“He who cannot lift a great stone, let him leave it lying and lift what he can.” — Martin Luther Over the years, I have wondered whether the book of Ecclesiastes was a hypothetical statement of what the world would be like if there was no God or no resurrection. Some people take that perspective [...]
Archive for April 2011
Ecclesiastes
Saturday, April 30, 2011All You Need to Know About a PCA Presbytery Meeting
Friday, April 29, 2011Central Carolina overtures 39th General Assembly to withdraw the membership of the PCA from the National Association of Evangelicals
Friday, April 29, 2011Central Carolina presbytery voted this week to send an overture to the 39th General Assembly to withdraw the membership of the PCA from the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). The NAE describes itself this way: Ours is both a unified and diverse body, bringing together Calvinist, Arminian, Wesleyan, Anabaptist and Charismatic traditions. Together we stand [...]
A Missional Manifesto
Friday, April 29, 2011I don’t really know what made Ed Stetzer, Alan Hirsch, Tim Keller, and others feel the need for a “missional manifesto,” but apparently they did. I always get a little nervous, though, when I hear someone say something like they did, “Missional represents a significant shift in the way we understand the church.” What do [...]
What Is a Family Integrated Church?
Thursday, April 28, 2011By Pastor Shawn C. Mathis Is your Christian education based upon evolutionary and secular thinking? It is if your church practices the usual age-segregated Sunday school according to a new church movement. The family-integrated church movement, primarily within the homeschooling community, is a self-conscious challenge to classic Christian nurture. It has already affected some Reformed [...]
Logan Almy teaches on prayer at New Covenant
Wednesday, April 27, 2011We began our presbytery meeting informally tonight with Bible teaching by Pastor Logan Almy from Duluth, MN. He spoke on Daniel 9, discussing Daniel’s prayer of confession. He brought out seven principles from the prayer that we can use in praying for spiritual renewal. We need to pray with an open Bible. We need to [...]
Principles for Worship
Wednesday, April 27, 2011If we want to worship God correctly, we must understand the general requirements of His Word. Oftentimes people debate on specific elements of worship when they do not agree on the principles. I suggest the following principles as a good summary of what the Bible teaches on worship: Since the Holy Scriptures are the only [...]
Apples and Oranges: Missouri Presbytery and the General Assembly Reports on Federal Vision
Wednesday, April 27, 2011While reading the most recent exoneration of TE Meyers, I noticed references to Missouri Presbytery’s 2006 report (2006 MOP report) on Federal Vision. This paragraph in particular made me want to go back and look at the General Assembly report on Federal Vision (2007 GA report) and compare it to the 2006 MOP report: In other [...]
Terry Jones almost strikes again; evangelicals respond
Wednesday, April 27, 2011Terry Jones has sparked another controversy with his attempt to protest the Islamic Center of America Mosque in Dearborn, Michigan. After receiving national and international attention for his burning of a Qur’an, Jones has brought his protest against Islam to Michigan. In an effort to prevent further controversy, a Michigan judge, Mark Somers, has refused [...]
Introduction to Reformed Scholasticism now available
Tuesday, April 26, 2011A couple of months ago, I announced that Introduction to Reformed Scholasticism was going to be released and that it would serve as a great introduction to Reformed theological history. It is now available for purchase here. I was going to let you know that it was available, but I wanted to wait until I [...]
The Best Locale for a Siouxlands Presbytery Meeting
Tuesday, April 26, 2011Far and away, the best place to have a presbytery meeting in Siouxlands Presbytery (which includes North and South Dakota and Minnesota) is Spearfish, SD at New Covenant Presbyterian Church (where I pastor). It is the best locale because Spearfish is one of the most beautiful towns in the three states. It is surrounded by [...]
Reasons not to Attend The Thorn Passion Play
Tuesday, April 26, 2011My friend Shawn Mathis, Pastor of Providence OPC in Denver, CO regularly writes an article for The Denver Examiner. Many in Denver are attending a new Passion Play, The Thorn. Pastor Mathis explains why this is the wrong way to promote the Gospel: The best summary of the problem is taken from New Life church. [...]
The BioLogos Foundation
Monday, April 25, 2011When I was reading Peter Enns’ books and the related articles in preparation for writing my review of his Bible curriculum, I ran across several mentions of the BioLogos Foundation. After doing some additional research, I discovered that Dr. Enns is listed as a “missionary” for his work with the BioLogos Forum. This made me [...]
Erskine faculty members call on administration to deal decisively with deviations from the doctrine of inerrancy
Sunday, April 24, 2011Over the past couple years, there has been a controversy over the doctrine of Scripture’s inerrancy at Erskine Theological Seminary and College. Over the past few months, I have published a summary of the issues between the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP) and Erskine here. I also highlighted the inerrancy issue here. We continue our [...]
Joint Worship Services
Sunday, April 24, 2011We have three PCA churches in the Black Hills. All three started about the same time, and we are close. One way we have fostered unity in the area is by having joint worship services about four times a year. Two weeks ago, we held a joint worship service at Black Hills Community Church and [...]
Raised for Our Justification
Sunday, April 24, 2011Rom. 4:25 tells us that Jesus was raised for our justification. Paul usually associates justification with Christ’s death. However, our justification is closely connected with Jesus’ resurrection. I like to point this out because many think of the resurrection primarily as related to our bodily or resurrection or our regeneration. While also true, we will [...]
Worst Good Friday message ever
Saturday, April 23, 2011From Detroit News: “Over 2,000 years ago, a crucifixion occurred — Jesus’,” said the Rev. Kenneth James Flowers of the Michigan Progressive Baptist Convention. “Now some 2,000 years later, our Muslim brothers and sisters are being crucified by one Pastor Terry Jones.”
Our Inward Sickness
Saturday, April 23, 2011by Brian Carpenter My sister-in-law got remarried not too long ago. Her new husband seems like a good man, and we have high hopes that their marriage will be a good one. Her first marriage was deeply unhappy and she was grievously sinned against in it. My wife had to shop for a wedding gift, [...]
2007 Report on Federal Vision, New Perspective and Auburn Avenue Theology
Thursday, April 21, 2011While reading the most recent MOP report, I thought it would be good to go back and re-read the 2007 report on Federal Vision. Here are some quotes that I found pertinent to the Meyers discussion: We further recognize that there are a variety of viewpoints among FV teachers and writers. For example, some hold [...]