Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann and Speaker of the House Philip Gunn have asked me to make a statement on the issue of the Mississippi flag. The leaders of our State government and legislature are discussing and debating this matter right now in Jackson. It seems that a consensus is emerging for change. As a Presbyterian, my Confession warns against “intermeddling in civil affairs” but encourages me that when I am asked to offer advice by the civil magistrate that I should be ready to give a Christian and biblical answer. Here is what…A Statement on the Flag of Mississippi
Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann and Speaker of the House Philip Gunn have asked me to make a statement on the issue of the Mississippi flag. The leaders of our State government and legislature are discussing and debating this matter right now in Jackson. It seems that a consensus is emerging for change. As a Presbyterian, my Confession warns against “intermeddling in civil affairs” but encourages me that when I am asked to offer advice by the civil magistrate that I should be ready to give a Christian and biblical answer. Here is what…
Many of my RTS friends and supporters may not know that my call to serve as Chancellor and Professor at RTS actually comes from my presbytery. Because of this, I am required to give an annual report on my ministry (which I joyfully do!), in order to evidence the exercise of my ministerial calling “out of bounds” of the presbytery (that is, not at one of the local churches that comprise our regional court of the church). Here is this year’s report, submitted to the fathers and brothers of the Presbytery of the Mississippi…
My friend and colleague Dr. Sean Michael Lucas, Associate Professor of Church History at Reformed Theological Seminary and Senior Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Hattiesburg, MS, has just made a major contribution to the history of Presbyterian and Reformed denominational life in North America. His book For a Continuing Church: The Roots of the Presbyterian Church in America (P&R, 2015) is the fruit of more than a decade of careful historical research and reflection. It was my privilege to write the foreword to this book, which I include…
Yesterday was a special day at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson. We celebrated a new (and large) incoming class of students and installed our newest chaired professor during Convocation. This was the 49th Convocation of RTS in Jackson, and…
Today, July 10, 2014, is the 505th birthday of John Calvin. He was born in Noyon, Picardy, France on 10 July, 1509. In July of 2009, I had the privilege of being a part of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Calvin’s birth. John…
Archibald Alexander has some fascinating observations in his chapter “Imperfect Sanctification.–The Spiritual Warfare” in his famous book Thoughts on Religious Experience (1841) that are relevant to current discussions in the Reformed family on…