Ref21 Blog

The call to be a pastor is one of unparalleled privilege. It is a joy, though a sobering one, to preach God's Word for the benefit of God's people. For battered pastors, however, (and they are numerous) the glad labor...

You know society is in trouble when the politicians start stooping so low that they begin to adopt practices akin to those of celebrity megachurch pastors in order to inflate their cultural share price.  I knew politics was a dirty,...

The Transadvocate reports another case of dastardly and unacceptable cisgender oppression.  This time, a transgender person has been refused permission to compete as a woman at the Crossfit Games.  In a letter apparently 'reeking of transphobia and cisgenderism' (but, to...

We are delighted to announce the winners of this years Refs 2014 It's the equivalent of the Reformed Oscars and a highly prestigious award that can lead to massively increased book sales. Books considered are not limited to those published in...

'From Heaven He Came and Sought Her' edited by David and Jonathan Gibson has not appeared on any blog for a few days so let me try and add to the publicity juggernaut ,I recently interviewed the Gibson brothers for Evangelicals Now...

For those who think that the world of Reformed chick lit is by and large dominated by very nice ladies who write poetry (sort of), love children and have sweet thoughts about everything from cooking to husbands (the present Mrs...

Just in case someone thinks that the observance of Lent is not the start of a slippery slope, consider the following sad case of a man who thought it did not matter much . . ....

I know I have been here before, but it is that time of year when we hear of those noble spirits who will be relinquishing chocolate (Book of Additions, chapter 1, verse 28), smartphones (Second Letter to the Accretions, chapter...

I have shared my concerns about the practices of Pastor Steven Furtick and Elevation Church previously on this blog. I have done this out of a deep concern for the peace and purity of the church and the integrity of...

I had the honor of being the guest speaker at a women's retreat last weekend. Given the setting of the retreat, and the four different sessions blocked out for me to speak, I incorporated about a half hour or so...

Todd has his work cut out at the moment.  A number of very fine and helpful books have been published recently, so we must assume that the Witchfinder General will be canceling all leave for his pitchfork-wielding underlings in order...

Reformation 21 exists for the purposes of, "Encouraging biblical thinking, living, worship, ministry, and constructive cultural engagement." I desire to engage the latter in this post. To be clear, I am not playing the race card nor am I claiming...

This week's Mortification of Spin is up.  Our guest is Paul Wolfe, author of My God is True and Setting Our Sights On Heaven.  Paul is a pastor in the P.C.A. and a cancer survivor, so the conversation focuses on matters...

Last week we had a Men's evening at IPC with Ian Hamilton from Cambridge Presbyterian Church. I'd asked Ian to speak on eldership and he was outstanding. It seems to me that we spend enormous amounts of effort and thinking...

A little more than a year ago I read Handbook for Battered Leaders. It was written by husband and wife Wesley Balda and Janis Bragan Balda. Wesley is president of the Simeon Institute. In the past he has led the...