Author Archives: vanguardpresbytery

Following the calling of His twelve disciples, Jesus returned to His home—Capernaum—where “the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal” (Mark 3:20). They were at the door and probably even in the house (Cf. also Mark 1:33; 2:2). The kinsmen of Jesus heard these reports of allContinue reading “He Has Lost His Senses””

Several years ago, I stumbled into a world missions’ luncheon by mistake at General Assembly. I had intended to attend a meeting of alma mater seminary. By the time I discovered my mistake, it was too late to leave. After sitting through the whole presentation, I wish I had left anyway. Following the meal, thereContinue reading “The Missionary Nature of the Church”

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 theContinue reading “The Problem with Presbyterianism is… Presbytery”

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 notContinue reading “Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda “

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 atContinue reading “Are Heresies Necessary”

 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. IContinue reading “Daniel Rowland and the Preaching for Divine Impression, Part One”

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 thenContinue reading “None Dare Call Them 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 thoseContinue reading “James Henley Thornwell on Evangelists”

            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. MakemieContinue reading “American Presbyterianism”

            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 thanContinue reading “When You are Angrily Rebuked”