Reformation21

When considering the qualifications for elders, “able to teach” is often recognized as the one qualification uniquely required for the office (1 Tim. 3:2, Tit. 1:9). Certainly, the unique role of elders centers on “the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). But another qualification is often missed or...

‘After the hymn, the minister will ascend the stairs into the pulpit for the Scripture reading, pastoral prayer, and sermon.’ What role does the physical pulpit have in a local church? For most of my life, I attended churches where the pulpit was moved around, wheeled in, carried out, or was a...

Imagine a young man meets a woman on a dating website. He sees her picture and is infatuated, but upon meeting her things don’t go well. She says she doesn’t like baseball, but the man does, so he insists that she does too. She says she prefers nights in, but the man is convinced that she actually...

There’s an old trope that gets applied to a lot of different subjects, “It’s both an art and a science.” Whether the skill in question is drilling wells, acting, or writing fiction, this is a way of conveying that there are objective, mechanical aspects that can be taught and learned by most anyone...

I shouted over the many voices crammed into the Twin Lakes cafeteria, “I went to Covenant!” The man was likely the same age as me and looked very confused by this answer. “How did you end up here?” I am sure he meant well. I know exactly why he was confused. The seminary/denominational tribalism...

In the early hours of June 21 st 1957, a stream of FBI agents burst into Rudolph Abel’s apartment and arrested him on charges of spying for the Soviet Union. At that time the Cold War was nearing its boiling point. Overseas, Americans had been killed fighting the gangrenous spread of communism. At...

The prayers of a Sunday morning service offer a perfect context to encourage both gratitude for the Sabbath and renewed ambitions for the Lord’s day. If you are a pastor or elder seeking to encourage thoughtfulness about the fourth commandment, perhaps consider a sampling from these suggestions –...

Do you have an evening service at your church? Is so, and especially if you are a Reformed pastor or elder, you’ll likely be wanting to encourage better attendance at your church’s Sunday evening service. Many of the Young, Restless and Reformed that entered the Reformed churches ten years ago are...

Justification by faith alone. Sounds simple enough, and in some respects it is. In the PCA we admit people into membership who acknowledge they are sinners and trust in Christ alone for salvation. In a certain sense, we are requiring that they understand the doctrine of justification. But we are...

Most American Christians are aware that it is an ancient heresy to say that Jesus was man but not God (Arianism); less are aware that there were just as many heretics who promoted the opposite error: that Jesus was God but not man (Gnosticism). The reason Gnostics denied that God became fully man...