One of my favorite books. Two of the things that have really helped me grow up spiritually in the last few years have been coming to an understanding of covenant theology as a framework for interpreting the Old Testament, and a right understanding of the relationship of Law and Gospel. Before I discuss matters of […]
I jotted down a couple thoughts during a recent worship service at the local Presbyterian church: Tiny church: you feel alone, like it’s you vs. the world. Big church: you worship God in community, gathered, hundreds of voices together. You don’t feel like it’s “us vs. world”. Driving around downtown Chico on a Lord’s Day
Attributes of a Healthy Church Read More »
Before I discuss the marks of a healthy church, which I will do in my next post, I need to go into some background a little bit. I have a lot of baggage when it comes to churches. Through several years of chaos since experiencing a painful church split a decade ago, and then having
The Marks of an Abusive Church Read More »
A page in the PC(USA) Book of Confessions “[W]e do not approach God’s Word as if we were the first people to read and interpret it. In fact, we draw upon 2,000 years of study, exegesis, reflection, and interpretation that testify to the truths of Scripture.” —Daniel R. Hyde The doctrine of the perspicuity of
Historic Confessions vs. the Contemporary Statement of Faith Read More »
“The great strength of Presbyterianism is its uncanny knack of fostering a fellowship in which people of different viewpoints continue to dialogue.” —David Robert Ord Here is a very concise statement on the nature of the true church: “The true church is one where the Word is rightly preached and the sacraments are rightly administered.”
Diversity and the Nature of the Church Read More »
More than a decade ago, I was part of a church that sent “missionaries” to Scotland to try to show the Presbyterians how to do church, and I went on two such mission trips myself. In the years since, I have come to see that it’s all the rest of us who need to ask
Why not “Mainline”? Read More »
In keeping with the theme of refuting dispensationalism, I wanted to post this link to an article about the secret rapture theory from a Reformed Baptist perspective, written by Brian Schwertley in 1999. He writes, Whenever a Christian encounters a doctrine that has not been taught by anyone in any branch of Christ’s church for
No Christian had any notion of a secret rapture before 1830 Read More »
There’s a whole lot of eschatological fervor out there, with the civil war in Libya, the earthquake in Japan a couple months ago, Harold Camping’s yet-another-failed-prediction of the date and time of Judgment Day, and Obama’s speech on Middle East diplomacy. There are a lot of Evangelicals who are quick to admit that Harold Camping
Against Dispensationalism Read More »
God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under him over the people, for his own glory and the public good; and to this end, hath armed them with the power of the sword, for the defense and encouragement of them that are good, and for the
The Two Kingdoms and the Death of Bin Laden Read More »
I have become a single-issue Republican. It turns out I disagree with the party rank and file about every other issue, however. I support the labor movement. I want home schooling to be outlawed. I want my children to learn about evolution and the Big Bang. I want PBS and NPR to stay on the
Single-Issue Politics Read More »