Always Reforming

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain (Psalm 127:1a). Christian, whatever you do--whatever you build--is futile without the Master Builder.  Your blood, sweat, and tears are lost in the dirt without the plans, materials, and empowering of the Arch Architect.  Without the grace and wisdom of God making your efforts effectual, they are shallow and vain.   Did we in our own strength confide , says Luther, our striving would be losing . You can build a business, a family, or even a church, but it means nothing without the Father.  You can create a following, but it is transient without the Great Guide.  You can build a life, but it will soon be forgotten without the Creator's gaze.  Human ambitions can only build human institutions.  Carnal methods and strategies can only grant carnal success.   If you want to build something eternally meaningful--a truly Godly legacy--you must consult the LORD every step of the ...

Church polity has been a divisive issue, to say the least, throughout Church history.  Should individual congregations govern themselves independently?  Should regional groups of elders oversee the Church?  Is the Episcopate a divinely ordained and indispensable means of unity for the Church of Jesus Christ?  How should clergy be selected, trained, etc.?  How do we determine jurisdiction?  Wars have been fought and heads lost over over these and similar questions. I myself am a bit of an ecclesiastical mut.  Having attended a presbyterian church, a quasi-presbyterian church, and an elder-led, non-denominational church, I am currently serving as a deacon in an Anglican church, which features an Episcopal form of church government.  I am no expert, but over the years I have learned a few things about how church government actually works out in real life.  I won't attempt a thorough treatment of this subject, but here are a few thoughts on churc...

Are Calvinists the frozen chosen?  Do the Doctrines of Grace create proud, belligerent snobs?   If you’ve spent any time in online theology groups, you’re likely to answer in the affirmative.  Keyboard warriors bickering about things like election and total depravity can be quite off-putting, I’m sure.  Unfortunately, the way a person studies the Word of God is not always reflected in the way he treats other people, online or in real life.   Calvinists, of course, do not have a monopoly on this shortcoming.  In 1 Corinthians 8:1 Paul tells us that knowledge puffs up–it inflates the ego. Regardless of what one believes, intellectual endeavors have the potential to produce pride and tactlessness.  This is nothing new, of course.  Bad blood has been a feature of theological debates as long as theological debates have been had. This can be true, regardless of how knowledgeable one truly is.  Mastering a particular system of theology, es...

We don't have time for parables. For depth. For wrestling with texts or concepts. We don't have time for stories. For good stories anyway. We don't have the mental fortitude for truth. We don't have patience. We can't wait for stories to develop. For details to emerge. For clarifications to be offered. Heaven knows we don't have attention spans! We don't have brains or hearts that seek for more. Our precious freedom to think critically has been exchanged for baubles. Our ability to discover--to explore--has been burgled by complacency and algorithms.   We don't have time for love. For friendship. For community. We have more time than anyone has ever had in the history of the world. Yet We never have enough time. We certainly don't have time for parables.

Why don't modern Christians worship? That question may seem a bit harsh.  After all, nominalism has been a cancer within the Christian Church since at least Constantine's day.  We can't lump committed Christians in with cultural Christians, can we? And yet, even many regular churchgoers seem uncommitted to weekly church attendance, as borne out both by anecdotal evidence and by many studies.  See here , here , and here for examples (do note the encouraging trends among younger generations).  Particularly telling is the fact that what constitutes regular attendance is itself somewhat of a mystery.  Beyond this, stats regarding family worship throughout the week would probably be too depressing to consider.  I think we can agree that that is rare, at best.   It suffices, and is fair, to say that many professing Christians, even relatively devout ones, view regular worship as  optional . Why?  I think there are a few reasons. Firstly, we are d...

Why? Why do Protestants keep joining the Roman Catholic Church (RCC)?   You probably know someone who has converted to Roman Catholicism recently.  You likely have a friend, a family member, or an acquaintance who has taken the plunge and made that difficult swim across the Tiber.  He or she was raised within Protestantism, whether one of the mainline traditions (Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, etc.) or an independent, non-denominational church, but found a renewed sense of faith by "going back to Rome." Perhaps it wasn't Rome.  Perhaps it was another liturgical tradition like the Eastern Orthodox Church (EOC).  I personally have a cousin who became a Byzantine Catholic and a friend who joined the Polish National Catholic Church.  I'm sure statistics would show that these older churches have their own issues losing parishioners, but it cannot be denied that there is a movement, especially among young men and young families, towards the older, more li...