Reformation21

I realize that there is a spectrum of opinion and conviction amongst the readership of Ref21. There are those in the Reformed orbit who are entirely opposed to singing hymns in corporate worship, to say nothing of any sort of acknowledgment of anything even vaguely approximating the liturgical...

December can be a hard month. It does not lack for jolly opportunities. People hang cheerful lights to brighten the early nights. Families gather together. We are surrounded by reminders of Christ’s birth and the blessing that he brings. We might sing special songs in church. We listen to Handel’s...

Thanks to social media, everyone that has an opinion can post it as authoritative without any thought to who is on the receiving end. Many times, those without any education (formal or informal) on a particular topic are the ones who hold the strongest convictions. Too often, sites like Twitter and...

The people of Israel were starving. Their land was rich, but their enemies devoured the produce (Judges 6:4). A young man named Gideon summed up the crisis: “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” (6:13). That is the problem of evil. And it is one of the most obvious...

"The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it." – Proverbs 22:3 Our children are some of the first to grow up in what is indisputably a post-Christian American society. Their peers are overwhelmingly likely to indulge sexual immorality, and unlikely to succeed...

You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. — Augustine As James K. A. Smith reminds us in You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit , Augustine’s prayer reveals several aspects about the human condition. First, human beings are made by and for the...

Apologetics requires certainty and confidence. Its basic purpose is conquering doubts cast on the Christian faith. But what about the doubts of Christians? How do we defend a faith that we are not always certain of? Doubt is not a virtue; it is a serious problem. Doubt is dishonorable. God wants us...

I have argued that our worship should glorify God and edify the Christian community . To that end, our songs need to be biblically based, yet also crafted in a way that promotes the active participation of the congregation. I have already offered some of my own opinions on how that is best achieved...

Have you ever spread Marmite on toast? It's a British condiment made from yeast left over from beer brewing. It is dark, thick, and sticky, like a savory molasses. Marmite is hailed as the superhero of sandwich spreads because it’s bursting with vitamin B. Over the past century, it has come to the...

“Honor your father and mother... that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” Few things seem more American than rebelling against authority. After all, that’s how we started as a country, right? Leaving aside lengthy historical and...