Welcome to Ref21!
Welcome to Ref21! It probably sounds strange to be welcomed to a page that you have read for nearly twenty years! Ref21 has been a staple of daily Christian reading for literally thousands of believers. So, why act as if…
Category Reformation21
A Missing Question in the Westminster Catechisms?
The Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms have been effectively employed by churches around the world for nearly four centuries. Yet, strange to say, these well-loved documents may be missing a question. I’ll use the Shorter Catechism to demonstrate what I…
Defining and Defending Liturgy
Note: This post in an excerpt from the author’s new book, Trembling Joy: A Biblical Defense of Traditional Worship (Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, 2022). What first comes to mind when you hear the word “liturgy”? You may believe that “liturgy”…
A Victorious Faith
Last year, the PCA approved a report on human sexuality that rightly spoke to the hope and victory of believers over sexual sins (AIC, 7 AND 10). However, when overtures were written to extend this to ordained officers of the…
Our Nation’s Greatest Need Is Revival
So what do you think is our greatest need as a nation? Interestingly, in a Wall Street Journal article, written in 1947 (two years after the Second World War), a writer made this observation: “What America needs more than railway…
The Slow Work of Sabbath Rest
Whenever I get the opportunity to speak about worship in either a Sunday School series or an Inquirers class, I try to work in the following thought from Hart and Muether’s With Reverence and Awe: “God’s intention was to bless…
With Reverence and Awe (and Kids)
I love having children in the worship service. It always makes my heart happy when I see children singing with their parents. As a preacher, I am encouraged to see children focusing during the sermon, even if they may not…
If God Is Sovereign, Do I Make a Difference?
Editor’s Note: This post has been adapted from A New Exposition of the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, edited by Rob Ventura. According to 1689 London Baptist Confession, God upholds, directs, disposes, and governs all creatures and things by…
Blessed Is She Who Believed
Christmas has come and gone, and with it the peak time for Protestants to speak fondly about Mary. But regardless of the season, we need not fear acknowledging that the mother of our Lord owns a place of special honor. Though we…
The Thrilling Reversal of Christmas
In 1983, elite distance runners from around the world met in Australia to compete in a weeklong, 544-mile ultramarathon from Sydney to Melbourne. The racers were lean and mean professional athletes, decked from head to toe in the most expensive…