Articles by Vanguard Presbyterian Church
The Problem with Presbyterianism is… Presbytery
Dear friends, This week’s article is a rerun on an article I wrote a couple of years ago since I am supposed to be on “vacation” this week. In the past week, I have been contacted by three ministers in two different denominations (one in the PCUSA and the…
Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda
Jodocus van Lodenstein first penned the phrase, ‘Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda’, while writing a devotional book in 1674. That phrase means, ‘the church reformed, always reforming.’ Van Lodenstein. a Dutch minister in the Reformed Church of the United Provinces, pastored a congregation in Ultrecht, Holland from 1653 until his death in 1677. It was not…
Are Heresies Necessary
In Christianity and Liberalism, a magisterial defense of evangelicalism and destruction of liberalism, J. Gresham Machen wrote: In the sphere of religion, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight.[1] Machen’s words seem at…
Daniel Rowland and the Preaching for Divine Impression, Part One
The following article was written by Al Baker, a fellow minister in Vanguard Presbytery, and is included with this week’s email for those who may not be receiving his weekly email devotion, Forget None of His Benefits. This article ties in very well with my two most recent articles on the office of the evangelist. I…
None Dare Call Them Evangelists
One of the matters that causes me the greatest amount of confusion is why there is such a pushback even by conservative reformed pastors and theologians concerning the office of evangelist. It was not always that way. It was around 1980 that the great change towards evangelism and evangelists began in the US. Before then…
James Henley Thornwell on Evangelists
In this week’s article, I am quoting several pages from James Henley Thornwell’s fourth volume of his collected works that deals with ecclesiastical matters. I am a Thornwellian in my ecclesiastical positions and Vanguard Presbytery was self-consciously begun as a Thornwellian denomination with respect to church government. We developed our Book of Church Order to reflect those…
American Presbyterianism
In this week’s email, I am using an article written by a Vanguard Presbytery minister, Rev. Ryan Denton. Ryan writes about the dating of the beginning of Presbyterianism in this country and focuses on the labors of Richard Denton, his ancestor, whose ministry predated that of Francis Makemie. Makemie…
When You are Angrily Rebuked
In his sermons on the Book of Job, John Calvin rightly stated that “Job having to defend a good case, has poorly conducted it.”[1] Job never stated that he was without sin, as his three friends alleged. In fact, he often expressed that he was a poor sinner. Yet, Job knew that his punishment was far more than…
Hodge vs. Thornwell on Polity
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (Old School) met at Rochester, New York in 1860. It is famous for a floor debate between the two leaders of the Northern and Southern branches of the denomination—Dr. Charles Hodge of Princeton Theological Seminary and Dr. James Henley Thornwell of Columbia Theological Seminary (which then resided in…
“Perversion and Post-Christian Kids” by Al Baker
I am using with permission this week an article written by my friend and fellow Vanguard Presbytery pastor, Al Baker. It deals with a subject, LGBTQ+, that was one of the primary issues that led to the formation of this new denomination. I am sure that each of you will appreciate it also. You can…
Update on the Work of the Presbytery
In John 4:35, Jesus said to His disciples: “Behold I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” He made a very similar statement in Matthew 9:37b-38—“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send workers…
Synthetic Christianity
Georg William Frederick Hegel (1770-1831) was a German philosopher whose dialectical method has become the dominant thought pattern for most people in the world today—including so-called evangelical pastors and theologians in the United States. His methodology is non-evangelical to the core and it is a dangerous inconsistency for any Christian to hold to it. It…
Rise Up and Evangelize!
Perhaps the greatest book ever written on the Christian ministry was Charles Bridges’ The Christian Ministry. Bridges (1794-1869) was a Church of England minister and one of the leaders in the Evangelical party that witnessed a revival of sound ministers in that denomination during the nineteenth century. When the godly Robert M. McCheyne went to Israel…
None Dare Call It Heresy?
After writing last week’s article about the friendship that is developing between Doug Wilson and some Reformed Baptist pastors, I received thanks from many corners and rebukes from a few corners. I was accused by one person of slandering a “dear brother”, Doug Wilson, by one person. Anyone who has read either one of my…
Can Denomination X Be Saved?
One of my best friends, a member of Denomination X, visited with my wife and me in Destin a few weeks ago. He was on his way to a gathering of college students. The next morning we went to breakfast before he had to head on his way. During our conversation he asked me this…
Never Give Up—Never
Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday—an annual reminder to the Church of the importance of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I am afraid that Presbyterian and Reformed people are sadly some of the most prone to forget the work of the Holy Spirit. We tend to be cerebral and to think that we can present the…
Jesus of Nazareth—Jesus’ Backsliding Disciples (Matthew 17:24-27 and Mark 9:33-37)
In Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul, Octavius Winslow wrote: An uncharitable spirit towards other Christians, marks a low state of grace in the soul. The more entirely the heart is occupied with the love of Christ, there will be less room for uncharitableness for his saints. It is because there is so…
Should I Join a Church?
There are two questions of great importance concerning the visible church on this earth. The first question is this: Should I join a church? The second question is: What church should I join? Yet, church membership is not a rite of passage or a natural right for every person. There are terms of membership that…
The Missionary Nature of the Church
Acts 16:6-10 gives us an account of the Macedonian call to Paul to come over to Philippi and help the western world. Paul wanted to go east, but he writes that he “was forbidden by the Holy Spirit” (Acts 16:6) and that “the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them” (Acts 16:7) to do so.…
Shall I Be Baptized?
In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, the great John Calvin wrote the following concerning the various modes of baptism: But whether a person being baptized should be wholly immersed, and whether thrice or once, whether he should only be sprinkled with poured water—these details are of no importance, but ought to be optional to churches…
Questions that Deserve Answers
I frequently get emails or telephone calls from people asking questions about Vanguard Presbytery—how we got started, what is our relationship with other reformed denominations, what we believe, how we are governed, etc. The questions are usually similar enough that there is value in writing some general answers to them for this email. Q 1. Why…
How to Choose a Denomination
There are almost no guidelines that are given to congregations that are leaving one denomination and beginning the process of affiliating with a new denomination. I have never read an article on how to do that. Some congregations are so focused on leaving a denomination that is heretical or trending in that direction that they…
“I Serve a Risen Savior”
One of the best known and most well-loved hymns concerning the resurrection of Christ is “He Lives” whose first line says, “I Serve a Risen Savior, He’s in the World Today.” Sadly, that hymn has come under a lot of criticism over the last fifty years because of the closing words of the refrain, “You…
True Church Power
In 1977, I was on my first trip to Great Britain and spent a few days in the home of Iain and Jean Murray in Edinburgh, Scotland. One day, I made a comment to Iain that Presbyterians—rather than Independents—had the correct form of church government. He replied, “Yes, but Independents often have more of the…
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