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“How can you call yourself a Christian, let alone a minister?!” I get asked that question frequently and the questioner is hostile more often than not. Still, I like to answer it if I believe the questioner is sincere. Though I self-identify as a Christian and I am an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I raised eyebrows a few years ago when I posted an article on my website about how my personal beliefs don’t align with those of most Presbyterians. For example, I believe that: - Religion is a human construct - The symbols of faith are...

The Unrepenting Repenter by Jim Elliff     The believer in Christ is a lifelong repenter.  He begins with repentance and continues in repentance. (Rom. 8:12-13) David sinned giant sins but fell without a stone at the mere finger of the prophet because he was a repenter at heart (2 Sam. 12:7-13). Peter denied Christ three times but suffered three times the remorse until he repented with bitter tears (Mt. 26:75). Every Christian is called a repenter, but he must be a repenting repenter. The Bible assumes the repentant nature of all true believers in its instruction on church...

A cartoon depicted Noah’s ark surrounded by desperate people drowning in the water, begging for help. The rains were coming down hard while Noah and his family were safe inside. On the outside of the ark was a "smiley face" with the words, "Smile, God Loves You."Are you sure God loves everybody? John the Baptist didn’t think so. He said, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (Jn. 3:36). Why is God justified in having wrath toward...

No, Christ will not die tomorrow. He died once for all almost 2000 years ago for our sins: “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). No, He will not die again: “knowing that Christ having been raised up from among [the] dead dies no more: death has dominion over him no more.” (Romans 6:9) Yes, He has risen once for all! And by their carnal traditions men teach people that Christ dies again and again each year, and then with this same...

WASHINGTON — St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco is getting bad press this week over a sprinkler system it installed to keep homeless people from sleeping on church grounds. People are outraged that a church would treat the poor so callously. But St. Mary’s isn’t alone. Many houses of worship all over the country face the question of how to keep safe, welcoming grounds while being compassionate to homeless neighbors sleeping on porches and in doorways. Here’s what we tried at Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church in Washington, DC. A couple of months ago, we started a dialogue about...

An objection, however, is often made to the doctrine of infallibility, in limine, which is too important not to be taken into consideration. It is urged that, as all religious knowledge rests on moral evidence, not on demonstration, our belief in the Church's infallibility must be of this character; but what can be more absurd than a probable infallibility, or a certainty resting on doubt?— I believe, because I am sure, and I am sure, because I supposed. Granting then that the gift of infallibility be adapted, when believed to unite all intellects in one common confession, the fact...

400 crosses have been removed and 35 buildings destroyed in Zhejiang province since 2013China’s central government has ordered an end to a demolition campaign that targeted churches in Zhejiang province, according to a senior official of the state-sanctioned Catholic Church. Bishop Paul Meng Qinglu of Inner Mongolia, a vice-chair of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, said he heard the news during a recent religious meeting in Beijing. “Church leaders across China had complained about the demolitions over the past year,” he told ucanews.com. Bishop Meng said the orders to end the demolition campaign were supposed to have taken effect “early...

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is the Radio Shack of church denominations. It’s been in free fall for so long that it’s sometimes difficult to believe the church is still around. It makes news only when it makes bad news. This is a church that has long embraced a culture of death by accepting abortion on demand. Indeed, church materials have declared that abortion can even be “an act of faithfulness before God,” and church policy states: “The considered decision of a woman to terminate a pregnancy can be a morally acceptable, though certainly not the only or required, decision.”...

Toward the very end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, he enters Jerusalem—knowingly headed to the Lamb’s slaughter. With less than a week of his mortal life remaining, would-be kings or rulers would not have spent their time with the least influential in society.For example, what does a presidential candidate do in his final days before an election? He seeks to rally the troops. He presents his case and seeks to explain why he would be a better leader than the other candidate. He barnstorms and campaigns. He sprints to associate himself with the most powerful persons, teams, and symbols he...

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these things that You do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s...

