If God counts children as members of the covenant community who are to receive this sign and seal of his covenant, then those who neglect covenantal baptism prevent covenant children from receiving one of God’s chief means of grace for their lives and the life of the church. These practical and theological implications are why the “discussion” about baptism is not idle theological discourse.

Baptism. Need I say more? Too often, it is best known as the church family “celebration” that causes conflict. This sacrament seems to be fertile soil for debate, disagreement, ridicule, and even mocking among fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet baptism lies at the very heart of the charge that our Lord and Savior gave to the church in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18–20, and it represents, as we shall see in these pages, the core of the Christian faith—the gospel. When we approach it as a source of conflict and controversy, we miss the blessing that is attached to this sacrament, as well, and the kind- ness God has shown his people—the family of Christ— by gifting it to them. I hope that this book, beyond anything else, will show you this blessing and kindness.
I take it for granted that if you are reading this book, you have some interest in the doctrine of baptism. That is good. That is right. Maybe you are a parent who is wrestling with whether you should baptize your child (or children). Maybe you are new to the Reformed tradition or wrestling anew with what you believe about baptism. Maybe you are a pastor attempting to articulate covenantal baptism more clearly, or a teenager wondering whether you should be “rebaptized” at the urging of friends, or a Christian parent wondering whether your wandering child’s previous baptism means anything for him or her now. Maybe you are simply looking for a quick refresher on the reasons for and blessings of covenantal baptism. This book is written for you.
But before we enter the discussion on baptism, I ask you to make a commitment with me. John Rabbi Duncan, a Scottish Presbyterian from a former generation, once said, “I’m first a Christian, next a Catholic,1 then a Calvinist, fourth a Paedobaptist,2 and [finally] a Presbyterian.”3 He places the right things in the right order. Before you read further, commit with me in the tenor of Duncan’s confession above, first, that you are a Christian; second, that you identify as a member of the universal church; and that everything else follows in importance.
We need to remain careful not to make too much of baptism on the one hand but neither to dismiss it with a nonchalant attitude on the other. Baptism is truly a “secondary doctrine.” Yet it is a significant doctrine. Our beliefs regarding baptism inform our parenting, our expectations of our covenant children, and even what church we attend and join. And, since blessings are attached to this sacrament (as we shall see), we desire those blessings to be received by all who are able. Most of all, because baptism is a foundational part of the Christian faith, our view of it should be well-informed and biblical.
If those who practice covenantal baptism4 by baptizing their children do so in contradiction to God’s Word, then they put words (and especially promises) in the mouth of God that are untrue. And yet, if God counts children as members of the covenant community who are to receive this sign and seal of his covenant, then those who neglect covenantal baptism prevent covenant children from receiving one of God’s chief means of grace for their lives and the life of the church. These practical and theological implications are why the “discussion” about baptism is not idle theological discourse.
This is an excerpt from the introduction to Jason Helopoulos’ book, “Covenantal Baptism,” part of the Blessings of the Faith series. Pick up a copy of, “Covenantal Baptism” for more information on this often-debated doctrine. Used with permission.

If God counts children as members of the covenant community who are to receive this sign and seal of his covenant, then those who neglect covenantal baptism prevent covenant children from receiving one of God’s chief means of grace for their lives and the life of the church. These practical and theological implications are why the “discussion” about baptism is not idle theological discourse.

