Christian Heritage News

The penultimate “Together for the Gospel” conference in 2020 in Louisville, Ky.  (Together for the Gospel Coalition) Image Source: Chronicles  By Stephen Wolfe - Posted at Chronicles: I converted to Christ in the year 2000, leaving behind my atheistic contrarianism. I entered American Protestantism completely unaware that something unique was occurring. In the 1980s, Calvinism reemerged as a potent intellectual force in evangelicalism, spearheaded by Baptists John Piper and John MacArthur and Presbyterian R. C. Sproul. In the early 2000s, young Gen X seminary graduates and writers who were influenced by these men became a movement known as the Young, Restless, and Reformed (YRR). New personalities and publishers emerged, and megachurches were formed. Centered on Calvinistic doctrines of salvation, these Baby Boomers and Gen X Calvinists achieved a good deal of theological unity. Their cross- and intra-generational unity was most evident in the Together for the Gospel conferences (T4G),

By Mike Riccardi - Posted at The Cripplegate : A long time ago, in a land far, far away, I began a series on whom the faithful Christian minister may legitimately partner with in ministry. First, I briefly surveyed the history of the ecumenical movement in order to vividly illustrate the terrible consequence of disobedience to Scripture on this matter. Then, I oriented us to the key text that answers this question, 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 , and considered the context in which it comes . Next, I considered the main prohibition of text itself , and explored what it means for Christians to not be “unequally yoked” with unbelievers. In the latest installment in this series, I considered how the text outlines precisely how believers are “unequal” to unbelievers. I mentioned that there were five fundamental differences between believers and unbelievers that Paul enumerates, and we looked at the first four in that post. Believers and unbelievers are governed by different rules of life,

TabletalkMagazine.com By Michael Reeves - Posted at Tabletalk Magazine : None of the goodness or relevance of the Reformation’s insights have faded over the last five hundred years. Last year, on October 31, Pope Francis announced that after five hundred years, Protestants and Catholics now “have the opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history by moving beyond the controversies and disagreements that have often prevented us from understanding one another.” From that, it sounds as if the Reformation was an unfortunate and unnecessary squabble over trifles, a childish outburst that we can all put behind us now that we have grown up. But tell that to Martin Luther, who felt such liberation and joy at his rediscovery of justification by faith alone that he wrote, “I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.” Tell that to William Tyndale, who found it such “merry, glad and joyful tidings” that it made him “sing, dance, an

Covenant Seminary By Angela Wittman, editor Dear Friends, I live in the St. Louis Metro Area and grew up in St. Louis County near Covenant Seminary. At one time I thought of Covenant Seminary as a bright light for the Gospel in St. Louis, but now it appears their bulb is growing a bit dim. Perhaps it is time to check and see if it's going out or just needs some adjusting. Please read this post by DG Hart posted at Old Life regarding a series of lectures on the Reformation scheduled for this fall: An academic institution where Protestants and Roman Catholics teach together sponsoring a conference about the Reformation is one thing, but a Presbyterian seminary holding a series of lectures on the Reformation that includes Roman Catholics and Protestants? That’s what’s happening at Covenant Theological Seminary this fall... --Excerpt from: We Got This Not ( Old Life ) Take heed, lest your light goes out: Revelation, Chapter 2: 1 Unto the angel of the church

By Peter Masters - Posted at Herald of Grace : From The Sword & Trowel 2016, issue 1 by Dr Peter Masters And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God (Acts 5.38-39). Some people seem to think that Gamaliel was the only wise man in the whole of the Bible! Whenever wisdom is needed to assess the latest strange idea or movement to penetrate the churches, we hear the famous ‘counsel of Gamaliel’ quoted. We heard it often, for example, in connection with the ‘Toronto blessing’. We hear it especially when there is no scriptural support for something. When the rest of the Bible seems to say ‘No!’ – then the counsel of Gamaliel comes to the rescue. Gamaliel is often preferred above Paul. If the apostle clearly condemns something, his word is pushed aside in favour of Gamaliel’s. But Paul is n

