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Given our strong ties to the Reformed community, the issue of baptism comes up fairly often. Our commitment to "believer's baptism" and not "infant baptism" sets us apart from many historically Reformed traditions (see below). My book for those considering baptism, Believe and Be Baptized, covers many issues connected to baptism and who should be baptized. In the back of it is an appendix which explains more specifically why we don't baptize infants (i.e., why we're not paedobaptists). Because of the importance of this topic it seemed worth making it more readily accessible to you. May it encourage you! 

Daniel

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Introduction

This…

Today we feel like the author of Psalm 149: “Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands” (149:6). Today we speak “the high praises of God,” because of God allowing Roe to be overturned. The prayers and hard work of millions of Christians over decades has been rewarded in a major legal victory. So, today is for "high praises." And then tomorrow we'll take up our figurative “two-edged swords” to continue to fight for laws in our land that protect life—from conception.

For almost 50 years Christians have marked a Sunday near…

Daniel did a great job on May 22nd in his sermon titled, "A Heart for God Among the Nations." He discussed what it meant to be a "world Christian". This is a believer with a heart for the gospel to go into all the nations. One of the ways that we can cultivate that type of heart for the nations is through prayer.

Jesus told us to pray that his kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. It should be our heart's desire for that to take place throughout the world. As we pray for…

"You may rightly call the Psalter a Bible in miniature, in which all things which are set forth more at length in the rest of the Scriptures are collected into a beautiful manual of wonderful and attractive brevity."
Martin Luther, Works, 3:356

“The Psalms are an epitome of the Bible, adapted to the purposes of devotion.”
George Horne, Commentary on the Psalms, iii

“I have been accustomed to call this book, I think not inappropriately, ‘An Anatomy of all the Parts of…

Sunday, April 10th, is referred to by many as Palm Sunday. That's because it highlights the historic Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem riding on a donkey—when the large crowd who had heard he was coming lined the street and "took branches of palm trees" and placed them in his path (John 12:13). And when he came they shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” This triumphal entry begins the most important week of Jesus' earthly ministry, the week that would begin on this Palm Sunday, include his crucifixion on…

Ben Garner recently preached on 1 Peter 2:11–20. The middle section of this concerned a Christian's response to government. Because of Ben's work in state government and the numerous insights he made on his topic, we decided to take offer that part of his sermon as a blog entry. The historical context of this post underscores the need to think well on these issues. We hope you find it edifying and informative.

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I find Peter's words in 1 Peter 2:13–17 particularly relevant because of my work. I’m an attorney, and for the last several years I’ve worked…

This Sunday we celebrated the Sanctity of Human Life, annually timed to be near the anniversary of the January 22, 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.

We looked at 1 Thessalonians 5:1–18 and considered how it speaks to us about how we should engage this battle. Right in the middle of this passage is a text that offers a powerful summary of our different responses:

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient…

One of the great theologians in the church is Augustine of Hippo, a bishop in North Africa who lived AD 354-430. He was brilliant and trained as an orator but then came to Christ in his early 30s. From that point on, he devoted his talents and energy to the church and left us volumes of theology, sermons, and letters that continue to educate and edify the church. In one of his Advent sermons, he gave a powerful reflection on the incarnation. Here it is to help you marvel in this miracle: 

My mouth shall speak the praise of…

Last Sunday I mentioned the idea that the Holy Spirit in 1 Peter 1:10–11 is called “the Spirit of Christ.” This is a mysterious title for the Spirit and is worth reflecting on a little more.

In my passage, Peter told us something unexpected about OT prophecy. He told us the prophets spoke because they were inspired by “the Spirit of Christ”:

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted…

What do we find when we open up Peter's first epistle? Perspective. Perspective on so many of the things that confront us in life: identity, gender, marriage, Christ and his cross, salvation,  government, what God asks of us as Christians, what God accomplishes in us as Christians, the church, leadership in the church, work (vocation), our purpose, suffering, our past, present, and future, how we should think of ourselves in the midst of this fallen world—and where we should think of our true home. And there's more. These five chapters (or 105 verses) are packed with God's truth for God's…