Questions for those who attended the recent PCA “Meeting of Understanding”
It appears – on the surface at least – that just about all of these alleged rifts/tensions continue to revolve around the issue of subscription and that those who were among the complainers appear to not want to be measured by our current confessional standards. Not having been among those invited to attend, I was... Continue Reading
The Gospel In An Abortion Culture
As the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision approaches, most Christians recognize, and rightly so, the loss of millions of unborn human lives. What we often forget is the second casualty of an abortion culture: the consciences of countless men and women. Too often, pastors and church leaders assume that, when talking... Continue Reading
Grieving Well
In the weeks and months following my wife, Fawn’s death, I became increasingly convinced that God might have made a mistake in taking her – it should have been me I previously posted an article in The Aquila Report when my wife of 32 years, Fawn, passed away in June, 2010, called “Hitting a Stone... Continue Reading
Response to David Fitch on Mark Driscoll and the Neo-Reformed Movement
Hence, hierarchical male leadership is biblical; and while it CAN be improperly implemented so as to inhibit outward reach, that is not necessarily the case, but can be just what the church needs in furthering the work of revival and reformation in a post-Christendom world David Fitch at Reclaiming the Mission in a post entitled... Continue Reading
The difference between a lecture and a sermon
How does this sermon, as currently written/prepared, move my people’s affections in such ways that they will love Christ more as a result of hearing this?” I just finished writing my Sunday sermon on 1 Samuel 18. A few weeks ago, I began working through the life of David, beginning in 1 Samuel 16 and... Continue Reading
Hope for the PC(USA)? Perception Is Not Reality…. (Part 2)
I am offended by the implication in this paragraph that those committed to staying in the PCUSA are truly following God’s will, and those contemplating leaving are in danger of missing it. Yesterday I began a response to an open letter from “the Chicago eight” concerning the future status of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The... Continue Reading
What I Learned From My Dutch Reformed Brethren
As it is at present we have, in effect, taken on a new method of Confessional revision. We no longer insist that our Confession and Catechisms unambiguously state what we as a church unitedly believe, so that the words of our confession themselves are subordinately authoritative … Now the doctrinal authority seems more and more... Continue Reading
Academic Freedom and Confessional Integrity: A Delicate Dance
“I do believe that the things we are wrestling with show that we take the confessions more seriously than a lot of CRC congregations that have been hijacked by a generic mega-church evangelical mentality where the confessions are not a living document,” he said. “You can’t just trot out confessions when you want to put... Continue Reading
Faith vs. Religion?
While it’s certainly easy to understand why some speak of religion in a pejorative way, we must be careful to use words in their appropriate contexts in accordance with their historical definitions In our day, unlike in the days of generations past, we have much too simplistic a view of what it means to believe... Continue Reading
The New Fundamentalists – From classrooms to bureaucracies, liberals keep making new rules for people’s lives
They’d be startled to hear it, of course. But many of today’s liberals—whether sociological, political, economic, or even theological—have become the fundamentalists of our generation. The term “fundamentalist,” I fully understand, is not usually considered a compliment. And I don’t mean it as a compliment here. But, in fact, to call someone a fundamentalist has... Continue Reading