“The government has now re-written the ‘safe harbor’ guidelines three times in seven months, and is evidently in no hurry to defend the HHS mandate in open court…By moving the goalposts yet again, the government managed to get Wheaton’s lawsuit dismissed on purely technical grounds. This leaves unresolved the question of religious liberty at the heart of the lawsuit.”

None of these hopes are unique to the FOP and ECO. All of these hopes exist in the current PCUSA and are openly expressed at other events like NEXT church, a similar in-gathering of Presbyterians who are theologically progressive. What radically differentiates the FOP and ECO from other efforts is the culture they are seeking... Continue Reading

It is interesting that so many of the men who promote the Federal Vision do so with the express intent of addressing the problem of assurance. The contention of these Federal Vision writers is that many Reformed and Presbyterian church members suffer from a lack of assurance that stems from morbidly introspective self-examination. The reason, say the Federal Vision men, that some Christians engage routinely in such unproductive self-examination is that their view of the faith is overly subjective.

When I was in college I struggled a lot with being holy and being funny. Now, those who know me best may wonder if I’m particularly adroit with either virtue. But stick with me for a minute.

And last week’s lightning at York, as the Church of England continued to debate the ordination of female bishops, will do the same. We actually don’t need a bolt of lightning to tell us that such debates within the Church are debates about the nature of God and the status of the Bible.

Clement believed that music could build (or destroy) character. The pagans of his day sang at banquets and at domestic dinner tables. In the years before "church music" was invented, music had a place in the Christian home—as a way to welcome guests, to unite husband and wife in the same melodies, and to improve the character of the whole household.

Everywhere I was called on to preach weekly, I prepared content three or four weeks ahead of time. This allowed truths to marinate in my own heart and become more deeply and practically understood. On the week of the sermon, I preached it aloud to myself many times. In doing so both my understanding of the passage and the creative ways it would be communicated deepened and developed.

The easiest way to summarize the Bible’s teaching on sexuality is to begin with God’s blessing of sex only within the marriage covenant between a man and a woman. Then, just remember that sex outside of that covenant relationship, whatever its form or expression, is explicitly forbidden

Millennials are King David’s anti-type---they don’t own a house and can’t quite see why they should help God to have one, either.

Jonathan Rovetto, who lost his job for sticking up for Brittany Koper on Facebook, has made up his mind: He said Koper "had nothing to gain and everything to lose." Others are waiting to see what the courts decide, mindful of what both the Bible and Charles Dickens teach: Most parties tend to lose money, reputation, or both during protracted legal battles.