Welcome to Ref21! It probably sounds strange to be welcomed to a page that you have read for nearly twenty years! Ref21 has been a staple of daily Christian reading for literally thousands of believers. So, why act as if we are meeting for the first time? The answer is, we are. My name is Jeff...
The Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms have been effectively employed by churches around the world for nearly four centuries. Yet, strange to say, these well-loved documents may be missing a question. I’ll use the Shorter Catechism to demonstrate what I mean. WSC 85 asks, “What doth God...
The heavens declare the glory of God.
After reminding listeners of the great public service they provide through this podcast, the beneficent Messrs. Pruitt and Trueman welcome a special guest. Mark Jones is a PCA pastor serving in British Columbia, CA, and the author of numerous books. His most recent work is a two-volume set updating...
Note: This post in an excerpt from the author's new book, Trembling Joy: A Biblical Defense of Traditional Worship (Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, 2022). What first comes to mind when you hear the word “liturgy”? You may believe that “liturgy” is something mechanical or impersonal, not really...
Last year, the PCA approved a report on human sexuality that rightly spoke to the hope and victory of believers over sexual sins (AIC, 7 AND 10). However, when overtures were written to extend this to ordained officers of the church (along with calls for holiness in several other areas of life like...
So what do you think is our greatest need as a nation? Interestingly, in a Wall Street Journal article, written in 1947 (two years after the Second World War), a writer made this observation: “What America needs more than railway extension, western irrigation, a low tariff, a bigger cotton crop,...
Mortification of Spin podcast
You’re familiar with non-Christian teachings that simply reject traditional Bible truth. Perhaps just as dangerous are Christian teachings that distort the Gospel, twist Scripture, and introduce New Age and mystical thinking into the faith. Authors Holly Pivec and R. Douglas Geivett expose one such...
Don't Knox it 'til you've tried it.
Christian understanding of the Holy Spirit ranges from calling Him an “it,” to claiming the Spirit is a mere independent force operating in the universe. Systematic and historical theology professor Robert Letham reminds us that the Holy Spirit is holy God, a person of the triune Godhead operating...
Whenever I get the opportunity to speak about worship in either a Sunday School series or an Inquirers class, I try to work in the following thought from Hart and Muether's With Reverence and Awe : “God’s intention was to bless his people through the constant and conscientious observation of the [...
I love having children in the worship service. It always makes my heart happy when I see children singing with their parents. As a preacher, I am encouraged to see children focusing during the sermon, even if they may not fully understand everything they hear. I try my best to make children feel...