Category: Hot Topics

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

Keeping Your Assurance

“Keep close to God in the duty of reading the Word often. By often reading the Word, you will often meet with promises and supports for your comforts. That is the reason men lessen in comforts, because they do not frequently read the Word; you cannot read a Chapter, but you will find there a prop for faith, and a prop for assurance. Keeping constant to the Word, that is the way to keep your assurance. “These things have I written to you that believe, that you might know that you have eternal lif..

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

Don’t Worry Be Godly – Pt 2

Remember from last week that anxiety is the unproductive concern about something you can’t do anything about and that might not happen. So, if you can do something, then do it. That’s not anxiety, that’s acting on information. But if you can’t do anything about it and don’t know the future, then you must channel your fretting and worry into prayer because God does know the future and can do something.

R.C. Chapman was a well-heeled young gentleman living in 19th Century England, and he had a lo..

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

When Confessional P & R Congregations Do Not Exist Or Disappoint

We live in a fallen world and there are no perfect churches this side of heaven. In every congregation there is going to be something or someone who disappoints. We must prioritize. If a minister is not preaching the law and gospel purely or should he be corrupting the administration of the holy sacraments, those are very serious problems. In such a case, the session/consistory needs to act to preserve the ministry of the church. If they are failing, then the presbytery/classis needs to interven..

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

That Time I Was the Only Woman in the Worship Service

So yesterday’s talk was my first opportunity to address church officers on equipping women in their churches as necessary allies. These men modeled good shepherding. They were hospitable, clearly defined the liturgy of the beginning and end of the worship service, transitioned well into the next part of the meeting with a woman speaker, humbly engaged in the topic and noted it’s significance, and personalized it to their local church situations by asking good questions. No one was condescending ..

By micoots
29/01/2017 0

Hindsight And Lessons Learned After 25 Years In Ministry

I accepted a 20-hour position in Children’s Ministry in our church. I wanted to help little people grow up to love Jesus. Twenty-five years later, I’m the one who has grown up. The church has largely been the instrument of God for my sanctification. There is always room for growth and improvement, but I am honored to have spent most of my adult life serving among kingdom-minded people who have helped to accomplish the purpose of God for my life.

When I first joined our staff, my son was in pre..

By micoots
29/01/2017 0

What if You Aborted a Future Janitor?

The biblical grounds for the pro-life argument have nothing to do with a person’s “usefulness” to a family or society. The Bible calls us to the pro-life position based on the reality that all persons are made in the image of God, that God has created us equal, and that therefore all life is precious, whether a person cures cancer or gets cancer, wins an Olympic medal or a Special Olympics medal, can compose like Mozart or sings like Roseanne Barr.

You have likely heard this line of reasoning f..

By micoots
29/01/2017 0

The Origin and Function of Government Under God

If you don’t like the president of the United States, remember that the One who cast the deciding ballot in his election was almighty God. Of course, God doesn’t sanction or endorse everything that the president does; neither is it the case that God turns the authority over to the president and says, “Go ahead and rule these people however you want.” Every king is subject to the laws of God and will be judged accordingly. It may be that the president is completely ungodly, but for reasons known ..

By micoots
29/01/2017 0

Progression Analysis

I remarked to my friend that I seem to think more highly of our fellow Americans than she does, even though I’m the one who acknowledges total depravity while she holds to innate goodness. The disconnect may reside not in our definition of goodness, but in our definition of progress. To me, it’s God’s common grace at work. Human nature will always have a long way to go, but it’s healthy to give thanks for how far we’ve come, no matter which side wins.

A few months ago I began posting online con..

By micoots
29/01/2017 0

Rounding Out Calvin’s Advice

Calvin believed that both politics and providence were operative; indeed, he suggested that the Kingdom of God was already present, albeit not completely realized: “For spiritual government, indeed, is already initiating in us upon earth certain beginnings of the Heavenly Kingdom, and in this mortal and fleeting life affords a certain forecast of an immortal and incorruptible blessedness.” He advised, “Let no man be disturbed that I now commit to civil government the duty of rightly establishing..

By micoots
28/01/2017 0

Physical beauty and biblical sexual attraction

There is a difference between physical beauty and biblical sexual attraction. Physical beauty is on display to be admired by all who observe it. The Holy Spirit describes the beauty of Job’s daughters this way:

“Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.”

Physical beauty can and should be appreciated by many. But sexual attraction is only for one’s marriage partner. Sexual attraction ou..