Baptism. Need I say more? Too often, it is best known as the church family “celebration” that causes conflict. This sacrament seems to be fertile soil for debate, disagreement, ridicule, and even mocking among fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet baptism lies at the very heart of the charge that our Lord and Savior gave to the church in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18–20, and it represents, as we shall see in these pages, the core of the Christian faith—the gospel. When we approach it as a source of conflict and controversy, we miss the blessing that is attached to this sacrament, as well, and the kind- ness God has shown his people—the family of Christ— by gifting it to them. I hope that this book, beyond anything else, will show you this blessing and kindness.
I take it for granted that if you are reading this book, you have some interest in the doctrine of baptism. That is good. That is right. Maybe you are a parent who is wrestling with whether you should baptize your child (or children). Maybe you are new to the Reformed tradition or wrestling anew with what you believe about baptism. Maybe you are a pastor attempting to articulate covenantal baptism more clearly, or a teenager wondering whether you should be “rebaptized” at the urging of friends, or a Christian parent wondering whether your wandering child’s previous baptism means anything for him or her now. Maybe you are simply looking for a quick refresher on the reasons for and blessings of covenantal baptism. This book is written for you.
But before we enter the discussion on baptism, I ask you to make a commitment with me. John Rabbi Duncan, a Scottish Presbyterian from a former generation, once said, “I’m first a Christian, next a Catholic,1 then a Calvinist, fourth a Paedobaptist,2 and [finally] a Presbyterian.”3 He places the right things in the right order. Before you read further, commit with me in the tenor of Duncan’s confession above, first, that you are a Christian; second, that you identify as a member of the universal church; and that everything else follows in importance.
We need to remain careful not to make too much of baptism on the one hand but neither to dismiss it with a nonchalant attitude on the other. Baptism is truly a “secondary doctrine.” Yet it is a significant doctrine. Our beliefs regarding baptism inform our parenting, our expectations of our covenant children, and even what church we attend and join. And, since blessings are attached to this sacrament (as we shall see), we desire those blessings to be received by all who are able. Most of all, because baptism is a foundational part of the Christian faith, our view of it should be well-informed and biblical.
If those who practice covenantal baptism4 by baptizing their children do so in contradiction to God’s Word, then they put words (and especially promises) in the mouth of God that are untrue. And yet, if God counts children as members of the covenant community who are to receive this sign and seal of his covenant, then those who neglect covenantal baptism prevent covenant children from receiving one of God’s chief means of grace for their lives and the life of the church. These practical and theological implications are why the “discussion” about baptism is not idle theological discourse.
This is an excerpt from the introduction to Jason Helopoulos’ book, “Covenantal Baptism,” part of the Blessings of the Faith series. Pick up a copy of, “Covenantal Baptism” for more information on this often-debated doctrine. Used with permission.

As one Old Testament scholar has put it, “I like the New Testament, because it reminds me a lot of the Old Testament.” Indeed, the New Testament should remind us of the Old Testament, because every page of the New Testament (and often every paragraph) is filled with quotations, allusions, and echoes from the Old Testament.

Have you ever watched a new movie, where you started 10 minutes before the end?
Many years ago, when big hair was still in style, I was introduced to Back to the Future in this way. My friends were watching this movie and I joined them at point where Doc Brown crashed through garbage cans, warned Marty and his girlfriend about their future children, and drove to a place where “we don’t need roads.”
If you only know the last ten minutes of Back to the Future, however, you won’t understand the significance of the DeLorean, the date (November 5, 1955), the speed (88 miles per hour), or the electricity (1.21 Gigawatts) that makes time travel possible. Nor will you understand the flux capacitor and its cruciform power to rewrite history. All of these details are revealed over the course of the movie and only in watching the movie from beginning to end, can you make sense of its ending.
Something similar happens when we open our Bibles and behold the man hung upon a Roman cross. While many well-intentioned evangelists point to Christ’s cross as the center piece of our Christian faith and the way of our salvation, it is an event in history that only makes sense when you begin in the beginning. That Christ was buried in a garden tomb does more than give us an historical referent; it tells the significance of Christ’s death as the way of God’s new creation, because after all it was in a garden where Adam sinned and brought death to the world. Now, raised from a garden tomb, Jesus as the new Adam has introduced a new way of life.
In this vein, the biblical storyline is necessary for understanding why the Son of God had to die on a tree, be buried in a tomb, and raised to life on the third day. Indeed, even if we know that Christ did not stay dead—that he rose from the grave, walked the earth teaching his disciples for forty days, and ascended to heaven, where he now sits in glory—we cannot make sense of the cross. Or at least, our interest in Christ’s death and resurrection leads us to ask: But what does it mean?
Indeed, the way to understand Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is to place those events in the timeline of God’s redemptive history. That timeline begins in creation, proceeds through the fall of mankind into sin, and picks up countless promises of grace and types of salvation throughout the Old Testament. In fact, to be most precise, God’s plan for Christ’s cross did not begin in space and time; it began before God spoke light into the darkness (Gen. 1:3). As Peter says in his first sermon (Acts 2:23) and his first epistle (1 Peter 1:20), the cross of Christ was the centerpiece of God’s eternal plan for the salvation of his people.
In Scripture, therefore, the cross is the climactic work of God to redeem sinners and rescue the dying.
Read More