By Mike Riccardi - Posted at The Cripplegate : “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” – 2 Corinthians 6:14, ESV – Over the past two weeks, we’ve been considering who the faithful Christian minister may properly partner with in ministry. Two weeks ago we briefly surveyed the history of the ecumenical movement in order to vividly illustrate the terrible consequence of disobedience to Scripture on this matter. Last week we oriented ourselves to the key text I’m focusing on, 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1, considering the context in which it comes. I won’t rehash all of that here, so if you’ve missed it please click over to read those two introductory posts [ http://thecripplegate.com/author/mike-riccardi/ ]. But today we come to consider the actual prohibition that Paul gives. It comes in 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” Now, this term “to be unequally yoked with,” is a translation of the compound word heterozugeo, which is made up of the familiar

By Mike Riccardi - Posted at The Cripplegate : Whom can the faithful church of God legitimately partner with in ministry? That question has been a point of contention among professing Christians for the past 100 years. And that’s been illustrated by what is known as the ecumenical movement, the history of which we  surveyed in depth last week . And the principal dogma of the ecumenical movement of the 20th century was that anyone who called themselves a Christian was to be regarded as a Christian. It didn’t matter if they were a theological liberal who denied the bodily resurrection of Christ or penal substitutionary atonement, or if they were a Roman Catholic who denied the Gospel of justification by faith alone. The important thing was that those who called themselves Christians, and held somewhat to a “Christian” view of morality, were able to unite together in order to show strength in numbers, and therefore to compete in the culture wars for larger societal influence. Whet

By Mike Riccardi - Posted at The Cripplegate : One of the most devastating attacks on the life and health of the church throughout all of church history has been what is known as the ecumenical movement—the downplaying of doctrine in order to foster partnership in ministry between (a) genuine Christians and (b) people who were willing to call themselves Christians but who rejected fundamental Christian doctrines. In the latter half of the 19th century, theological liberalism fundamentally redefined what it meant to be a Christian. It had nothing to do, they said, with believing in doctrine. It didn’t matter if you believed in an inerrant Bible; the scholarship of the day had debunked that! It didn’t matter if you believed in the virgin birth and the deity of Christ; modern science disproved that! It didn’t matter if you embraced penal substitutionary atonement; blood sacrifice and a wrathful God are just primitive and obscene, and besides, man is not fundamentally sinful but b

Photo Credit: Helen Parshall By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network: WASHINGTON — Over 20 clergy members representing Judaism, Hinduism and Islam, as well as those professing Christianity, gathered on Tuesday to seek a “blessing” over a new Planned Parenthood facility that opened last fall in the nation’s capital. “In almost every message to our staff, I talk about our doing sacred work,” Laura Meyers, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, told DCist. “This confirms the sacredness of the work we do.” “Now I can tell patients that this is a blessed space,” also remarked Serina Floyd, the medical director at the facility, located next to Two Rivers Charter School. According to reports, the event was organized by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) and Christine and Dennis Wiley, who lead Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C. Read more here.

By Rev. Ian Brown: Protest @ False Ecumenism in St Anne's September 25, 2016 125 Free Presbyterians assembled in Writer's Square opposite the main doors to St. Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, this afternoon. Several famous Gospel hymns were sung, the Scriptures were read, and a message delivered by the Deputy Moderator, Rev. Kenneth Elliott, which exhorted God's people to turn their backs on the kind of compromising signals being sent out by Belfast's cathedral church. ... Read more...

Posted at The Spitfire Grill: Editor's Note: This article was originally published 4.08.2013. - AW Abby Johnson is a famous voice in the pro-life movement. She left Planned Parenthood as a clinic director in 2009, joined Live Action as a research strategist, and then became Senior Policy Advisor for Americans United for Life in 2011. Readers can go to her official website and that of her autobiography unPLANNED . Abby posted the following status on her Facebook page on Saturday, April 6. I am so tired of the denominational divide. I don’t care if you are Baptist, Muslim, Atheist…whatever. If you are pro-life, I will stand with you. All of this fighting about religion is really ridiculous. Are there differences among all of us? Yes. Does that mean we can’t work together? Absolutely not. Just cut it out. While we fight, babies die. I was horrified. I completely disagreed and said so, but almost no one took my side. They all agreed with Abby – spouting inclusivism, unity for life

