Introduction A few years ago a young woman named Sarah wanted to become a member of the congregation I pastored. She grew up in a Roman Catholic family. We sat down together with a couple of others and studied the Heidelberg Catechism as part of a new members’ class. When we got to the section […]

What do you think of the OPC and URCNA’s proposed Psalter Hymnal? As the URCNA synod faces the final vote on a nearly twenty-year-long project, across our federation it seems as though the jury is still out. Many ministers, musicians, and members are optimistic that a new book will bring new life to singing in […]

Have you ever sat through a Sunday school class or a Bible study where nothing really stirred you? Have you ever felt frustrated because of the direction the class was taking? Have you ever had the sentiment that you might as well be on a psychiatrist’s couch, with questions bombarding you about your feelings, or […]

Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, inasmuch as ye have done it to one […]

For two hundred years Christians have sung, “In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time; all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.”1 Surely the story of God’s redemption does gather around the cross of Christ. But as we begin to look into the events of Christ’s […]

Sometimes God uses the most unlikely of messengers to communicate His will. In Numbers 22, God even preached through the mouth of a donkey (vv. 22–35; cf. 2 Pet. 2:15–16). As Jesus advanced from Gethsemane to Golgotha He was wrongly condemned three times: first by the Sanhedrin, second by His friend Peter, third by Pontius […]

In relation to SOCIETY, the law issues a standard for right and wrong (the civil use of the law). God’s law promotes righteousness in society and protects people from wrongdoers (Rom. 13:1–7; 1 Tim. 2:1–2). For instance, the law commands us not to bear false witness against our neighbor in order to promote honesty and […]

Introduction In the previous edition, I introduced and outlined a series of articles that would take a serious look at the most prevalent sins among our conservative Reformed circles. In no way am I suggesting that all of our churches fall prey to these vices all of the time. Rather, it is these seven that […]

As We Have Forgiven Our Debtors: What Forgiveness of Others Really Entails Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:14–15, Matthew 18:21–35, Mark 11:25, and Luke 17:3–4 are some of the clearest, unequivocal instructions in Scripture. The One who forgives our sins commands us to act in kind: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father […]

“First the Blade, Then the Ear” This past summer I worked at a once-common job that is becoming uncommonly foreign to twenty-first-century Americans: farming. I soon found myself pushed beyond the little previous experience I had in the field (pun intended), and realized that dedicated farmers need to possess not just certain skills but a […]