As one Old Testament scholar has put it, “I like the New Testament, because it reminds me a lot of the Old Testament.” Indeed, the New Testament should remind us of the Old Testament, because every page of the New Testament (and often every paragraph) is filled with quotations, allusions, and echoes from the Old Testament.

Have you ever watched a new movie, where you started 10 minutes before the end?
Many years ago, when big hair was still in style, I was introduced to Back to the Future in this way. My friends were watching this movie and I joined them at point where Doc Brown crashed through garbage cans, warned Marty and his girlfriend about their future children, and drove to a place where “we don’t need roads.”
If you only know the last ten minutes of Back to the Future, however, you won’t understand the significance of the DeLorean, the date (November 5, 1955), the speed (88 miles per hour), or the electricity (1.21 Gigawatts) that makes time travel possible. Nor will you understand the flux capacitor and its cruciform power to rewrite history. All of these details are revealed over the course of the movie and only in watching the movie from beginning to end, can you make sense of its ending.
Something similar happens when we open our Bibles and behold the man hung upon a Roman cross. While many well-intentioned evangelists point to Christ’s cross as the center piece of our Christian faith and the way of our salvation, it is an event in history that only makes sense when you begin in the beginning. That Christ was buried in a garden tomb does more than give us an historical referent; it tells the significance of Christ’s death as the way of God’s new creation, because after all it was in a garden where Adam sinned and brought death to the world. Now, raised from a garden tomb, Jesus as the new Adam has introduced a new way of life.
In this vein, the biblical storyline is necessary for understanding why the Son of God had to die on a tree, be buried in a tomb, and raised to life on the third day. Indeed, even if we know that Christ did not stay dead—that he rose from the grave, walked the earth teaching his disciples for forty days, and ascended to heaven, where he now sits in glory—we cannot make sense of the cross. Or at least, our interest in Christ’s death and resurrection leads us to ask: But what does it mean?
Indeed, the way to understand Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is to place those events in the timeline of God’s redemptive history. That timeline begins in creation, proceeds through the fall of mankind into sin, and picks up countless promises of grace and types of salvation throughout the Old Testament. In fact, to be most precise, God’s plan for Christ’s cross did not begin in space and time; it began before God spoke light into the darkness (Gen. 1:3). As Peter says in his first sermon (Acts 2:23) and his first epistle (1 Peter 1:20), the cross of Christ was the centerpiece of God’s eternal plan for the salvation of his people.
In Scripture, therefore, the cross is the climactic work of God to redeem sinners and rescue the dying.
Read More

If a proclamation is made, it is either true or false. When it comes to a particular issue, there is no such thing as your truth and my truth. It’s always possible we are both wrong, of course, but we cannot both be right at the same time and in the same sense. It is impossible. If we ever get to a place where we properly understand objective truth, I believe we will simultaneously have respectful dialogue with those we disagree with. When it comes to the huge issues in culture, objective truth should humble us. We should all be able to say, “I could be wrong,” and mean it.

