Christian Heritage News

Posted at Scottish Puritanism: Messiah: Governor of the Nations of the Earth by Alexander McLeod, D.D. This is a lengthy pamphlet outlining the basic Covenanter (and Reformed) view of Christ the Mediator and what this doctrine entails for the civil magistrate. It is no small encouragement to see McLeod’s book back in print. His writing style is simple and forceful and never tedious. The essay is divided into three parts: Messiah as Mediator, the acts of the Mediator, and Objections Answered. He begins the first part surveying the texts which prove that the Ascended Christ is the Lord of the nations. There is no point in this review to survey all of the texts—there are just too many. It is remarkable that McLeod so artfully weaves these texts into his argument in a way that doesn’t tire the reader. Read more here. Read the online version of  Messiah: Governor of the Nations of the Earth  by Alexander McLeod, D.D. (Covenanter.org)

By David Roach - Posted at Baptist Press: Baptist World Alliance leaders visit with Cuban President Fidel Castro during a July 8, 2000, meeting in Havana. Participants included (left to right) BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz, immediate past BWA President Nilson Fanini of Brazil, Castro and then-BWA President Billy Kim of Korea. Photo by Jim Veneman HAVANA (BP) -- Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who died Nov. 25 at age 90, is being remembered as both an unwitting catalyst of revival and an opponent of religious liberty. Castro's death, said Southern Baptists with ties to Cuba, is unlikely to yield significant increases in religious liberty for the island nation until the fall of the communist government he inaugurated 57 years ago. When Castro led a revolt that overthrew then-Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, he instituted a communist regime that viewed Christians as "anti-revolutionaries." And he barred them from attending universities or entering certain

By Gretchen Logue - Posted at Missouri Education Watchdog: If you follow education reform, this Thanksgiving has been, well, interesting . Twitter comments on the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary have ranged from those celebrating a charter school proponent to those concerned about her apparent 11th hour conversion against Common Core and praise from Jeb Bush: Many of us are skeptical that she is not a supporter of Common Core as she has not spoken out against it one time during the seven years it was being implemented and as she sat on the Board of Jeb Bush’s organization, Foundation for Excellence in Education (FEE) . But hey, if you believe that statement from DeVos on her twitter feed, then you probably believe the Benghazi murders of four Americans happened because of a YouTube video. Read more... HT: Truth in American Education (Twitter)

Scottish Puritanism Posted at Scottish Puritanism: "After about a year and a half of meeting, the man who had been doing the preaching (ordained by a Baptist denomination) announced that he had gotten a job elsewhere and that he was moving. We were on our own the following Sunday. As I said, it was the seventies. The idea of going into pastoral ministry had not occurred to me, but when it did, I didn’t like it very much. Nevertheless, as things turned out, I was up in front with the guitar. That was my call to the ministry; I knew all the chords. I began to preach. ..." - Doug Wilson I do not know if Wilson has since gotten a legitimate calling and ordination from an established church body. But he explains in his own words. ( I thank Rachel Miller for finding this . Even though she unfriended me on Facebook because I said Saddam was better than ISIS). I also recommend this post by Rev. Lane Keister . Read more...

Access the Book written by R. Andrew Myers that compiles the broad testimony of the Reformed Church on the extent of Christ's Mediatorial Kingship How great indeed is the scope and extent of Christ’s Kingly rule! He is not only Lord of all as one Person within the Triune God, but in a special, mediatorial office as King, He was given “all power and authority in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28.18). He is not only the ruler of His Church, He is also “Head of all things to the church” (Eph. 1.22), the “Governor among the nations” (Ps. 22.28). “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth” (Ps. 72.8). Although this testimony is a distinctive today of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, it is a testimony shared throughout the history of the Reformed Church in general by many great and notable divines. The book found here is a compendium of statements and resources on the subject of the scope and extent of Christ’s mediatorial kingsh

By Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas - Elijah Ministries "As for me, says the Lord, this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants, says the Lord, from this time and forevermore (Isaiah 59:21)." If one would ask the typical American why the Pilgrims braved a dangerous journey to come to the shores of America, most would declare, "They came to escape religious persecution or they desired the freedom to worship God according to the Bible." Though these perspectives have sentimental value for Christians in America, it does not square with the actual history the Pilgrims themselves recorded for posterity. The journal of William Bradford provides a more accurate depiction. It journals the Pilgrims determination to face unimaginable hardships to traverse the stormy seas of the Atlantic to c

1911 illustration of Tisquantum ("Squanto") teaching the Plymouth colonists to plant maize. ( Image from Wikipedia ) By Rusty Lee Thomas - Elijah Ministries One of the most meaningful elements of the Thanksgiving saga centers on God's providential hand concerning an Indian known as Squanto. He was born and raised amongst an Indian tribe known as the Patuxets. They were one of the fiercest tribes located in New England. This particular tribe was especially brutal towards any visitors they might encounter. As a young man, Squanto was kidnapped and sold into slavery. He was taken to a notorious slave-trading port known as Malaga, which is located off the coast of Spain. Fortunately for Squanto, instead of being sold and shipped off to North Africa, he was rescued by some local friars. It was here that Squanto became familiar with certain aspects of the Christian faith. Little did Squanto know at this stage of his life that God was preparing him for a signif

