Do you ever doubt if Jesus’ death was sufficient to atone for your sins? God doesn’t, so you don’t have to either. The resurrection is proof that Jesus did the work that he set out to accomplish at the cross, and that work is sufficient for your need and mine, that God was satisfied with what Jesus accomplished at the cross. God heard Jesus’ cries at the cross and vindicated him, just as he will vindicate everyone who trusts in him.

If you were here last week, you know that the first part of Psalm 22 is anything but happy. Psalm 22 is the cry of a righteous person who is suffering for no fault of their own. It is intense. The psalmist feels abandoned and ignored by God, and taunted and despised by people. It’s a heartbreaking cry for God to listen. After describing his anguish, the psalmist cries out:
But you, O LORD, do not be far off!you my help, come quickly to my aid!Deliver my soul from the sword,my precious life from the power of the dog!Save me from the mouth of the lion!You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!(Psalm 22:19–21)
Why is this psalm in the Bible? For one reason, because this is our experience sometimes. Sometimes we will suffer innocently. Sometimes we will feel abandoned and ignored by God, and taunted and despised by people. Sometimes we’ll cry out to God to pay attention to our cries. This psalm gives language to how you may feel at some point in your life. “Lament is the honest cry of a hurting heart wrestling with the paradox of pain and the promise of God’s goodness” (Mark Vroegop). It’s given because you may one day need the words of this psalmist.
But there’s another reason Psalm 22 is in the Bible. It’s in the Bible because it so accurately describes the suffering of Jesus, the ultimate innocent sufferer. It describes his anguish on the cross, so much so that as he hung on the cross he quoted, verbatim, the words of this psalm (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). Not only that, but other details in this psalm show up on the day that Jesus was crucified. Close your eyes and read verses 16 to 18, and you would think the psalmist is describing the crucifixion of Jesus:
For dogs encompass me;a company of evildoers encircles me;they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me;they divide my garments among them,and for my clothing they cast lots.
As one scholar says of this psalm, “More than any other passage of Scripture it penetrates into the actual suffering of our crucified Lord” (Alec Motyer).
But here’s the other reason why I think this psalm is in the Bible. It’s in the Bible because it helps us understand not just the crucifixion of Jesus but the resurrection of Jesus. Written a thousand years before Easter Sunday, this psalm helps us understand what happened on that first Easter when Jesus rose from the dead. We’re not guessing when we say this. Hebrews 2:11-12 applies this second part of this psalm to Jesus.
In other words, if you want to understand all the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus and what it means for us today, you couldn’t do any better than to look at this psalm. It’s a portrait of the death and triumph of our Savior.
In verse 21, something happens:
Save me from the mouth of the lion!You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
In verse 21, the innocent sufferer is rescued from God. The rest of this psalm describes what happened.
It tells us that the resurrection means three things:
First, the resurrection means that Jesus is vindicated (22:22-24)
Read verses 22 to 24. The psalmist says:
I will tell of your name to my brothers;in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:You who fear the LORD, praise him!All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!For he has not despised or abhorredthe affliction of the afflicted,and he has not hidden his face from him,but has heard, when he cried to him.
On the cross, Jesus bore God’s wrath against the sins we committed. He willingly offered his life to make full payment for our sins. How do we know that the payment was sufficient, that God was satisfied with Jesus’ work? Because, as verse 24 says, God didn’t despise or abhor the affliction of Jesus. He hasn’t hidden his face from Jesus. He heard Jesus’ prayer and vindicated him by raising him from the dead.
Jesus’ resurrection is a sign that God heard Jesus’ prayers on the cross and rescued him, that he didn’t despise or abhor what Jesus did on the cross. 1 Timothy 3:16 speaks of his resurrection this way: “He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit…” As one theologian writes:
…Christ’s resurrection says something. It is the announcement of his justification. (Fred Zaspel)
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Other than prayer, the best way Old School Confessionalists can support the agencies of the PCA at this time is by searching for more men who share a commitment to robust, Old School Presbyterianism who will be willing to serve on the permanent committees to help shape the policies and priorities of the College, the Seminary, MTW, MNA, etc. It’s not enough to serve on a General Assembly CofC! Instead of neglecting the Agencies of the PCA, let’s be willing to serve them on the permanent committees.

