PAST ARTICLES
Discipleship
The Greatest Love Story Ever Lived
As members of the church, we are part of the Body of Christ––the Bride of Christ––and that defines who we are. We are not autonomous beings. We are destined to be fully united in a face-to-face one-flesh union with the living God and dwell with him forever.
Church and Culture
Where Has All the Romance Gone? And Where It Can Still Be Found
Many of us have made an idol of romance and marriage between a man and a woman, and this idolatry is not just in society as a whole. It is in our congregations and denominations, too. Our view of marriage tends to be a “non-view,” an inability to see what romance and marriage is, or…
Church and Culture
Provisional Advice on the New Constitutional Amendments
The Constitution of the PCUSA changed again this year. Most changes each year hardly register with most Presbyterians; this is true of the majority of changes again this year. Some changes, some years, have been quite controversial and even eventually reversed; that may happen with a change or two this year.
Theology
Law and Liturgy The Place of the Ten Commandments in Reformed Worship
The Law, by which we understand here the Ten Commandments, is indispensable to Reformed worship. For God’s covenant people, it constitutes the beginning and foundation of worship. We worship God because he has commanded us to worship him.
Confessing the Faith
Freedom for the Gospel, Freedom from Worldly Ideologies: The Barmen Declaration Today
Forty years ago, in 1984‒85, I had the remarkable experience of spending a year at a Protestant seminary in East Berlin. Those were still the days of communism. The regime was no longer sending Christians to prison camps, but it had pushed them to the margins of society, hoping that someday the church would just…
Theology
Living East of Eden – Pastoral Reflections on How Theology Matters
“The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the church.” We heard this theme––the theme of this conference–– brilliantly proclaimed last night in worship. And we heard the text of Matthew 16 and the supremely important question that Jesus asks of his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”
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The Institute for Theological Education
The Institute for Theological Education seeks to provide theological instruction that is biblical and from the mainstream of the Reformed tradition. Its primary purpose is to equip the next generation of ministers for Presbyterian and other Christian congregations.
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The Catechized Prodigal: When Covenant Children Lose Their Way
“Train the child for the path of his life, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Is the Reformation Ever Finished?
The Church is never simply ecclesia reformata but semper reformanda.
Who Needs Confessions of Faith?
Why do we have confessions of faith? There are many reasons. Some are not so obvious. But for Protestants the first and most important reason is simple: We have confessions
Is Theology Practical?
This address was delivered at Theology Matters’ first conference on Hilton Head Island, Feb. 19, 2020. I made an off-hand comment to Richard Burnett one day, about three months into
Encouragement for the Journey
The work of parish ministry is one of the most daring and demanding journeys that one can take. It is not without profound meaning, but it also tests an individual