Morning and Evening Charles H. Spurgeon March 19, 2015 Morning Reading Strong in faith. —Romans 4:20 Christian, take good care of thy faith; for recollect faith is the only way whereby thou canst obtain blessings. If we want blessings from God, nothing can fetch them down but faith. Prayer cannot draw down answers, from God's throne except it be the earnest prayer of the man who believes. Faith is the angelic messenger between the soul and the Lord Jesus in glory. Let that angel be withdrawn, we can neither send up prayer, nor receive the answers. Faith is the telegraphic...

Finding the International Museum of the Reformation is almost as complicated as explaining the historical movement it chronicles. You must first navigate the labyrinth of Geneva’s Old Town, down narrow, cobblestone streets and then up a long flight of stone stairs, skirting the shadows cast by a towering 13th-century cathedral. Finally you arrive at the tranquil courtyard of the Maison Mallet, the 14-room 18th-century mansion housing the museum, which opened in 2005. [SNIP] Given how practices have changed, museum officials set out to create a space that contemporary visitors, Protestant or not, would find appealing and meaningful, with creative high-...

Morning and Evening Charles H. Spurgeon March 18, 2015 Morning Reading Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. —Galatians 3:26 The fatherhood of God is common to all his children. Ah! Little-faith, you have often said, "Oh that I had the courage of Great-heart, that I could wield his sword and be as valiant as he! But, alas, I stumble at every straw, and a shadow makes me afraid." List thee, Little-faith. Great-heart is God's child, and you are God's child too; and Great-heart is not one whit more God's child than you are. Peter...

1/14/2015 8:04:57 AM Three Words Catholics Do Not Understand  It Is Finished - Three Words Catholics Do Not Understand The perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ that satisfied divine justice for all believers was accomplished 2000 years ago. Jesus cried out in victory - "It is finished." The work of salvation is done. The eternal debt for sin has been paid in full. No more offerings, no more sacrifices, no more priests! The Lord Jesus willingly died for man’s sins to pay the debt that we could never pay. “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree,...

Brethren, Peace be with you. According to numerous news sources, the Presbyterian Church in the USA has changed its constitution and now will allow, celebrate, and bless same-sex "marriages." Of course, this is wrong and unwarranted in Scripture, but the fact of the matter is that Mainline Protestant church bodies don't care one way or the other about Scripture unless examined through the distorted genderist, Postmodern lenses dominating discourse in their seminaries. Out of curiosity, I checked the Presbyterian Church's own membership statistics to see what's up, and I came with the chart below. If the trend holds, in...

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“So Much Better Now” Are you Sure? by Jim Elliff     The pain has been excruciating, the hours and weeks arduous. The cost to the spouse and family who love her has been gladly expended, but jobs and daily responsibilities will necessarily decrease the hours for the daily vigil now. Added to it all of this is the treatment cost itself, sending up in smoke years of saving.“Mother is so ill,” they say to concerned friends. “We know it will be such a relief for her when she dies.”What? So much better when she dies? Not if she...

Morning and Evening Charles H. Spurgeon March 17, 2015 Morning Reading Remember the poor. —Galatians 2:10 Why does God allow so many of His children to be poor? He could make them all rich if He pleased; He could lay bags of gold at their doors; He could send them a large annual income; or He could scatter round their houses abundance of provisions, as once he made the quails lie in heaps round the camp of Israel, and rained bread out of heaven to feed them. There is no necessity that they should be poor, except that He sees...

The senior pastor and elders of City Church, the largest evangelical church in San Francisco will no longer require members to abstain from homosexual practice, so long as the homosexual activity occurs in the context of marriage. According to a letter written by senior pastor Fred Harrell on behalf of the Board of Elders, “We will no longer discriminate based on sexual orientation and demand lifelong celibacy as a precondition for joining. For all members, regardless of sexual orientation, we will continue to expect chastity in singleness until marriage.” “Our pastoral practice of demanding life-long ‘celibacy,' by which we meant...

I intend to offer, over the next several weeks, a four part series on Calvin's response to Rome's doctrine of Scripture as discovered in the fourth session of the Council of Trent. It's my impression that very few Protestants today -- even the confessing kind -- have informed views on what Rome actually says about the most important theological issues of every age (namely, how we know anything about God and his ways, and how we sinners can be reconciled to the God whom we have offended by our sins). The first and foremost purpose of this brief series, then,...