“Accuse your enemy of what you are doing...” This quote (often attributed to Karl Marx, Joseph Goebbels, or Saul Alinsky) describes a common strategy of propaganda referred to as projection. First labeled by Freud, projection in psychological studies is when someone...
Teaching
Women in Ministry at Reformation Church
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27) There is a fundamental difference between man and woman; not a difference of dignity, but of role and responsibility. Contrary to cultural...
On Public Rebuke
In the Old Testament, Israel was to be guided by the lex talionis (Latin for “the law of retaliation”). In modern usage, we might know this as the principle of an eye for an eye. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,...
What’s the Gossip?
We love being in the know. To hear the latest rumor, to take a sip of gossip, to delight in the scuttlebutt, to drink deeply of the local buzz. Like a favorite snack, such whispered words fill us with pleasure (Proverbs 18:8). Gossip adorns the magazines that line the...
The Majesty and Mystery of Theological Tension
When I was around 4 years old, I fell off some playground equipment and landed about 6 feet below right onto my head. As a result, I got a few nights in the infirmary, a serious concussion, and the opportunity to try hospital broccoli for the first time. I fell...
Should I Attend an LGBTQ+ “Wedding”?
Each new generation faces new challenges in attempting to apply the word of God to the complexities of our day. In the 1st century, the decisive difficulty du jour was how to understand the Mosaic Law and regulations like circumcision in light of the New Covenant. In...
Is polygamy permissible?
In 1882, the Edmunds Acts effectively outlawed polygamy in the United States and other federal territories. However, with the recent redefinition of marriage to include same sex unions, the practice of polygamy is seeing a resurgence. Such a rebirth was both...
Why Don’t we Baptize Infants?
Who should be baptized? Should the church baptize only those who profess faith in Christ or should we also baptize the infant children of believers as well? This is the crux of the disagreement between paedobaptists and credobaptists and that is the focus of this...
Should We Use Wine or Juice for Communion?
In 1869, an American Methodist minister developed what he called, “Unfermented Wine.” He did so by applying Louis Pasteur’s pasteurization process to grape juice--stopping the natural fermentation process of the grapes, and thereby preventing the juice from turning...