Seventeen82

  ****Warning**** The following article deals with death, the killing of the innocent, and is unsettling. Have you ever wondered if vegans may have a point? Is there any justification for their horror and visceral response to death? These questions were in my mind as I slowly moved the weapon to my shoulder and clicked off the safety. Finding the animal in the scope, I scanned for the perfect spot. It is, after all, all about shot placement. Time compressed, I exhaled and squeezed the trigger. The animal crumbled and was gone, it was a quick death. How do I feel sending ounces of metal through the air at high velocity to end a life? How should I feel? Is there weight to these moments? Have you ever seen death? Have you ever killed something? Do vegans have a point?  The first time that I saw death, I was a small child. A neighborhood kid found a bird's nest with baby birds in them and delighted in sadistically smashing them on the ground. I felt sick and tried to help them, bu...

W hen interviewing prospective church members, I sometimes get them to give an answer to what I call “The Elevator Question.” The Elevator Question is basically a short summary of the gospel.  It goes like this:  If you were on an elevator and someone asked you to explain the gospel, and you had only the time between floors to do it, what  would you say ? Of course, there are lots of  way s  to give  a correct answer. I always tell people they can’t go wrong if they answer with Scripture. Paul’s creedal summary in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, for instance, is a good answer. Most Christians have John 3:16 memorized, and that’s a good answer.  Paul’s answer to the Philippian jailer in Acts 16 is another  good place to go.  The question is intended to be diagnostic in nature. You are seeing if a person truly understands the gospel and can explain the substance of the gospel to another. The gospel message should be faithful taught and preached from our ...

  ​ When was the last time you read through the terms of agreement for the credit card that you use or a website that you use such as PayPal  or an investment website ?  Oftentimes, we simply “accept” those terms without even reading them. Yet we use such items as credit cards and marketplace /investment websites  on a daily basis , so that those terms of agreement are in place and have some effect upon us even though we have not read them and certainly do not think about them  while  using the credit card or paying off the credit card.  They are there and in effect regardless of how much thought we put into it.  In the past week, how many times have you thought about the covenant of redemption? I’m willing to say that for most of us it is “not at all.” So today I’d like to think about how the covenant of redemption affects us as believers.  First, it would be helpful to be reminded of what the covenant of redemption is and how Scripture talk...

  The Sixth Question ​ Having entered the Presbyterian Church through the auspices of American Presbyterianism, I was a bit taken aback when I discovered, in the ARP’s membership vows, the infamous sixth question:  (6) Do you accept that the doctrines and principles of the Standards of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church are founded upon the Scriptures?   Now some might be a bit surprised by my use of the adjective “infamous.” Yet, in my setting, it did become a wee bit of a stir to prospective members, especially those unaccustomed to such requirements for membership. What do we mean by this question? Now, I myself needed to seek counsel and clarity, which I will now attempt to pass on to you. By this question, we are asking prospective members to affirm that the ARP and her doctrinal standards, what we refer to as the Westminster Standards, are, well, founded upon Scripture. That is, the ARP is not teaching doctrines of demons, at least not when her ministers rem...