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...

The  second installment in this series, wherein I discussed the Anglican balance between Word and Sacrament, also highlighted the diversity within Anglicanism on this and many other topics.  This time I would like to spend some time speaking specifically to this topic of diversity.  Diversity has become a buzzword in our culture, much like the words  tolerance and acceptance .  When you say diversity , many conservatives hear compromise, as if one chooses unity at the expense of truth.  That is not what I mean by diversity.  E cumenism  is probably a more helpful term.  The best, most traditional word to express this idea is  catholicity, but the Roman Catholics have ruined that word for many people.  Simply put, Anglicanism is a very diverse group, and most Anglicans are okay with that. Growing up in an obscure Reformed denomination, I grew accustomed to theological isolationism.  We loved to argue about who was really Re...

My Facebook feed was recently lit up with the news of the conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy of Hank Hanegraaf, known best as the "Bible Answer Man."  Such a defection evoked one blogger to say that Hanegraaf had " left the faith ."  Is that the case?  Did Hank Hanegraaf really leave the Christian faith? Or have Evangelicals, particularly American Evangelicals, defined the gates of the Kingdom even more narrowly than God Himself has? I have lately struggled with defining the boundaries of Christianity.  The Bible makes it clear that practice and doctrine are both important when it comes to recognizing who is truly within the realms of orthodoxy, but how much must one believe to be considered a Christian brother?  Are we going to condemn millions of sincere Christians who have been under the tutelage of poor teachers?  I have difficulty with such a broad condemnation, and yet, ignorance is certainly an obstacle to true faith. I was raised with a pretty sim...