Twisse agreed, as the Reformed confessions stated, that the Lord’s Supper points to the realities of Christ’s death and resurrection, but aren’t the same realities expressed in baptism and in the preaching of Scriptures? If forced to bow to the altar, he could do so, but would also bow to the font and the pulpit.... Continue Reading

What I learned was nothing short of a Copernican revolution in what the Great Commission is and who could fulfill it.  On the first day of my college Greek class, the professor put on the chalkboard a little linguistic nugget to illustrate why knowing the original languages is important.  This has stuck with me ever... Continue Reading

The Creed serves a variety of purposes. By it we confess the faith. It provides a syllabus to catechize in the faith. It provides dialog for the liturgy of worship in celebration of God’s majesty and mercy. The Creed is also missional, holding aloft the banner of the kingdom of God, beckoning to belief and... Continue Reading

The pastor’s role is not to fix, but to minister. It’s not to repair what has been broken, to restore what has been separated, to heal what has been wounded. Rather, the pastor’s job—and his great delight—is to minister. “To minister” is “to tend to” or “to provide.” A father who cuddles his hurting daughter... Continue Reading

In context, an example of how to build a church upon something else is to build it upon someone else. Not understanding how the ministries of Paul, Apollos, and Peter (Cephas) complemented one another, people were dividing themselves as being followers of one or the other (cf. 1 Cor 3:4, 22). They were boasting in... Continue Reading

When people in our congregation meet people from their congregation, they can say with enthusiasm, “Your pastor spoke at our church last month. It was great!” So connections are being formed and strengthened among Christian neighbors, for the good of the kingdom.   It’s easy for reformed churches, and Christians in those churches, to feel... Continue Reading

In 1975 an attempt was made to reopen the matter.  Baldwin Street CRC of Jenison, Michigan submitted an overture to CRC Synod 1975 to have another look at the case.  They argued that the full body of the Synod should have the opportunity to hear both sides of the matter.  The case had never really... Continue Reading

A prayer calls upon a specific God, one who is named. “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” The teaching of the Bible about prayer is full of names. Jesus tells us to pray in His name and to hallow the name of the Father. The Holy Spirit is said to pray... Continue Reading

This piece isn’t about Johnson. It isn’t about Revoice. Or even, in some ways, about the challenges facing the PCA. It is really about our call, as lay members in the PCA, to faithfully exercise our God-given, Book of Church Order confirmed responsibilities to assist our denomination in its submission to God’s authority as given... Continue Reading

I hear or even know of too many men struggling and even failing in ministry. One commonality among them is they were having to go it alone. I think congregations, church planting ministries, and mission boards need to reassess the common ministry paradigm of the singular pastorate.   Clearly history testifies that certain men have... Continue Reading