The First Reformed Website on the Block

When Matt and I married, we were searching for a church. Heck, we were searching for a denomination. Matt was raised in the Roman Catholic church, and I was raised in the Southern Baptist denomination. When we met, I was still in college, and Matt was just in his second year as a school teacher (that all-important year for tenure). Both of us had strayed away from church and reached a point where we wanted to learn more about our confession. One thing was for sure, neither of us had been living by it very well. And providentially, God had been working on us before we met. We both grew tired of sowing our wild oats, as they call it, and were convicted to “know what we believe and why we believe it” (as The White Horse Inn puts it). Matt and I had a lot to talk about as we began dating. One thing I knew was that I wasn’t a Roman Catholic. Turns out, neither was Matt. But I thought I had a good grasp on the basics, at least. Actually, I had a hold on a few popular evangelical catch phrases and a long way to go for a mature understanding of God’s Word. Finding a church can be very tough. When I graduated and we married, it became discouraging. But the Lord is good, and he used each church experience for our growth in the faith. When we finally settled in a church that we felt was faithful to Scripture, Matt and I became active members with many questions as we were growing and serving. Many. Questions. Sometimes the pastor would just laugh at my questions, like I was starting to get too theological on him. But at this time, he had also asked me to lead a women’s Bible study and I was taking that responsibility pretty seriously. Maybe he wasn’t aware of what can happen when you get a bunch of women together to study God’s Word. During this time, I was reading scads of books from Christians, dead and alive. Some of the women in my Bible study did not go to my church. I quickly noticed that not all of the books that they were reading were helpful. As a matter of fact, some of them were damning. Many different ideas about God were gathering together in my house, and were expressed while we aimed to study God’s Word together. And then there were plenty of great questions that would come up that I just wasn’t equipped to answer. I found that I had some research to do. That’s when I found a gem: monergism.com. In hindsight, it is pretty amazing how much of an impact the resources on that website had on my theological growth. Monergism was the jackpot for many of my questions. Soon enough, my husband and I were gaining more understanding of the faith. We were also realizing that while our church was filled with some pretty amazing people, there were some important doctrines that were not being taught there. We very much appreciated how God had used the church we were in for his glory and our sanctification, but we also knew that what we had been learning about Reformed worship was not ever going to be enjoyed with that church family. Discovering the Cambridge Declaration, put out by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, was another confirmation for us, bringing clarity to biblical worship. Finally, we had a much clearer idea of what to look for in a church. Matt and I were not raised in the Reformed heritage (although I am very thankful for the Christian home and church I was raised in). When we encountered God’s sovereignty and outworking of salvation in our Scripture reading, we had no systematic teaching that informed us of the doctrines of grace. We had no covenantal understanding of God’s promises. Thankfully, we did have a firm grip on the inerrancy of Scripture, and though I didn’t have a theological term for it, I think we had a pretty good handle on the analogy of faith when it came to Scripture reading. And, of course, we had the Holy Spirit illuminating God’s Word to us. There are many people like Matt and I, who discover the Reformed doctrines in Scripture as adults. This is where the special neighborhood of Reformed bloggage and websites are so special. And this is also why many have become bloggers themselves. Tim Challies is another pioneer on the block, publically journaling through the process of his own theological growth, while pointing to great articles, resources, and providing discerning book reviews for his readers. But Monergism was the first Reformed website of its kind on the block. And the guy behind it all, John Hendryx, has been quietly plugging away since 2001. It was just around that time that I had discovered this refuge for all of my questions that people didn’t seem to want to answer, or have an answer for. I credit this website to helping Matt and I find a church. Monergism is still going strong, and it just got a facelift. Check it out here, or pay it a revisit. The neighborhood of the Christian blogosphere has now grown to be quite massive, even on Reformed Street. It can be a great resource and place to just hang-out if used with proper discernment. There are some neighborly, as well as some protective measures that we should take when we are visiting. For one thing, it’s good to travel with a friend. The internet should never substitute for church. It’s more like a front porch than a home. So, wave to those who go by, be hospitable, and don’t get into any strange, white vans. And keep the streets clean.