“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #58 “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined …
In the Works Now
“The striking thing about the Second Coming is that it will be the culmination of what is happening right here, right now. The new humanity is going to be finally and completely formed and born, but it is this world that is pregnant with that glory. The relief will be great, but it will be …
Christ Vocal in the Assembly
“So the preacher’s voice is, in effect, Christ’s voice; that is, the voice of Him who came to save and gather and feed and protect His father’s sheep and lambs and to bring them to the heavenly fold eventually. On this score, too, preaching is a thoroughly pastoral function: it is the work of the …
Feeling Like a Confrontation
One of the ways we have allowed egalitarianism to flatten everything can be seen in how we apply trial procedures to everything (to everything that is, except those situations when actual trial procedures would actually be called for). Determining that somebody is a security risk is not the same thing as finding them guilty of …
Child Communion
At the very center of the strong family emphasis that you will find in our churches, you will also find our practice of communing our children at the Lord’s Table. This is unusual in Protestant churches, and in some places it is even controversial. A few words of explanation here would probably be helpful. Children …
Pies, Heavenly and Earthly
“We have two directions in which we may look, and they are as follows. From the vantage point of our present suffereings, we may look back at the old creation, a creation which ends in the death of all living things. We may look to the way of the flesh, but the days of the …
I Say Its Spinach
The New Yorker cartoon dates from the early part of the twentieth century, and the caption has entered into national lexicon of snappy comebacks for a reason. You know, cut to the chase. What’s the bottom line? Cash it out for me. It brings to mind an admirable method of reasoning, one of the valid …
Optimism About the Future of the Church
A doctrinal emphasis that you are very likely to find in CREC churches is, oddly enough, a doctrinal point that is not actually required by any of our approved doctrinal statements. When it comes to the question of eschatology (what will happen at the end of the world), the only thing that the universal church …
Caroling in Friendship Square
A Brief History of Christmas
INTRODUCTION:We celebrate the birth of Christ, and we are able to do this because we have seen what His rule has accomplished in the world. Jesus told Thomas once that there was a blessing for those who would believe without having seen the risen Christ, as Thomas had (John 20:29). On this principle, our place …