The PCA is comprised largely of three groups. In 2015, TE Bryan Chapell described these groups as “traditionalists, progressives, and neutrals.” I don’t like the label he chose for my segment of the PCA; I prefer the label “Old School” or “Confessionalist.”
By the way, I don’t think anybody likes the label he chose for their group, but – as I have written elsewhere – the unified dislike of the three labels suggests TE Chapell was at least over the target.
Regardless of what label is proffered, there are largely three groups who are united together in the Presbyterian Church in America. The two groups on each end of the spectrum both profess a love for the PCA, but their interests in the PCA are shaped by different concerns.
Love for the PCA

But there are others in the PCA who are drawn to the PCA not necessarily because of her robust Westministerian theology and her historic polity. They are eager to see how the PCA with her institutions and cultural cachet can influence society to restore people, places, and things. Their love for the PCA seems more centered on the PCA’s Agencies and Institutions and what the PCA represents for the culture. Their love for the PCA is exhibited especially in an unflinching and enthusiastic support for the PCA’s College and Seminary because of the opportunities for witness and cultural engagement that are afforded to the PCA through the institutions brought in to the PCA with the RPCES. Likewise, this segment of the PCA seems excited about the possibility of planting 120 churches a year until 2030 and are therefore wholeheartedly committed to MNA’s models, assessments, initiatives, and programs.
This is not to say the “traditionalists” are not motivated for evangelism or that those on the other side are not committed to the essentials of the Reformed Faith. The “traditionalists,” however, have been rather lackluster regarding enthusiasm for the institutions brought in with the RPCES as well as the other Agencies of the PCA. Their attention is to doctrine and the slow, but steady growth from discipleship in the ordinary means of grace.
A Pointed Critique of the PCA’s Agencies
On a recent episode of the Westminster Standard Podcast (WS Pod), we discussed the change that has taken place in the PCA since 2018 and the role of blogs and podcasts in that transformation.
In 2018, the National Partnership reflected on the success they had enjoyed in shifting the trajectory of the denomination. But six years later, former members of the now defunct partnership are decrying the General Assembly as “broken” and others share their disappointment with the PCA’s renewed commitments expressed in confessional fidelity and clarity.
In the episode, one of the guest commentators relayed some anecdotes shared with him based on experiences church members had with a couple of specific PCA Agencies (i.e. Covenant College and RUF) as well as his own perception of a Covenant College promotional video.
He pointedly expressed concern that some of the PCA agencies were failing to disciple men in particular, but instead accommodating cultural values he viewed as having diverged from historic Christian emphases.
At least one employee of the College has understandably expressed strenuous objection to the guest commentator’s critique. I note several things in this regard.
First, the opinions and views expressed on the WS Pod are not necessarily those of Jude 3 & the PCA, First Presbyterian Church, the Tennessee Valley Presbytery, or the PCA, but only those of the individual speaker who offers a particular opinion or viewpoint.
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Christians are a Last Days people and will continue to be, until Christ’s return. Let’s not get caught up in the Speculation Industry that promotes confusion, distorts biblical texts, and deceives people far and wide. The Lord Jesus will return in great glory and splendor. But his return isn’t prompted by or connected to a total solar eclipse.

“End Times” hysteria is popular and comes in waves. A big deal on April 8, 2024 has been the total solar eclipse and whether that has apocalyptic significance.
So does the total solar eclipse signal the impending rapture of the church? Does it fulfill biblical prophecies about heavenly disturbances? Does it confirm that we’re living in the “last days”? The answer to all of those questions is No.
It is true that “end times” speculation makes headlines in news outlets and publications. But the speculations are misguided. Facebook memes can contain erroneous theology!
We are living in the last days, but that truth has nothing to do with a total solar eclipse or any other heavenly phenomena. The biblical authors consider the “last days” as something Christ himself inaugurated.
Texts That Speak of the Last Days
During Peter’s speech in Acts 2, he quotes the prophet Joel in light of the outpouring of the Spirit, and he says, “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…’” (Acts 2:16–17). The outpoured Spirit confirms that the “last days” had come.
In 1 Timothy 4:1, Paul says that “in later times some will depart from the faith.” The greater
context of 1 Timothy 4:1 demonstrates that such departures were already happening. The “later times” had arrived.
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Every aspect of your life story is underscored and interwoven with God’s love. You and I never “move on” from remembering and basking in his steadfast love. We never graduate from the school of his love. It’s the spiritual air we breathe, the oxygen we need as we embrace blessings, endure hardship, and wrestle with sin. How much we need to count on the reality that he’s set his love upon us no matter what, and that he is truly working all things for good for those he fiercely loves.

