The Single’s Training Ground
You have been entered into the marathon. You have been given a number. You have taken your mark. The starting gun has been fired. Uh oh. This particular marathon will prove to be much harder and longer than the norm.…
Tag Christian Living
Music at the GA and the PCA
Does the PCA in general understand the role of music in the worship of the Reformed Church? The answer must be no if our annual experience at the General Assembly gives any indication. What the Reformation revived was the congregational…
Raising Children Well: Baptism as an Expression of Love
Editor’s note: this is part 2 of Raising (Covenant) Children Well. You can read it here. Enjoy and be challenged. Children of believers are to be baptized because they are covenant members, heirs of the promise that God made to be…
Please, Don’t Get Mad at God
As Christians in America, and especially the PCA, are still reeling and grieving with our brothers and sisters at Covenant Presbyterian Church and the Covenant School in Nashville, there is an understandable and appropriate righteous…
Welcome to Ref21!
Welcome to Ref21! It probably sounds strange to be welcomed to a page that you have read for nearly twenty years! Ref21 has been a staple of daily Christian reading for literally thousands of believers. So, why act as if…
Applying the Beatitudes
The Beatitudes, according to Matthew, mark the beginning of Jesus’ public teaching ministry. They are the first things that Jesus emphasized as he proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom. Unlike Moses at Mount Sinai, Jesus began his Sermon on the…
Mercy for Migrants
I was once struck by a brief radio address given by a Jewish Rabbi on the morning of Yom Kippur. She spent the whole time allotted to her talking about Isaiah 58 and how it links to the deliverance of…
Sobriety and the Gospel
In my previous post, I discussed how patience (along with the closely-related virtues of endurance and perseverance) is one of the most valuable Christian virtues in connection to Christian maturity. However, there is another virtue of the Christian life which,…
A Biblical View of Race(s)
The topics of racism, social justice, and racial reconciliation have been hotly debated topics within the Church and on social media for some time now. One of the questions that I have routinely encountered from Christians in these debates concerns…
Patience and Maturity
Over the past several months, I’ve taken a break from regular writing and blogging because I’ve been pondering the importance of Christian maturity. The apostle Paul himself stated that one of the central goals of his ministry was to “present…