Third ways don’t work either. It may sound like a brilliant compromise to deploy another study committee, but this merely kicks the can down the road. It says “pass” on the crisis, only to push the crisis into someone else’s lap a few years later. The denomination must fish or cut bait. It must decide what it really believes.

The 2kers I know are not afraid of engaging the culture. We do so daily in the variety of callings God has granted. The fears that lurk around 2k are those of its critics who seem to be afraid that the kingdom will not come without the culture wars or the redemption of “all things.”... Continue Reading

If the freedom of worship assault against freedom of religion succeeds, creed-motivated philanthropic and service organizations such as the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, and religiously sponsored schools, hospitals, nursing homes, pregnancy counseling centers, etc., will be forced to choose between acting contrary to their faith and closing their doors.

The Book of Confessions, though the primary part of our Constitution (as recognized by our Book of Order, which is the secondary part of our Constitution) no longer stands over the Book of Order, but rather holds the position of a quaint museum piece of what our forebearers once believed.

Are Christians lacking a well-worded way to present Christ’s teachings on homosexuality to our modern culture? We’ve been in this battle for four decades. It’s time to get our talking points in order and face this issue, that clearly cannot be avoided, head on. Perhaps just speaking the truth in charity and leaving the outcome to the Holy Spirit is all that is necessary.

But on that last shot, I shot a 10 to my opponent’s 9, winning the match and getting bonus points for the score. This moved me into 4th place, and I became the alternate for the U.S. Olympic Team. Now I would have loved to have been able to compete in Beijing, but I knew I was right where God wanted me, and, as a result, I was very content.

People who disclose sin, especially when they probably would not be caught, are inspiring because the Spirit is obvious in them. They are motivated by the Lord more than the praise and opinions of people, and that is a sight to behold. But we have to do more than admire the work of Christ in them—they will need help.

To put the matter in blunt, judicial terms: you can tell a church's real confessional standards, theological and moral, by looking at the minutes of disciplinary proceedings and seeing what the church disciplines people for teaching or doing. When a church's procedures are uncoupled from orthodoxy, the game is more or less over

We need to be careful of saying “Just believe,” because what we’re really saying is, “Believe because I say so.” That sounds like a Nietzschean power play. That’s very different from Paul, who reasoned, argued, and proved in the book of Acts, and from Peter, who called us to give the reason for our hope in 2 Peter 3:15

In the name of your own interests I plead with you; in the name of your treasure-houses and barns, of your rich farms and cities, of your accumulations in the past and your hopes in the future,—I charge you, you never will be secure if you do not faithfully maintain all the crown-rights of Jesus the King of men