What We Learned from Asking a Pastor to Step Down

‘We tend to celebrate a church’s ministry of mercy when it matches our basic understanding of the Word—programs that provide care for the poor, resources that heal brokenness, and intercessory prayers for struggling brothers and sisters. But Scripture teaches that mercy walks alongside justice and righteousness, not away from them. Church discipline is such an occasion.’

Should Struggling Christians Abstain from Communion? 

This is a very helpful one on Paul’s command to the Corinthians to ‘examine themselves’ before communion. What is he actually asking them to examine themselves for? To whom does the self-examination apply? Who does it disqualify and on what grounds? This one does a great job of addressing this issue.

How (and How Not) to Fast

I wrote earlier this week on why I think the bible teaches us that fasting, and by extension Lent, is of no spiritual value (you can read that one here). In light of that, I thought it only fair to share an article providing an alternative view. This one makes a case for the value of fasting. On the same theme, I also read this which argues against Lent but for fasting.

The Reformers and the Christian State

‘We hear a lot from those advocating for Christian Nationalist positions today about the diversity of Christian Nationalism but less acknowledgement from them about the diversity that there has been within the Reformed tradition. It is reasonable to ask someone who says that they are simply advocating for a classical reformed position, “which reformed position.”’

Rethinking Christian hospitality for families who can’t do shared meals

This one takes a look at hospitality from the perspective of neurodivergent families.

Save the Fox, Kill the Fetus

I don’t think Carl Trueman is right to link this thinking exclusively to ‘the left’. There is plenty of this same thought-pattern on ‘the right’. However, he does make a good and helpful wider point about where Western society at large is at and how it logically gets there.

From the archive: Christians & conspiracy

‘Some cocky Atheists will probably chime in with some unsubstantiated nonsense that Christians are just more gullible than other people, what with their theism and all that. Of course – despite their claim to be rational, evidentiary followers of science – it is the kind of claim that is actively not supported by any of the available evidence. But there does seem to be something in the Christian psyche that gets drawn more readily to conspiracy theory and it does bear asking why.’