­Does the love of God still feel like breaking news in your life? If we’re honest, sometimes the “old, old story” seems, well, old to us, particularly if we’ve been a Christian for many years. But the writers of Scripture never tire of recounting this theme. They never take it for granted.
Psalm 136 gives us a vivid picture of what keeping God’s steadfast love front and center looks like in the life story of God’s people. It begins with thanksgiving to God (v.1–3) and recites Israel’s history from the creation of the world (v.4–9), through the exodus (v.10–16), and into the promised land (v.17–22). In fact, there are several other psalms that rehearse Israel’s story, including Psalms 78, 105, 106, and 135. But Psalm 136 is unique for the phrase that is repeated in every single verse—a total of 26 times!—“for his steadfast love endures forever.”
In one sense, the story reads more smoothly without the refrain. Just try reading the first half of each verse aloud and skip the refrain, and you will see that it’s quite coherent. Doing this, however, would subvert the inspired poet’s aim, which we start to grasp when we read it aloud all the way through. Try it now. What do you notice? Did the refrain sometimes feel like overkill to you? Did you find yourself impatient to get through the psalm? Were you bored and thinking by the end, “Yeah, yeah, I know.” I’ve certainly experienced that as I’ve read this psalm in the past, but in my most recent reading, I took time to consider: What is the psalmist’s point in keeping this refrain front and center throughout?
In fact, the refrain serves as a spiritual speed bump. It slows us down. Its repetition draws our attention again and again to God. It reminds us that absolutely everything that happened in Israel’s history is purposeful and is tethered to the steadfast love of God. Creation. Rescue from slavery. Sustenance in the wilderness. Inheritance of the promised land. Through good and bad, thick and thin, sin and suffering, God is accomplishing his good purposes in his people.
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Over the course of Paganicon, our little team had opportunities to have conversations. Some went deep, sharing the overlap between John 1 and Genesis 1, bringing forward Bible prophecy as a touchstone to what is authentic (and, in doing so, landing on the Gospel). Sometimes, it wasn’t about the conversation per se but about respectfully asking probing questions during workshops. In a few cases, and one that happened at the end of the last session on the final day, it was about building a relationship.

The start of Paganicon, was three weeks ago, tomorrow. Pagonican is a large gathering of Witches, Wiccans, Druids, and an assortment of others – including Hoodoo practitioners – in the heart of Paganistan, as it is affectionately referred to by the local Pagans in the Twin Cities region. Now, this wasn’t my first kick-at-the-can; I’ve been to Paganicon before, and I have traveled to other Pagan events such as Pantheacon.
So why attend? First, as a Christian researcher and author on worldview issues, I take that task seriously. And like any other profession, it’s imperative to stay abreast of issues and changes. I happen to cover a wide swath of subjects, from transformational culture (think Burning Man) to transhumanism, global governance and world federalism, interfaithism, new religious movements, and Paganism. Therefore, attending events in these categories is an essential part of my work, with the information and knowledge gleaned being used in a variety of ways.
Secondly, when possible, as an Ambassador for Christ I want to engage in meaningful conversations. Not all events are conducive to this, but it does play a major role in my engagement at Burning Man and at the Parliament of the World’s Religions, and it’s happened at Paganicon and elsewhere. Although I normally travel as a solitary researcher, my time at Burning Man and the Parliament – and at this year’s Paganicon – has been with a small team of dedicated and like-minded friends.
What then, are some of the takeaways from this latest venture? Keep in mind that I sat through eleven workshops and panel discussions and observed other aspects of the event, so to relay everything would require producing a small book… In any case, here are a few important points that were reinforced from this trip to Paganicon:
1) The rise of neo-Paganism is, in many respects, a reflection on the state of the Christian community and a microcosm of what John Daniel Davidson, senior editor at The Federalist contends is America’s Stunning Embrace Of Paganism Signals The End Of This Country As We Know It. From the standpoint of the Christian community, it would be safe to say that a majority of the participants have a church background.
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What is important is for shepherds to take seriously their responsibility to protect their flocks.  Don’t ignore issues threatening the purity of the church or moral practices of the sheep.  Likewise, don’t ignore the reality of the “. . . the massive escalation in hostility toward Christianity and a biblical worldview.” A spiritual battle is definitely raging, and unprepared sheep are prey to the immense assault.  

