No Good Reason Why Letters Shouldn’t Be Submitted in October

My husband has led us into a congregation that is Arminian with a baptismal regeneration theology, very weak leadership, and works righteousness abounding.
Is it wrong for me to spend free time educating my children to the contrary? Teaching them the catechisms and the scriptures and encouraging them with a reformed theology at home? He doesn’t seem to notice or care when I do so, as he doesn’t seem to really understand the difference in our church’s theology and what I’m teaching the children. There’s a spiritual apathy there that I pray for constantly, but is it wrong to, perhaps clandestinely, make sure our children are taught the truth in contrast to the things being taught at our church?

Momma Q

I am a young pastor, and Charlie Kirk’s assassination has affected me greatly. One particular way is that I want to get my political theology buttoned up. I have and read your Mere Christendom. What else would you suggest for a Conservatism reading list?
Thanks

Chaz

Thank you for everything you do. I wanted to ask for your thoughts on our children partaking in communion. I read an article of yours from 2024 where you say “And perhaps I will even have written in such a way as to make even the strictest advocate of credo-communion turn away from this prospect with some regret, thinking ‘wouldn’t it be wonderful if this were true?’” You certainly accomplished this with the me, though I don’t consider myself the strictest advocate of credo communion. I would absolutely love for my children and all the children in our church to participate in the Lord’s Supper. I have a mental block about 1 Corinthians 11:27-32, though. How will my infant children examine themselves? And that’s even assuming they have honestly believed in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. How did you think through this with your children? And even if I conceded the point about infants and Jesus wanting them to come to Him, where do you draw the line? At a certain age they must refrain if they are either not believers or examine themselves and discern that they aren’t taking it in a worthy manner, right? Or am I misinterpreting the protocol in 1 Corinthians 11?
Thank you,

Justin

I’m writing to contribute a question to the ongoing tithing conversation:
1) The majority of commentators I am reading agree the OT required two, or even three separate tithes, amounting to 20-23.3%.
2) Rushdoony is the only major commentator I can find who believes Christians remain obligated to all three.
3) Why should Christians be obligated to pay 10% but not the whole 20-23.3%? The only explanation I can find is that while the first tithe continues to support gospel ministry, the extras are done away with in the abolishment of the ceremonial law.
This doesn’t seem satisfactory to me. Is there a better argument I’m missing?

Douglas

I hope you’re doing well. I recently learned that John Knox, of Scottish Presbyterian fame, married his second wife, Margaret Knox, when she was 17, and he was 54. Now, I’m not one of those people who likes to paint our Christian forefathers in a terrible light just because, nor do I want to cause or stir up controversy about them unnecessarily after they died. I also recognize that 17 was marriageable age at the time, and I assume Margaret was trained since childhood to prepare for getting married at/around that age. I also reject the notion that people got married young because they died young (some say most adults before modern medicine died in their 30s-40s, which is absurd—that has been thoroughly disproven). In other words, I’m not interested in controversy for controversy’s sake.
That being said, I know that is still quite the age gap, and it still wasn’t extremely common for that to happen. They did not live in the era of prenups and older gents having one last romp before they go with a “hot young bimbette,” which I am assuming Margaret was not (a bimbette, that is). I know that you are a fan of Knox, and I am curious as to your thoughts on this?

ON

Thank you for your bold, loving proclamations of Biblical Truth. I wish more pastors were like you.
I recently saw your interview on The Young Turks and I applaud your courage to step into that fiery furnace. I thought you did an excellent job, but I do have one important critique: You seemed to concede the argument that we (the US) are a democracy. This is not true, and it would be helpful to correct that at every opportunity. We are a Christian Constitutional REPUBLIC and our Constitution guarantees a republican form of government for every State in the US.
Our Founding Fathers could have given us a democracy. They were very much aware of what democracy is (and isn’t) but they knew that this was not a good idea. Instead, they recognized the importance of the consent of the governed as being necessary for legitimate governance and gave us the House of Representatives to provide democratic features alongside the monarchical and oligarchical features with the Executive Branch and Senate, respectively. All of this was to be governed under Natural (God’s) Law for our welfare, tranquility, prosperity, liberty, and, ultimately , God’s glory.
John Adams echoed the sentiments of many other Founders, as evidenced by the following quote:
Again, I thank you for all of your efforts. Keep fighting for God’s Kingdom and for revival here and throughout the world. May God richly bless you and all your efforts.
In Christ,

