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The Discipline of God
Church programs, campus ministries, and independent organizations today emphasize the need for radical discipleship. It is not always clear what they mean by this. The word radical can be a trendy term. What is clear is this: if one’s …Read More
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Something Different
Matt, I don’t understand how you and Steve can be a part of the same church given what you each believe and practice.” This came from a young woman with whom my wife and I had been sharing the …Read More
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Open and Shut
Q. What is the Office of the Keys? A. The preaching of the Holy Gospel and Christian discipline; by these two the kingdom of heaven is opened to believers and shut against unbelievers.
(Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 83) Church discipline …Read More -
The Forgotten Mark
Historically, Protestants have argued that there are certain, essential marks that characterize a true church. The Belgic Confession of 1561 identifies these marks as being three in number. In addition to the “pure preaching of the gospel” and the “pure …Read More
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The Prodigal Son(s) and Church Discipline
Providence reigns, even over editorial requests. When asked to offer pastoral insights on church discipline in light of the story of the prodigal son, little did I realize where this assignment would take me both spiritually and emotionally. Listening to …Read More
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Broken Churches
Broken homes are created by broken people. That is, before we can offer the balm of Gilead to those living in broken homes, we need to be perfectly clear how they got that way. For all the pressures assaulting the …Read More
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Divorce
In 1948, the famous Harvard social historian Pitirim Sorokin wrote an essay in which he sounded an alarm about the rapid disintegration of the stability of the American culture. In this essay, Sorokin pointed out that in 1910 the divorce …Read More