Issues Response to News Stories about Trump Not Pursuing Clinton Investigations (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding reports that President-elect Trump decided that his administration will not pursue investigations into Hillary Clinton’s email scandal or the Clinton Foundation: Donald Trump must commit his administration to a serious, independent investigation of the very serious Clinton national security, email, and pay-to-play scandals. If Mr. Trump’s appointees continue the Obama administration’s politicized spiking of a criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton, it would be a betrayal of his promise to the American people to “drain the swamp” of out-of-control corruption in Washington, DC. President-elect Trump should focus on healing the broken justice system, affirm the rule of law and appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Clinton scandals. In the meantime, Judicial Watch will vigorously pursue its

By Shane Vander Hart - Posted at Truth in American Education: Betsy DeVos speaks at the 2016 American Federation for Children Policy Summit. Republican mega-donor and education activist Betsy DeVos met with President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence this weekend at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J this Saturday. Trump and Pence also met with Michelle Rhee who was the former D.C. Public Schools Chancellor and founder and former CEO of StudentsFirst. DeVos has been a school choice and Common Core advocate who serves as the chairperson for the American Federation for Children . She also serves on the board of directors of the Foundation for Excellence in Education , the group that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush created. DeVos has been discussed as being on Trump’s short list for Secretary of Education and this meeting just fuels further speculation. Trump also recently met with Eva Moskowitz, CEO of Success Charter School

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network: BEDMINSTER, N.J. — Churchgoers at a PCUSA Presbyterian assembly in New Jersey gave President-elect Donald Trump a standing ovation on Sunday as he attended services with Mike Pence, Reince Preibus and others. Trump and his entourage visited Lamington Presbyterian Church in Bedminster Township for worship, which is located just two miles from the National Golf Club Bedminster, where Trump is interviewing prospective cabinet members. Lamington Presbyterian, led by female interim minister Jacqui Van Vliet, is a member of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), which is considered apostate by orthodox Christians as a majority of presbyteries voted last year to amend the Book of Order to redefine marriage and allow ministers to officiate same-sex ceremonies. PCUSA congregations are also generally pro-abortion. Read more...

By DAN MICHAEL COGAN - Posted at Anchorline : "I do not think, as some evangelical leaders have, that Mr. Trump is a kind of David or Samson anymore than I thought that of Barack Obama. To compare either of these men to the foreshadows of Christ is borderline blasphemy, but more likely merely bad exegesis." I was pretty vocal during the 2016 election about my opposition to Donald Trump. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want Hillary Clinton to be our next President either, but that didn’t mean I could bring myself to vote for Mr. Trump as a result. Instead, on Election Day, I cast the ballot for a candidate I knew wasn’t going to win, but with whom I could stand on most issues. But can I be honest for a moment? I was actually kind of relieved Mr. Trump won. Kind of. Read more...

Posted at Christian Patriots: © Michael Dalder / Reuters A ruling out of Missouri’s Court of Appeals found that frozen embryos have the same rights as any other marital property, but not children. The case was the result of a woman who wanted to use frozen embryos from her and her ex-husband against his wishes. Corporations are still people under the eyes of justice, but embryos are not, according to a ruling out of Kansas City’s Court of Appeals. This will come as bad news to Jalesia “Jasha”McQueen, 44, and as great news to her ex-husband, Justin Gadberry, 34. The couple froze several embryos in 2007, CBS News reported . Some were used and resulted in the couple having twins, but when their 2010 separation brought the issue to the courts. McQueen hoped to use the remaining embryos to have more children, but Gadberry was not interested. Read more...

By Jordan Standridge - Posted at The Cripplegate: We were warned. I feel like it was over and over again. Pastor after pastor told us that if politics becomes an idol in our heart that those who don’t agree with us will slowly become the enemy. We were told that when we put our hopes and trust in the one who sits in the Oval Office and into avoiding persecution and holding on to religious freedom then when people speak out with opposing views from us we will despise them and treat them like an enemy. And yet despite the warning, many of us in the church have raised the idol. Many in the church have worshipped at the feet of this idol and are simply overjoyed that this idol seems to have produced results. And the mocking has begun. My Facebook is filled with comments about snowflakes, hypocrites and lefties who supposedly are so evil and so despicable that they need to be ridiculed for their tears. The problem is that these snowflakes we’re mocking are my mission field. I talk

By T.M. Moore - Posted at The Fellowship of Ailbe: The Word of truth knows what we need most. Let God Be True (4) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— … Romans 5.12 A matter of opinion? Ask a dozen people what they consider the greatest problem facing our world, and you’re likely to get almost as many different answers: “More justice!” cries one. “Economic opportunity,” insists another. “Less government”; “More government”; “Better education”; “Free health care”; “Environmental reform!” – the list goes on. Most of these answers identify real problems, but they don’t quite get at the true nature of the mess we’re in as human beings. They’re rather like Yossarian, the character in Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22, who believed that covering his cold comrade with his flight jacket would relieve his suffering, only to discover that the reason he was cold had nothing to do with the outside