Adam

Hey, Christian Post had an article about Mr Wilson and, to be frank, it seemed fairly hostile. That said, I do not mention it because it was rude; I mention it because of the content therein, specifically where it referenced “Fidelity” where Doug said that sexual intercourse is not egalitarian pleasuring and then describes the male part of sex as ‘colonizing’ and ‘conquering’ (those were not the only descriptors—but they’re the ones people will pay attention to). I think that I get what he was saying, but I’d like an explanation of what Mr Wilson meant by it straight from him. Thanks!

Aidan

It was told to me by a someone in a higher Christian ed role that you’ve employed ESS (eternal submission of the son) to scripturally justify your patriarchal position regarding marriage. I replied that I’ve read multiple books on marriage and family by you (which improved my marriage and my family) and could not recall where you had said that. I recall just simple appeals to NT commands on marriage, Christ and the Church, and in those cases you dig in to the language around “Lord,” “rule,” “obey,” “ submissive” and “gave himself up for” etc etc . . . but Christ and the Father?
This person then replied, “Well, it’s a heresy anyway”
Then I figured maybe its possible and my memory was just poor or it was from a long ago blog post. Where are you at on ESS?
Don’t know how you cope with all the slander, He’s clearly given you an extra measure of grace for it.
Thanks,

Jordan

I have two questions: why do you recommend only the KJV or NKJV,
and what books do you recommend for believers who have incorporated some version of Darwinism into their belief system ?

Gini

Will Frequently Shouted Questions about Christian Nationalism be released for Kindle? If so, when? Thank you.

Eubulus

Regarding Revivals . . . and the ‘What Needs to be Hauled Off’ part: Was your intent to describe what needs to be done in order for revival to occur or was it to describe what revival will look like if it does occur?

John

Revival?
I love the perspective of looking back 12 months to the madness of just last year. One can’t help but reflect on the potential glory of just 12 months from now . . . all the Lord’s doing. Revival? I pray so.
By the way, shortly after Kirk’s assassination, I began to notice a number of parallels between his death and that of M.L. King’s. Not everything is parallel, of course—King was unfaithful to his wife in gross and disturbing ways, for example. But both men were sniped during the course of speaking about that which they believed. Both murders were equally heinous and horrible.
King got a holiday and a bunch of streets named after him. But America got a bunch of tyranny.
While I’d like to see Kirk get a permanent holiday and a street running through every college campus named after him, I’m infinitely more interested to see America get a Reformation.

Andy

I am in complete agreement with you that the Charlie Kirk memorial is the most remarkable thing to happen in American history in . . . well certainly in a really long time. I agree it’s not revival itself, but it sure looks like it’s a major catalyst that God is using for revival.
There were a few things I think were especially noticeable:
The remarkable variety of denominations presenting a unified gospel showed me just how little God thinks of our denominational squabbles. The different denominations are meant to be iron sharpening iron, and different parts of his body serving different purposes.
The worship was . . . absolutely divine. Regardless of what one might think of for worship within a church, for a worship event in a stadium it was perfect. But speaking of . . . what did you think of it? Did the powerful presence of the Spirit in that worship revise your opinions regarding either instrumentation or writing?
Thanks,

Ian

Despite being (somewhat reluctantly) Roman Catholic, I have a great fondness for the Reformers and the Reformation. I believe there’s plenty of blame to go around about the 16th century split, and I don’t accept either group’s triumphalist claims. They’re mostly garbage.
When I saw a 31-day journey through the Reformation, I signed up. It might fill in a detail or two I have forgotten about the Reformation, and it might be a fun daily read.
The very first entry is (appropriately) about John Wycliffe. It includes this whopper.
“According to Roman Catholic law, translating the Bible into a vulgar, common language was a heresy punishable by death.”
This is such a horrendous misrepresentation that it easily fits into this other word: Lie.
There was no such law. Parts of the Bible had been translated into English before Wycliffe. The issue wasn’t the translation, it was Wycliffe’s theology, and it saddens me that someone claiming to be a scholar would say such a thing in 2025.
Shame on you, Desiring God and Stephen Nichols. Do better.