It is evident that America and Western civilization are strongly undergoing re-paganization in both perspective and practice.  This is manifest especially in the areas of sexual morality, identities, and justice.  However, what is equally alarming and disconcerting is such paganization has taken measuredly hold in the church—in individual churches, denominations, and in the three principal branches of the Holy Catholic (Universal) Church.
It has occurred to me that the first century church was instructed and prepared for living in a pagan world.  Written in the first or second century, The Didache, known as The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations, prepared believers how to live in a pagan society.  It begins with the Two Ways, the Way of Life and the Way of Death.  This section contains moral practices that counter accepted pagan practices.  In other words, the early Christians (the Lord’s sheep) were instructed and prepared for the spiritual battles they would have to fight personally in themselves and exteriorly in the societies in which they resided.
This brings up the issue of spiritual battle, which this is.  How are we to live today with such a pronounced and pushed agenda coming from the ancient evil one?  A recent advertisement for a podcast appeared on a Christian website.  It stated, “Retrieving classical Christianity to create authentic reform in the church today.”  Bingo!  Oh, excuse me.  I should say, Eureka!  I was immediately reminded of The Didache—a prime example of classical Christianity.  
One trait of this paganizing process, according to a ruling elder in a Reformed Faith church, is “a massive escalation in hostility toward Christianity and a biblical worldview.”  Later, he states, “. . . there are sound evangelical churches attended by individuals who are openly celebrating transgender family members with virtually no response by church leadership.”  That is just one issue not addressed by some church leaderships.  The same is true for the above references to the broader areas of sexual morality, identities, and justice.
So, between this escalation of hostility and the pronounced agenda, what can Christians, churches, and church leaders do?  Two actions:  1) Retrieve classical Christianity that communicated both faith and practice akin to The Didache and 2) address false ideologies and practices in a timely manner—don’t ignore them.
It is needful perhaps to identify practices that might contribute to not feeding and protecting the flocks when assaults on God’s divine revelation enter or invade churches.  Two come to mind, which are solely expository preaching and short homilies.  These relate to both different denominations and branches of the church. The former tends to minimize “the whole counsel of God” by spending more time on narrow sections of Scripture.  Historically, the apostles and church dealt with issues as they arose and would draw responses from diverse passages of God’s divine revelation to emphasize and thoroughly treat a specific issue.  This isn’t against expository preaching; it simply indicates one weakness. Irregular topical preaching addressing a current issue can balance this lack and benefit the flock. Likewise, the former, i.e., short homilies, tend to be pithy but leave very little room for healthy catechizing or instruction, and rebuttal of false ideologies, practices or teachings.
What can church leaderships do if either are unable or unwilling to address cultural or societal ideologies invading the church in a timely manner from the pulpit?  It is understandable they may feel their habitual practice is what God has called them to do.
One sound and valid suggestion is to communicate regularly in writing to the congregation.  A written communication personally addressed to each member can alert, educate, and warn the flock against false teachings and practices by stating and verifying the biblical principles involved and the church’s position on such issues.  This shouldn’t merely be posted on the church’s website, but rather should be sent to the members’ homes.  Not everyone is online or actively goes to websites regularly.
What is important is for shepherds to take seriously their responsibility to protect their flocks.  Don’t ignore issues threatening the purity of the church or moral practices of the sheep.  Likewise, don’t ignore the reality of the “. . . the massive escalation in hostility toward Christianity and a biblical worldview.” A spiritual battle is definitely raging, and unprepared sheep are prey to the immense assault.  Shepherds, rise to the occasion:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to standfirm against the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is notagainst flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against thepowers, against the world forces of this darkness, against thespiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6: 10-12?
Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.
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Written by Sarah H. Wilder |
Thursday, April 18, 2024
“Christ is King” is merely the next linchpin for smearing Christians who misbehave politically. The point is to strip Christians of any meaningful political power by preying on their weakness for tolerance and policing their language to such an extent that more time is spent squabbling about how to assert a very true thing than is spent advancing that true thing in the so-called “marketplace of ideas.” 

