Some suggest that a Christian can attend a same-sex ceremony merely as a “spectator” or a “well-wisher” of the individuals rather than a ratifier of the institution. This is to introduce a fatal logical contradiction. This defense attempts to separate the person from the event, but under closer theological and linguistic scrutiny, the logic completely... Continue Reading

During his long PCA career, Smartt served as a pastor and later held roles with Mission to the World and Mission to North America. He also became a catalyst for a unique evangelistic strategy that was replicated by a number of other denominations and ministries.   PCA founding father Kennedy Smartt died on Thursday, October... Continue Reading

In our fast-paced, instant-gratification world where waiting an extra 10 seconds for our video to load seems like an eternity, the difficult ministry of making disciples seems antiquated, unproductive, and inefficient. Similar to parenting, the daily grind seems endless even as the behaviour of our children seems to be regressing. The harder we try, the... Continue Reading

In surveying the historical context of the Westminster Confession, we are given fresh reasons to praise the sovereignty and wisdom of our God. What arose out of a period of political and religious division, God has used as one of the most unifying theological confessions in the world. Today there are men and women, boys... Continue Reading

Covenants operate on a series of promises and conditions. The parties enter into some sort of agreement, ratify the agreement, and agree on stipulated outcomes if the covenanting parties uphold their agreement, or if they fail to do so. In other words (to use biblical language), there are promised blessings for covenantal obedience, and promised... Continue Reading

The evangelical Bishop of Ebbsfleet, Rob Munro, has defended remaining within the Church of England…Meanwhile, William Taylor, Rector of St Helen’s Bishopsgate, has questioned whether evangelicals should be associated with CofE bishops that he regards as false teachers. Preaching a sermon from Titus 3, Taylor asked, ‘How can you possibly be allowing somebody who is... Continue Reading

When a magazine like The Economist comes right out and says that couples ought to be able to screen embryos for IQ, we are entering uncharted moral territory. What is an acceptable IQ? An IQ good enough one day to write for The Economist, or maybe just enough to read and subscribe? This is scary... Continue Reading

In Old Testament times, not even a naturally born Israelite could take part in the Passover without first being circumcised (Exod. 12:43-49). In the New Testament era, only a baptized person should be allowed to participate in the Lord’s supper. Baptism serves as the sacrament of entrance into the fellowship of confessing believers, and the... Continue Reading

Nicene Creed is the one Creed that all Christians agree on, even if they do not confess it as a Creed in their local settings. That would not surprise the members of the Council of Nicaea, since they simply believed the Creed was the same faith that all Christians up till that time confessed. The... Continue Reading

Communion is a whole church gathering event.  Not home groups.  Not family groups, not for groups of friends.  To share communion like that is actually a denial of what communion symbolises. But we also need to guard against becoming too familiar with this meal and its symbolism. There’s a danger of that happening for us... Continue Reading

When we suffer, we can—and should—cry out to our sovereign God to relieve our pain and remove the source of our suffering. But God did not answer Paul’s prayer in the way Paul expected. Sometimes we think that if we do not receive a specific answer from God in the time we want, God is... Continue Reading

Paul the apostle could have become the greatest teacher and leader in the religious/political life of his own Jewish people, but he said, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”... Continue Reading

I am not told to bear it alone, but rather to cast it into stronger arms. Arms that never tire. Strength that never wanes. He is the Rock. He is the true bearer of burdens. Christ is the man who has borne the heaviest thing. He has borne our sins in His own body on... Continue Reading

When Christ commissions Paul, he tells Ananias exactly what Paul’s ministry will involve: “He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Notice that: kings. From the beginning, Paul’s calling was to bring the name of Jesus Christ to those who... Continue Reading

Just as we were not created to be alone, we were not saved to be alone. The issue that Paul was dealing with in the Corinthian church was not an issue of some members neglecting the local gathering, but what he tells them in correction of their problem applies to this one as well. One... Continue Reading

Understanding the history of human societies is part of God’s design for how we tend and keep his creation and fill the earth with civilization that glorifies him. And this understanding isn’t limited to professional historians. The Bible calls us all to do the priestly work of stewarding the past. On the one hand, this... Continue Reading

Paul connects truthfulness with our new identity in Christ: “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another” (Ephesians 4:25). Similarly, he writes, “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:9).  ... Continue Reading

God brings glory to himself in our lives by sanctifying us—by making us more like Jesus Christ in the inner man so we can act more like Jesus in the outer man. God means to have a witness in this world, and though Christ has ascended, he has left us here to act as his... Continue Reading

When Paul wrote his letters, many of the issues he dealt with were not outlined in the Old Testament Scriptures he had in front of him. He wrote about meat sacrificed to idols, about speaking in tongues, and about a man who slept with his stepmother, none of which were dealt with directly in another... Continue Reading

Do you give your mind a chance to free itself from the shock and horror of the news, the way in which advertising infects you with envy, and the banality of much of modern culture? As never before in human history, our minds are under assault.     So, what do you think about? What... Continue Reading