Reformed Theology and a Welcoming Community

Last week at Classis (the regional gathering of RCA elders and ministers) we discussed the topic of what it means to be both missional and Reformed.  The delegates were split into small groups to discuss different aspects of this topic.  One question for discussion was on how the delegates see a distinctly Reformed approach active [...]

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Maybe Protestants believe in Transubstantiation after all…

Simon Chan makes the following provocative point:
“The Word proclaimed is truly the Word of God.  As the Second Helvetic Confession (1566) puts it, ‘The preaching of the word of God is the word of God.’ This is the closest that Protestants get to a doctrine of transubstantiation.  Human words do ‘become’ God’s Word in the [...]

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Transfiguration and the Lenten Journey

I realize that this post is a couple of weeks late, but the more I work through our lenten journey at our church the more importance Transfiguration Day takes.  I have come to appreciate the placement of the story of the Transfiguration in the Gospels in a completely different way since becoming a pastor.  A few days [...]

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My God From the Womb

David writes:
“Yet you brought me out of the womb; 
you made me feel secure on my mother’s breast.
From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.” (Psalm 22:9-10, TNIV, emphasis mine)
Surely, David is here resting in the fact that God is faithful to the covenant He has made with His [...]

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Who is to Care for the Poor? pt. 2

Yes, the Church is to be the primary means of caring for the poor.  Members are to cheerfully give to this cause.  In fact, a portion of the tithe was meant for this purpose.  Yet, things are complicated in a society where such a large portion of our income is taken from us by the [...]

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Who is to Care for the Poor?

The Church of course.  Yet, we live in a time when the church has come to the point of relying on the government to take care of those that we have been entrusted with to care for.  The Scriptures make it clear that God’s people were always to care for the poor, orphaned, widowed, etc, [...]

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Worship and the Heavenly Reality

As a Call to Worship I have used selections from the book of Revelation and Hebrews 12:22-24 which link the worshipping community to the heavenly worship.  I often say something to the extent of, “As we gather here today, we are joining with the vast hosts in heaven and the saints that have gone before [...]

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Calvin and Use of Language

A large stumbling block for the Church has always been language, especially when discussing the more mysterious doctrines.  In discussing the Trinity, John Calvin humbly submits, “I am not so minutely precise as to fight furiously for mere words” (I.13.5).  Prior to saying this he denounces heretics, and after this he shows how many of [...]

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Mary, mother of Jesus, & Pentecost

A few questions for the online community:
Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the women were with the disciples in “the upper room” waiting as Jesus had told them to (Acts 1:12-14).  And in 2:1 Luke writes that “they were all together in one place.”  Did the Spirit fall upon Mary and the women?  Did they [...]

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Going “Green” and Transforming Culture

It has been interesting to see how the language of “going green” is adopted and understood by everyone today.  In referring to everyone, I mean everyone – children to adults.  In fact, those who are in elementary school are probably more familiar with this language than many of our seniors.  First, a warning: This post [...]

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