the involvement, accounts, and teachings of Reformed Presbyterian ministers and members in their work to see American chattel slavery overthrown.
The Covenanters mounted a witness against the sin of slavery unlike any other in both North and South. First, their antislavery ideals antedated even the Quaker abolitionist movement; Covenanters were some of the first people in Britain or America to take a public stand against the institution. In a class in my congregation, we... Continue Reading
Allan Bloom’s Six Ways That Universities Corrupt the Youth
After the American Civil War, which challenged the dominant Protestant Christian faith, colleges and universities began to break away from religious moorings and higher education underwent a process of secularization.
A society in which citizens believe that truth is relative, or one with a significant number of citizens who deny that truth can be known and taught, will be susceptible to greater forces that use power to achieve their own goals. For that reason, Bloom writes with what can only be called frustration that “there... Continue Reading
The Deceitfulness of Riches: 3 Lies Money Tells
There are at least three big lies people believe about money. And if we aren’t careful, even Christians can fall prey to these fiscal falsehoods.
Money is a gift, it is a stewardship, and how we use it matters. But, it is not the ultimate goal of life. Setting our focus on acquiring earthly riches is pathetically short-sighted in light of eternity. We aren’t to be anxious about money or the things it provides. Instead, our Lord said, “But seek... Continue Reading
The Statement on SJ&G Explained: Article 10, Sexuality and Marriage
God's Word calls us to the upward spiral of life that is based upon the gospel and God's revelation of His purposes in creation.
In direct contrast to the spirit of the age the statement affirms the goodness of the so-called “male-female binary.” Maleness is not something that is “toxic,” but something good and right and necessary in God’s design. Likewise to be a female is to be created by God with a good, proper, and beautiful purpose. ... Continue Reading
Finding Eternal Subordination of The Son In The Oddest Places
Barrs brings a twist to ESS that I’ve never seen before. In his formulation, the Father, Son, and Spirit are equal in authority, but there’s still a hierarchy of headship.
Interestingly, Barrs brings a twist to ESS that I’ve never seen before. In his formulation, the Father, Son, and Spirit are equal in authority, but there’s still a hierarchy of headship. As I’ve written before, there are many, many books that teach eternal subordination of the Son (ESS). Books for women, books for children, even notes... Continue Reading
The Statement on SJ&G Explained: Article 9, Heresy
This is the ninth post in a series of posts where the authors of "The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel" expound upon the statement's affirmations and denials.
One of the things that most alarms us as the initial signatories of the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel (and the nearly 10,000 others who have signed as of this writing) is that within the evangelical social justice movement (heretofore ESJ) we are seeing and hearing some of the same arguments that swayed... Continue Reading
When Atheists Lack the Courage of Their Convictions
A philosopher subjects atheism to the sort of scrutiny normally reserved for religion.
He is as exasperated with knee-jerk unbelief as he is with unthinking devotion, and has no time for several of the types of atheism he enumerates. All of them look to replace God with some form of secular humanism, science or politics. Their high priests tend to be just as blinkered as the ecclesiastics they... Continue Reading