Once again, a perfectly normal thing is being dubbed “racist,” and once again, weak evangelicals are falling for the charade. Just in time for Resurrection Sunday, a few right-wing Twitter trolls and their left-wing instigators accomplished the shockingly easy task of convincing evangelical Christians to abandon a core tenet of their theology in the name of not offending someone somewhere. “Christ is King,” is a phrase with obvious Biblical basis (Revelation 19:16, Isaiah 9:6-7, Ephesians 1:21-22, etc.), often uttered by those taking comfort in the fact that today’s ungodly political leaders will stand under God’s judgment, both in this life and after death. Laws promoting abortion, destroying the family, or allowing the genital mutilation of confused children will be one day made right because Christ is infinitely good and infinitely powerful. The problem is, “Christ is King,” is also uttered by Muslim Andrew Tate and openly anti-semitic Twitter trolls in Ben Shapiro’s comment section. How, then, are Christians to act?
“What we saw on Easter Sunday was a remarkable display of venom and hatred,” David French, never missing a chance to punch right, told MSNBC’s Mike Brezneski.
“It has become increasingly clear that Trumpism and the Trump ethic is really leaking into American Christianity itself. As we saw during Holy Week, Christians all over Twitter were posting ‘Christ is King’ specifically aimed at Jewish Americans, specifically aimed to assert religious dominance in a very gross and ugly way.”
The left has learned well that one need only find a few instances of a hobby, slogan, or aesthetic being used by various miscreants, accuse every enjoyer of said thing of bad intent, get higher profile bad actors to use the phrase in clickbait posts, and just like that the right has to run off guiltily for the crime of saying or doing a perfectly normal thing. They know that they can do this because the right is deathly afraid of being seen by their enemies as racist or sexist or homophobic, while the left laughs off conservative accusations of pedophilia, anti-American sentiment, or anti-white hatred.
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Easter is an annual remembrance of a historical event that’s still being celebrated, arguably on a greater scale than ever, nearly 2,000 years later. That’s because it’s the biggest news story of your life, or any life—even of those who shrug it off or scroll right past it.

Can you remember any top world news headlines from April 9, 2023? What about headlines from April 17, 2022, or April 4, 2021? Probably 2020 was the only Easter in recent memory when you might reme`mber what was happening in the world—but even that will fade from memory sooner than we expect.
What we can remember about Easter last year, and every year going back nearly two millennia, is that scores of Christians across the world confessed, sang about, and celebrated their belief in the deity of a human who actually walked and talked on this earth for a time.
This man is named Jesus. On Easter Sunday every year, people from nearly every nation and language, every class and ethnicity, worship him as Lord. They confess he suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried in first-century Jerusalem; and supernaturally rose from the dead three days later.
Consider how absurd this sounds. Consider how shocking it’d be as a headline if it were reported by some time-traveling newswire service to people in any BC kingdom or culture. We’re talking about the most outrageous headline of the year, and it happens every year: On Easter, a third of the planet’s population honors the day in history when Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
It’s an insane headline because it speaks to the fact that, even today—in our modern scientific age—more people than ever believe in a supernatural event that science says cannot happen. The headline’s enduring repetition, year after year for centuries, proves the legitimacy of the event at its center (the resurrection) or highlights a mass delusion of unprecedented scale. Either way, it’s utterly newsworthy.
And yet on this year’s Easter Sunday, any number of soon-to-be-forgotten occurrences will claim “lead story” status in newspapers and newscasts worldwide. Instead of what 2.4 billion Christians claim and celebrate, “Breaking News!” alerts will compel millions to click on infinitely less newsworthy items. More people will probably click on articles about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce on Easter Sunday than will read a Gospel account of Jesus’s resurrection. For American college basketball fans, the big news of the day will be which teams made the Final Four.
Why are we numb to the resurrection’s shock and seemingly bored by history’s biggest event? Why does the headline “Billions worship a man who rose from the dead and ascended to heaven” seem like old news that barely registers as a trending topic? Here are a few theories.
1. It’s old in a world obsessed with new.
Part of why the resurrection feels like “old news” is that it is old news, especially in a culture of increasingly short-term memory. Few of us can remember what was newsworthy a week ago, let alone a year or a century or two millennia ago. The digital age has eroded cultural memory and our capacity to think beyond the “now.”
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“He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). Ponder the powerful effect that these proofs and teachings would have had on the disciples. What a unique and precious period of their earthly lives to have such encounters with the risen Christ during that forty-day period. 

So, the tomb is empty. Just as he said he would, Jesus rose from the dead in victory. What happened in the days that followed? The ascension wasn’t immediately after the day of resurrection. Forty days stood between the resurrection and ascension. And those days mattered for the disciples and for many others.
In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul gives us a list of bodily appearances: “he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles” (1 Cor. 15:4–7).
There were bodily appearances of Jesus to his disciples on the day of his resurrection. Generally speaking, these appearances countered the fear in the disciples. He said, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). The appearances also confirmed his bodily risen state, for he showed them his hands and side (20:20). And his appearances involved instruction for the days to come (20:21–23).
Some of the instruction Jesus gave during the forty days was about the Old Testament. He taught his disciples how to interpret this prior revelation in light of what he had accomplished. “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem’” (Luke 24:45–48).
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