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“How can you call yourself a Christian, let alone a minister?!” I get asked that question frequently and the questioner is hostile more often than not. Still, I like to answer it if I believe the questioner is sincere. Though I self-identify as a Christian and I am an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I raised eyebrows a few years ago when I posted an article on my website about how my personal beliefs don’t align with those of most Presbyterians. For example, I believe that: - Religion is a human construct - The symbols of faith are...

I was recently asked to outline some of the major differences between the Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA) and my own denomination the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and I came up with the following 13 point list: 1) The PCA does not ordain women to either of the offices in the church (Teaching/Ruling Elder, Deacon). The PCUSA by contrast ordains women to both offices. 2) The PCA affirms that the Bible is inerrant and infallible in all that it teaches. The PCUSA does not. 3) The PCA repudiates abortion and considers it a violation of the sixth commandment....

Wally was a sweet fellow and very graciously lent me volume one of the Battles edition of Calvin’s Institutes. A while later I visited him in his luxurious office at the local “tall-steeple” PCUSA congregation in order to return the book. I was full of questions. In conversation, Wally mentioned that he was a graduate of Princeton Seminary. I had heard about this fellow “Machen” so I asked Wally about him and about Westminster Seminary. His jovial face quickly turned red with anger at the very mention of the traitor Machen and the rebel seminary. Mind you, this was about...

The largest Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation in Texas has voted to leave the mainline denomination over theological differences. Highland Park Presbyterian Church of Dallas, which has approximately 4,000 members, overwhelmingly approved a resolution recently that would involve the congregation seeking dismissal from PC (USA). Eighty-nine percent of the members present at the Congregational and Corporate Meeting held at the church voted in favor of leaving PC (USA). Last month, Highland Park Presbyterian leadership unanimously approved a resolution to begin the process of dismissal from PC (USA). The Session recommended dismissal from the mainline denomination and membership into the newer more...

So, how do we break into the lives of people who are immersed in this postmodern reality? How do we reach them for the gospel? Do we find ways to show them how the gospel is existentially satisfying? Do we offer therapeutic entertainment to draw them in? Nope. Instead, we do the unthinkable in our modern age. We preach.

Believers in Unbelieving Churches What Should Be Done by Christian People Who are in a Modernist Church? What is the duty of Christian congregations or Christian individuals who find themselves in a church that is dominated by unbelief? Shall they remain in such a church, or shall they withdraw from it and become members of a consistently Christian Church? That is certainly the question of the hour for the orthodox part of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Various attempts are being made to answer the question. Various considerations are being urged on one side or the other. If we...

Question: Does the OPC use the crucifix in the church? If not, are they opposed to it? Answer: Thank you for your question. The answer is, so far as I know, the crucifix is not used in OPC churches, and here is why: 1.The Second Commandment (Ex. 20:4-6 and Deut. 5:8-10) forbids any picture or image of God, and that would include the Son of God, even as man. At any rate we do not know what Jesus looked like as there is no physical description of him. 2.The crucifix will always end up being an object of worship—regarded as...

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the U.S., at it meeting on April 19, 2013, adopted a statement concerning Homosexuality and Same Sex marriage. They intentionally included positions from the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church with the hope that they would once again join in making a prophetic statement to those in civil authority that the fear and judgment of God may at least move enough legislators and judges not to approve of or support legalizing “same sex marriage.” Their desire is that the whole Christian, and especially the Reformed church, should protest this matter. Resolution Adopted...

"Oh Come Let Us Adore Him," a display of more than 100 creches, Nativities and angels, is being held this weekend at the Connellsville Presbyterian Church, in conjunction with "It's A Connellsville Christmas." The hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday."We are pleased that we get so many new pieces to add each year. We like to make changes and create new arrangements each holiday. New this year, we are adding a Christmas tree to hang the many little Nativity ornaments on. It will look beautiful," said Teri Montgomery, event co-coordinator along with Nancy...

Next Thursday, as the rest of us tuck into our turkey feasts, hundreds of needy families in Southern California will open "Boxes of Love." Delivered by several churches led by Pacific Crossroads in Santa Monica, Calif., the boxes contain ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal for six. They allow impoverished families to skip food lines and neighborhood pantries and enjoy the holiday in their own homes. What's unusual about the Pacific Crossroads congregation—and what underpins efforts such as Boxes of Love—is its theologically conservative raison d'être. A member church of the Presbyterian Church in America, Pacific Crossroads is committed to Reformation...

Three months after allowing the ordination of openly gay clergy, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seems headed for a split as nearly 2,000 conservative Presbyterians are gathering in Minneapolis on Thursday and Friday with creation of a “new Reformed body” as an agenda. Making preparations for the conference is the Rev. Paul Detterman, executive director of Presbyterians for Renewal, an independent organization based in Louisville, Ky., where the denomination’s headquarters are. Detterman, administrative consultant for the new Fellowship of Presbyterians, the organizer, recently wrote in a communication to fellow conservatives that initially only a few hundred people were interested in new...

The Evangelical Presbyterian (E.P) Church, Ghana, on Sunday joined the growing condemnation of homosexuality in Ghana, saying attempts to justify the abominable behaviour were unacceptable. The Reverend Joyce Kofi Kodade, Moderator of the West Volta Presbytery of the E.P. Church, said the explanation that homosexuality could be biological, psychological, or social behaviour is untenable. He said: “If you know you are sick, go for treatment, see a doctor, if you think it is psychological, see a counsellor. Don't justify homosexuality by the laws. “According to the law you may be right but according to the will of God, you are...

In Geneva, 450 years ago, a new version of the Bible in English began to come off the printing presses. For the first time, English-speaking people in the British Isles could purchase a Bible in their own tongue translated, in its entirety, directly from the original Hebrew and Greek – a notable milestone on the road begun by William Tyndale, who famously intended to make it possible for a ploughboy to know more of the Scripture than the learned man who claimed that it was better to be without God’s law than the Pope’s. Tyndale was to find it impossible...

The following are meant to be representative of the type and scope of questions in apologetics which candidates in the Presbytery of Southern California may expect to be asked. They are only a "sample" (and by only one member of the Credentials Committee). The exam will certainly not include all of these questions, but neither will it be restricted to them. Candidates are not expected to have been philosophy majors to answer these questions adequately, but we do look for (1) a reliable and general grasp of the history of Western thought (including basic philosophical vocabulary, issues, and figures), (2)...

What are the real differences between the OPC and the PCA? Most of the stories told in the OPC are told by ex-PCA’ers who had a bad experience in the PCA. And most of the stories told in PCA are told by former OP members or ministers who were frustrated in the OPC. And so the stereotypes grow!   Alternately, someone with experience in two or three OP churches generalizes from that to the whole OPC (or vice versa, with the PCA).   My own experience is somewhat limited, but I have had the advantage of serving for the last...