One of the major cultural trends happening today concerns the nature of truth. Truth has largely been replaced by pragmatism and emotionalism. Pragmatism claims if something works, it must be true. Conversely, emotionalism, at it’s basic level, claims if something feels right or wrong, it probably is. Any concept of truth which exists outside of ourselves has not just taken a back seat, it has left the vehicle altogether.
Objective truth, according to Steven Cowan and James Spiegel, is a “real feature of the world that is independent of what a person or group thinks about it. Thus, for the objectivist, if a proposition is true, then it is so whether or not any person believes it. Further, it is true for everyone at all times and places.” I dare say no one speaks about truth in these terms today. In our current world, your truth is yours and my truth is mine. We better not blur the lines, either, or there will be major backlash from all parties involved.
It has always baffled me how anyone could believe truth belongs to a human person or group. We are all, in one sense, creatures of our environments. Surely if my parents insist stars are holes in the sky that allow heaven’s light to shine through, I’ll spend a good amount of my growing years believing it. Furthermore, if my older brother teaches me God created meat for the consumption of humanity and anyone who thinks differently are unenlightened airheads, I will spend much of my life feeling superior to vegetarians.
I’m convinced most of the bickering happening in our world today comes from a difference in perspectives. One person believes they have truth at the exclusion of those who disagree, while those who disagree believe such a person is foolish and simply needs to be educated. Objective truth, by definition, says something is true or false regardless of opinion and with zero neutrality. It exists apart from any system, idea, or human personality.
I was first exposed to objective truth when I began studying Philosophy in college. I recall experiencing an aha moment when I first learned about the correspondence theory of truth.
Read More

If a proclamation is made, it is either true or false. When it comes to a particular issue, there is no such thing as your truth and my truth. It’s always possible we are both wrong, of course, but we cannot both be right at the same time and in the same sense. It is impossible. If we ever get to a place where we properly understand objective truth, I believe we will simultaneously have respectful dialogue with those we disagree with. When it comes to the huge issues in culture, objective truth should humble us. We should all be able to say, “I could be wrong,” and mean it.

One of the major cultural trends happening today concerns the nature of truth. Truth has largely been replaced by pragmatism and emotionalism. Pragmatism claims if something works, it must be true. Conversely, emotionalism, at it’s basic level, claims if something feels right or wrong, it probably is. Any concept of truth which exists outside of ourselves has not just taken a back seat, it has left the vehicle altogether.
Objective truth, according to Steven Cowan and James Spiegel, is a “real feature of the world that is independent of what a person or group thinks about it. Thus, for the objectivist, if a proposition is true, then it is so whether or not any person believes it. Further, it is true for everyone at all times and places.” I dare say no one speaks about truth in these terms today. In our current world, your truth is yours and my truth is mine. We better not blur the lines, either, or there will be major backlash from all parties involved.
It has always baffled me how anyone could believe truth belongs to a human person or group. We are all, in one sense, creatures of our environments. Surely if my parents insist stars are holes in the sky that allow heaven’s light to shine through, I’ll spend a good amount of my growing years believing it. Furthermore, if my older brother teaches me God created meat for the consumption of humanity and anyone who thinks differently are unenlightened airheads, I will spend much of my life feeling superior to vegetarians.
I’m convinced most of the bickering happening in our world today comes from a difference in perspectives. One person believes they have truth at the exclusion of those who disagree, while those who disagree believe such a person is foolish and simply needs to be educated. Objective truth, by definition, says something is true or false regardless of opinion and with zero neutrality. It exists apart from any system, idea, or human personality.
I was first exposed to objective truth when I began studying Philosophy in college. I recall experiencing an aha moment when I first learned about the correspondence theory of truth.
Read More

Blind Eyes Opened is a unique Christian documentary in that it is an in-depth examination of the sex-trafficking industry in the U.S.  The film shows the dregs of depravity that drives the industry, but more importantly, it shows the transformations that are possible through Christ.  Further, it shows the interconnected roles of law enforcement, policymakers, organizations, ministries, and experts in combatting the scourge of trafficking.  Most importantly, it will show the hope that is in Christ and the power of His love that will cover the worst that can happen to anyone!

