Church

Hannah Allen – Rescued from Serious Mental Struggles One of the most moving, honest, and encouraging stories of a battle with mental disturbances comes from a 17 th -century English Puritan, Hannah Allen, born around 1638 to pious parents. Her father, John Archer, a merchant, died when she was...

If someone were to ask you what passions, pleasures, or desires you have, what would you say? Upon further reflection, how would you respond if they asked how these passions, pleasures, and desires cause fights with those who stand in your way of them? When we think about passions, it’s important...

George Schmidt, Magdalena, and the Bible Beneath the Pear Tree When the Moravian missionary George Schmidt left South Africa in 1744, he left behind a few converts, a copy of the Dutch New Testament, and a few trees he had planted, including a pear tree that had grown to provide some shade to his...

We often see ourselves as the heroes of the stories we read. We identify with noble characters like Atticus Finch, Elizabeth Bennett, and Frodo Baggins—rarely do we align ourselves with flawed figures like Bob Ewell, Mary Bennett, or Gollum. This tendency extends to how we view the early church in...

WCF 32: Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead Many people are uncomfortable thinking about death. That’s understandable. Death is hauntingly foreign, like traveling to a country from which visitors do not return. But we must think about it because we will travel there...

Queen Ranavalona II of Madagascar Missionaries to Madagascar trembled when they heard the name of the new queen – Ranavalona II. They remembered a previous queen by the same name, who had cruelly persecuted her Christian subjects. But Ranavalona II was nothing like her predecessor Ranavalona I...

The metaphor of God’s kingdom as a vineyard is one that has Old Testament vintage, which is appropriate when talking about a vineyard. Long before Christ’s first advent, the prophet Isaiah described the Kingdom of Judah as a vineyard well-supplied to do what it is supposed to do: produce grapes for...

WCF 31: Of Synods and Councils Should leaders from multiple churches gather to consider matters of common concern? You might have an opinion on that question. Or it might seem irrelevant. How does church government affect my walk with the Lord? But what if inter-congregational meetings could be for...

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant” (Heb. 12:11). We don’t like discipline—in our personal lives, in the family, or at church—because it hurts. No balanced person enjoys giving or receiving corrective instruction. Correction wounds our pride and threatens our imagined...

Has the church has missed God’s plan for spiritual growth? Conventional wisdom promotes pragmatic self-help schemes, elaborate church programs, and charismatic leaders. But what if God actually authorized a simpler way? Early Christians committed to expository preaching, fellowship, and prayers (...