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An Expanded View of Stewardship

Leave a Comment / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Fellowship of Presbyterians, It All Started in the Garden, PCUSA, Theological Reflection / By /

Stewardship seems to be a particularly Presbyterian emphasis. Your personal experience of this word may be annual, during your congregation’s fall “stewardship campaign” designed to invite your financial pledge for the coming year. You may be familiar with the idea that Christians are called to steward “time, talent, and treasure,” which in common usage refers to the giving or sharing of all three with the church. But the concept of stewardship is far richer and more encompassing than these interpretations. There are at least two catalysts for a broader view of stewardship: The first scenario goes back to the Garden […]

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Covenant Life: Living as Family

Leave a Comment / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, PCUSA, Theological Reflection / By /

We continue today on the topic of The Fellowship of Presbyterians Theology Project on the essential tenets of the Reformed faith. The seventh major theme under consideration is “Covenant Life in the Church.” God’s election of us in Christ draws us not only into a right relationship with God but also to a new relationship with other believers. We might think of the Church as a place for worship or a meeting we attend. However the doctrine of covenant refers to the people to whom we belong and to which we are bound because of our common ties to Jesus

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Election: No Contest between God’s Sovereignty and Human Free Will

Leave a Comment / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, It All Started in the Garden, PCUSA, Theological Reflection / By /

We come now in our discussion to a doctrinal area particularly associated with the Presbyterian tribe within the Reformed tradition, even though Martin Luther in The Bondage of the Will covered this territory thoroughly himself. But here it is: the topic of election and its cousin predestination, what Kirk Bottomly called “the skeleton in the Reformed closet.”[1]  The doctrine as debated in historical theology is a wide-ranging topic, often focusing on the tension between God’s sovereignty and human free will. The Fellowship Theology Project focuses on the sad consequence of the fall: human beings actually lost their freedom of will

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Our Only Hope Is God’s Grace

Leave a Comment / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Fellowship of Presbyterians, PCUSA, Theological Reflection / By /

As we continue our consideration of the great doctrines of the church and essentials of the Reformed faith, we now broaden our exploration of Incarnation to ask, “For what purpose would God become a man?” One of the mysteries of the Incarnation revolves around the question of why God would go to such lengths to identify with his creation. It is a legitimate question and its answer must be consistent with God’s nature, which includes love, hope, holiness, and purposefulness. God created human beings to receive God’s gracious love, to bask in his glory, and to represent God as stewards

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The Incarnation: God Bridges the Gap

Leave a Comment / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Fellowship of Presbyterians, PCUSA, Theological Reflection / By /

The next essential tenet, affirmed by all Christians, is the Incarnation: the act by which God became a human being in order to position himself to redeem humanity. For Jews of Jesus’ day, “Our God is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4) was the banner cry of faith. For the Greco-Roman culture, many gods populated the heavens and earth, as illustrated by Paul’s observation of their monuments in Athens (Acts 17). So you can imagine how Jesus’ claims recorded in the gospel of John would be controversial: “Before Abraham was, I Am” (John 8:58) “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30); and

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Explaining the Trinity without Getting into Trouble

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We are taking a look at The Fellowship Theology Project‘s explanation of the essential tenets of the Reformed faith. You can get a copy of the report developed for The Fellowship of Presbyterians and the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians here. A study guide by Stephen Eyre (Cincinnati, OH) and me has been completed and will be available soon, so watch that website for its release. The last tenet highlighted the fact that while we take the Bible in its various parts as the authoritative Word of God, we also take the Scriptures in their entirety very seriously. This turns

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Are You Ready to Read the Bible?

Leave a Comment / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Fellowship of Presbyterians, PCUSA, Teaching / By /

Are you one among many who have made a New Year’s Resolution to read the entire Bible in 2013? If so, and if you actually carry through on the resolve, you are in a very good place to build your faith. For through the Word of God written, the Christian becomes acquainted with God, who turns out to be remarkably open with those who seek him this way. According to The Fellowship Theology Project, the paper giving an exposition of “the essential tenets of the Reformed faith,” the first essential has to do with God’s Word as the authority of

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Are You Ready to Offer Some Hope?

Leave a Comment / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Leadership and Spirituality, PCUSA, Peace Unity & Purity, Teaching / By /

Yesterday, I suggested that denominational life is likely to become more difficult for evangelicals as we move through 2013. My predictions of trends are discouraging, I know, but today I want to give a word of encouragement. A difficult life, in and of itself, is not a sign that Jesus has left us orphans, nor is it an excuse to give up and give in to the worldly influences surrounding us. Rather, a difficult life calls us to depend on our Savior all the more and to hold fast to what we have been given. We have our testimony of

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Are You Ready for What Can Happen in 2013?

Leave a Comment / Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA, Peace Unity & Purity / By /

Looking ahead to the coming year, my sense is that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will see an accelerated decline in “the measurables,” and the spiritual gains will be harder and harder to discern. It is customary in some circles to predict the trends of the coming year, so I will take a stab at a list for the PC(USA). By mentioning these things I am not saying I want them to happen, or that I am certain they will, but I feel confident asserting that the trends are a real threat to Presbyterian covenant life. I believe that we will

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BC and AC: A Shock to the System

3 Comments / Leadership and Spirituality, PCUSA, Personal, Theological Reflection / By /

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! After a two-month hiatus from blogging, I am ready for the daily discipline again. I stopped out for three main reasons:  Firstly, a writing/editing project came along and its due date was December 21. Now that it is finished, my readers will be hearing about it in future posts, because it has everything to do with Bringing the Word to Life and the Presbyterian Church. But I’ll keep you in suspense two more days on its themes. Secondly, I found myself speechless. I know this is hard to believe, but I felt “silenced,” not

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