Always Reforming

How's that for some clickbait! If you clicked on the link expecting a slide into Liberalism, I assure you, that is not the case.  My goal today is to demonstrate that following the Bible wherever it takes us , even into the murky waters of unorthodoxy, is not, in fact, the Reformed view.  In other words, the emphasis of the title falls on  wherever it takes us and not on  the Bible .  Having been raised in a Reformed community where Andrew Sandlin, Gary DeMar, and Ken Gentry were household names, it pains me to see controversy in their ranks, but controversy is often the cost of truth.   Gary DeMar , who has authored several books on the topic of Eschatology, has recently come under some heat for his refusal to affirm particular statements regarding the Second Coming and Final Judgment.  I will leave it to older and wiser men to discuss the veracity of the allegations leveled against DeMar (I personally don't see how his views are compatible wit...

One of the most common exhortations throughout the Scriptures is to  stand firm, endure, etc .  The letters of Paul are particularly replete with this clarion call to hold fast to the Faith in the face of heresy and persecution.  One of the most famous, and perhaps most controversial, of these passages is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 : So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Hmm... I think this is one of those passages that many people have read over time and time again without really comprehending what is being said.  As a member of a denomination that is historically tied to the Protestant Reformation, I am forced to ask:  How do Protestants account for this? The Reformers, disenchanted with the endless traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, established the Scriptures as their exclusive foundation for doctrine, practice, and worship.  They viewed themselves not as...

Don't worry, guys.  I'm not becoming Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. But, I do think we have much to learn from our more traditional, liturgical brethren.   The topic of worship, and how it relates to the Scriptures, has been swimming around my mind lately, so you should take this post as exploratory and not dogmatic.  At risk of sounding like a YRR  (which I am not), rethinking everything after reading a few of the Fathers, I am beginning to believe that worship as it is found in the average American Evangelical church has little to do with the historical practices of the Early Church, or really the Church at any point in Christian history before, let's say, the 19th Century.  Now, that doesn't necessarily invalidate modern worship a priori , but I think it is noteworthy and concerning. Let's talk about the Regulative Principle of Worship for a moment.  I was raised in a church that held strictly to this principle, which, to summarize it crudely,...