Greg

I was wondering if you ever considered writing an autobiography of your life? You have obviously learned quite a lot over the years and in the Lord’s providence played a formidable role in many institutions and circles, and so (especially given that you are a prolific and interesting writer) I thought that might be something worth writing for the benefit of the reading public. Just a thought. Sincerely grateful for your ministry (even though I don’t agree with everything ha ha!).

John

I’ve gone through your post from last month “Trusting God in a Hard Providence” a few times, and I saw your reply to GH in the letters a few weeks ago, but I still don’t get how we’re supposed to thank God for our sin. “Thank you for my lying, lusting, gossiping, losing my temper, coveting, and knocking off Grandma for the insurance money” just seems too weird to me. Is that included in the sample prayer you gave near the end of the post or how would you reword that sample prayer when the hard providence is a besetting sin?
(And just for the record, I may or may not have committed some of the sins in my list, but I was not named as a beneficiary on Grandma’s insurance policy.)

Gloria

I have had a tendency in many seasons to read my bible to escape from the problems in my life rather than to become equipped through my time with God and His Word to engage and attack the problems in my life. I need to force myself to reframe it as courageous refueling rather than cowardly escaping. Do you have any practical advice for making this my default state rather than something that I constantly struggle to do?
Thanks,

Chase

I belong to a WELS Lutheran church, a conservative Lutheran denomination, holding to sola Scriptura, 6-day creation, etc. I’ve been at this particular church for over 8 years from high school on up. I have many great relationships, and my siblings and parents go here too. However, after finding you and other Reformed folks, I’ve found myself more persuaded by Reformed theology, but it’s not as though I’m coming from a Arminian Baptist background.
I have no desire to leave my church, but our denomination has strict fellowship rules on doctrine. There are very few Presbyterian churches near me (PCA/OPC), and no CREC churches anywhere near here.
How should I evaluate whether I should exit or not? I’m aware that PCA/OPC churches aren’t perfect either. If I do feel I need to leave, how can I do so peaceably? I am a single young man as well, so there are finding a wife aspect to this as well. Any advice would be beneficial. Thanks.

Jeff

I wonder if you are familiar with Thomas Oden’s work on the church’s progress/development in Africa before Augustine. While it is a thin and particular slice, a couple of his lectures on the church in ancient Libya are/were on YouTube. The book to read first makes the case and then lays out a preliminary research aspiration for investigating the African church before Augustine and before Islam. I’m a geek, but it is rousing. Oddly, I have not found familiarity with it among folks who underline that Christianity is not a white man’s religion. If you’re not familiar, here’s a link.

Ben

Thank you for your labors for the church. I have a question regarding liturgy. I am responsible for assembling the bulletins for our church, and it is our practice to do the Psalm reading responsively. Well, this week is Psalm 137, and when I realized that the entire congregation would be calling for a blessing on those who dash children against the rock, I said to myself, “You can’t do that.” Of course after thinking of censoring the Bible I realized I couldn’t do that.
Are there any instances that you would omit text from a responsive reading? And if this is a meant by the Lord to teach us, what do you think He intends for us to gain by this passage?

Matthew

This is not in response to a particular post, but I wanted to share that my family and I had the opportunity to visit and worship at the Christ Church plant in Washington DC two weekends ago during a short family vacation in the city. We had our three young children with us and weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we felt very welcomed by the kindness of the congregation toward us (sharing bulletins, introducing themselves) and the thoughtfulness of how the worship space was arranged to accommodate wiggly little ones without excluding them (and their mothers who are watching over them). It is one thing to observe the Moscow Mood approvingly from afar, but a much better thing to experience its warmth in person. I pray that the congregation continues to grow and bless the city through faithful worship, community, and evangelism.
P.S.—The red-robed protestors were a wonderful addition to the experience. It makes it very easy to tell you’re headed to the right place from a distance.

Cody