Praying for Light in the Philippines February 06, 2012 With the combination of seeing the poor do innovative things to overcome their life's difficulties and this taking place in the setting of the Philippines, the video below really touched my
Augustine The City of Firsts February 03, 2012 In 2008 Forbes ranked Kokomo, Indiana (the town in which I pastor) third among America's Fastest Dying Towns. The downturn in the automobile industry, which Kokomo relies so heavily upon, dealt
Good Morning America 9.5 Ounces January 23, 2012 Watch the video below of how a baby born at just 24 weeks and weighing 9.5 ounces ("less than a can of pop" as the report states) has survived and
Life Issues January 20, 2012 Years ago while in college, on January 23rd, which is my birthday, my picture appeared on the front page of an Ann Arbor newspaper. No, it had nothing to do with honoring my
Bungee Cord Proof David Wells is a Prophet January 16, 2012 Many of you may have heard of the lady whose bungee cord snapped two weeks ago or even seen the video. Erin Langworthy, an Aussie, was in Africa bungee jumping from the bridge
Christopher Hitchens Ponderings January 13, 2012 Read recently of a godly minister long deceased that, though he ministered to multitudes, "avoided sensationalism." Some leading ministers in our day would do well to have such a goal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Witnessed
Tearful Sowing January 11, 2012 We rejoiced this Lord's Day as a young unmarried couple professed their faith to the elders, joined the church, and communed with us for the first time. They would not mind
David Murray Ad Adieu January 06, 2012 For those of you who have been following Gentle Reformation for a while, you have probably noticed our new look. It has taken some doing, and I want to thank Austin Brown especially
singing Improving Congregational Singing January 02, 2012 According to the forty-seventh Psalm, we are to sing the praise of the Lord "with skillfulness." I will leave the musical instruction side of that commandment, with its pitches, note
The Empty Chair December 27, 2011 In my study at the church I have a hexagonal table with four covered chairs on rollers around it. The table and chairs have been "redeemed." They used to function as
The Gospel's Black Backdrop December 20, 2011 Would we have had the beautiful description of Christ's true deity in the Nicene Creed and Athanasius' On the Incarnation if it was not for Arianism? Would Augustine have spoken
Church iPew? December 06, 2011 John had noticed that his pastor, for quite some time, had been excited. A longtime churchgoer, John had never seen him quite this enthusiastic. For several months the pastor had been talking about
Facebook GenRef Update December 05, 2011 Gentle Reformation is still in its first year as a multi-author blog dedicated to "speaking the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in its many applications through the media of the
Reflections November 28, 2011 I came across these statistics from David Well's book Losing Our Virtue (p. 44). Having studied a large number of modern hymnbooks, he cites these statistics below. Wells states that these
abraham Our Pilgrim Heritage November 23, 2011 This past Lord's Day was a rich one in our congregation. In the morning we had a baptism of a covenant child, where our featured text was Isaiah 59:21, which
He Left Not the Work November 17, 2011 What if in the late 1800's missionaries were sent to a foreign field and began seeing success? What if in the middle of last century an atheistic government drove all the
female Female Heart November 11, 2011 A few weeks ago, in sharing about speaking at a women's retreat, I used the term "female heart." Some comments on the post suggested concern about this phrase which
a capella An A Capella Fella November 01, 2011 Often when those of us in the Reformed Presbyterian Church are asked about our worship practices (someone just called me on the phone last week to do so), we can get a bit
Architecture Culture, Contradictions & the Cross October 25, 2011 In the Worldview class I am teaching in our church's academy, which is based on materials from Summit Ministries, we have been looking at postmodernism and its influence on culture. Through
Stronger Women October 21, 2011 At the Women's Retreat last week, I borrowed an idea from Jeremiah Burrough's work on contentment and gave the following definition to the ladies. The quiet strength of a
prayer Strong Women October 12, 2011 On the refrigerator in the kitchen at Sycamore, a magnet once held a card given to us by a former member. On the front was a picture of some middle-aged men dressed
Bigger Bloggers October 05, 2011 Our children like to tell the joke, "Who is bigger? Daddy Bigger, Mommy Bigger, or Baby Bigger?" The answer? "Baby Bigger. He's a little Bigger." As baby
Lord's Day Deeds of Mercy September 29, 2011 Every year on the first Lord's Day of October, our church joins others in the area for the annual Life Chain. For an hour or so in the afternoon along busy
Edward Fisher Interview: Bill VanDoodewaard, Author September 22, 2011 Bill VanDoodewaard serves as Associate Professor of Church History at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Recently Bill's doctoral work was published by Reformation Heritage Books under the title The Marrow Controversy and
Smiling September 20, 2011 With so much sadness and gloom in the world, it is important to see and to savor a bit the moments that make us smile. Such as... ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you know our church plant