Posted at Daniel's Place - (Reformata et semper reformanda): "In recent years, we have discovered that the activities of some churches and organisations are harmful to us because these groups violate the laws and regulations of the Chinese government which is neither beneficial to themselves nor to churches in China. These activities range from sending missionaries, conducting training programs in clandestine fashion, setting up denominational churches and tempting Chinese Christians financially to join these churches. These practices destroy the unity of churches in China and generate misunderstandings, as their reports on churches in China can be misleading." [Gao Feng, "Co-operation and Partnership in the Mission of the Church in China," in Michael Nai-Chiu Poon, Church Partnerships in Asia: A Singapore Conversation (CSCA Christianity in Southeast Series; Singapore, Trinity Theological College, 2011), 63]  "The emergence of many new denominations

Posted at Berean Research : Image from Berean Research Doctrinal distinctives? Divisions? Not any more. Several major denominations will be blended up smoother than a Vitamix cocktail in a few weeks. This summer, a “Next Great Awakening” is bringing  Assemblies of God Supt. George O. Wood and  Southern Baptist Convention president Ronnie Floyd  together to link arms in spiritual unity with the  Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America, Grace Communion International (formerly the Armstrongism Worldwide Church of God ), and a host of familiar Chrislebrities including Hillsong United, Francis Chan, Hillsong’s pastorix Christine Caine, Ravi Zacharias, Kari Jobe, Josh McDowell, Luis Palau and others. The number organizers have in mind: One Million. Read more...

(70 minutes) Link: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonID=126162250276

By Alan Dowd - Posted at byFaithonline : The stories seem to be picking up in frequency: a Marine court-martialed because of a Bible verse on her office computer, a formal reprimand for an Army chaplain who talked about faith in Jesus during a suicide-prevention seminar, a threatened legal challenge against a “God Bless the Military” sign posted on a Marine base in Hawaii, a Navy chaplain reassigned for expressing his views on homosexuality, another chaplain stripped of his authority for refusing to allow the base chapel to be used for same-sex ceremonies, still another threatened with early retirement for sending an email discussing changes to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy , demands that an Air Force general be punished for giving credit to God, an Air Force cadet ordered to remove Bible verses from his personal whiteboard. These stories remind us that U.S. troops don’t defend only our religious freedom ; from time to time, they also have to defend their own reli

By Andrew McDonald - Posted at The Protestant Standard : For approximately two millennia the followers of Jesus Christ have been known as Christians. Acts 11:26 tell us that ' the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch ', the name being given to them as a result of their adherence to the teachings of Christ. Since that time other names have been given to various grouping within the broad spectrum of Christianity. The east/west schism of 1054 divided the Christian church into its Roman and Orthodox branches, both describing themselves as Christian but using more specific terms to distinguish themselves one from another. At the Diet of Speyer in 1529 the term Protestant was attributed to princes and rulers who protested against the decisions of the Diet, and since that time those who have opposed the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church have generally been known as Protestant. As the centuries have advanced further labels have been added to the various branches o

By Jordan Standridge - Posted at The Cripplegate : As the evangelical world in America seems rather excited about the Pope’s visit, I can’t help but remember how I felt when I discovered the  Evangelicals and Catholics Together document  (ECT). In 1995 the unthinkable happened. Well known evangelical pastors signed a document in which they joined themselves with Catholic priests and Philosophers, in an ecumenical fashion in order to promote the agreements over the disagreements that have plagued Protestants and Catholics for centuries dating back to the greats: Calvin, Luther, Zwingli and Knox. They agreed to no longer “proselytize” each other, agreeing that Catholics are indeed brothers, and sisters in Christ. This article was successful in its endeavor. The vast majority of Christians in America do not evangelize Catholics. Someone like me who has shed many tears over the deception of the Roman Catholic Church is seen as hateful. I totally understand the desire to believe people

Posted at Pilgrim’s Progress revisited – Christiana on the narrow way : In September, the pope will visit the U.S. He is scheduled to address both the UN and a joint session of Congress. He is a king of sorts, a fact which many Christians do not realize or choose to forget, even after all we’ve suffered under papal rule.  © National Geographic I’ve finished reading the article about Francis I in this month’s National Geographic. It’s obvious that Robert Draper (text) and Dave Yoder (photos) admire him. They portray him as a man at home in the world, among all kinds of people, and “a saint” who washes the feet of the poor. This prevalent view of him reinforces the need to pray concerning his visit and ongoing influence. The article highlights the following statement he made in a homily delivered on October 19, 2014, at the beatification ceremony of Pope Paul VI: “God is not afraid of new things! That is why he is continually surprising us, opening our hearts and guiding us