Some 20 years ago, I was invited to a meeting to discuss “human-trafficking.”  Held at the Salvation Army Center on D.C.’s New York Avenue, only 10–15 D.C. policy analysts were invited — feminists, conservatives, evangelicals, politicos — and none of us had previously heard of the term “trafficking.”  That meeting, convened by Michael Horowitz, then at the Hudson Institute, opened our eyes to a problem that is now addressed at the national level as well as internationally through cooperation among nations, as a consequence in large measure of the diligent work of those whose eyes were opened that day.
Prior to that meeting, sex-trafficking was seen as something that happened somewhere else; it didn’t affect Americans.  Besides, it was an “underground” kind of crime that was isolated and rare.  Through Horowitz’s passion, we learned that we had been blind to reality.  With our eyes opened, we had to do something!
I got involved by helping to draft the original Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), lobbying to get it passed, doing the same for subsequent reauthorizations, and providing manpower in the bipartisan coalition that Horowitz spearheaded to provide a foundation for anti-trafficking work that was so effective under the Bush 43 administration and that has flourished dramatically during the Trump administration through the leadership of Ivanka Trump Kushner.
While there is much to celebrate at the beginning of 2020 and during January — the National Human Trafficking Awareness Month — there is an overarching problem that has yet to be resolved.  The “blind eye” problem remains an issue: people still don’t see what is happening right under their noses.  Many Americans still think the issue of human-trafficking is other nations’ problem.  Far too many people fail to see that trafficking victims exist in plain sight.  They don’t realize that there are many children under 18 right here in the United States who are prime sex-trafficking victims.  Many people are unaware that boys as well as girls are victims of sex-trafficking.  Few people know that the National Human Trafficking Hotline receives an average of 150 calls per day.
Let’s begin with some basic information.  Human trafficking is big business.  According to the Polaris Project, one of the outstanding anti-trafficking organizations in America, trafficking is a “multi-billion dollar criminal industry that denies freedom to 24.9 million people around the world.”  In 2014, forced sexual labor was estimated to be at $99 billion worldwide, with the highest profits in developed countries.  It has been called “Modern Day Slavery” because traffickers buy and sell women — over and over again, until the girl is used up and discarded.  Numbers are thrown around carelessly, but we have some concrete numbers from Polaris.
Read More

Blind Eyes Opened is a unique Christian documentary in that it is an in-depth examination of the sex-trafficking industry in the U.S.  The film shows the dregs of depravity that drives the industry, but more importantly, it shows the transformations that are possible through Christ.  Further, it shows the interconnected roles of law enforcement, policymakers, organizations, ministries, and experts in combatting the scourge of trafficking.  Most importantly, it will show the hope that is in Christ and the power of His love that will cover the worst that can happen to anyone!

Some 20 years ago, I was invited to a meeting to discuss “human-trafficking.”  Held at the Salvation Army Center on D.C.’s New York Avenue, only 10–15 D.C. policy analysts were invited — feminists, conservatives, evangelicals, politicos — and none of us had previously heard of the term “trafficking.”  That meeting, convened by Michael Horowitz, then at the Hudson Institute, opened our eyes to a problem that is now addressed at the national level as well as internationally through cooperation among nations, as a consequence in large measure of the diligent work of those whose eyes were opened that day.
Prior to that meeting, sex-trafficking was seen as something that happened somewhere else; it didn’t affect Americans.  Besides, it was an “underground” kind of crime that was isolated and rare.  Through Horowitz’s passion, we learned that we had been blind to reality.  With our eyes opened, we had to do something!
I got involved by helping to draft the original Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), lobbying to get it passed, doing the same for subsequent reauthorizations, and providing manpower in the bipartisan coalition that Horowitz spearheaded to provide a foundation for anti-trafficking work that was so effective under the Bush 43 administration and that has flourished dramatically during the Trump administration through the leadership of Ivanka Trump Kushner.
While there is much to celebrate at the beginning of 2020 and during January — the National Human Trafficking Awareness Month — there is an overarching problem that has yet to be resolved.  The “blind eye” problem remains an issue: people still don’t see what is happening right under their noses.  Many Americans still think the issue of human-trafficking is other nations’ problem.  Far too many people fail to see that trafficking victims exist in plain sight.  They don’t realize that there are many children under 18 right here in the United States who are prime sex-trafficking victims.  Many people are unaware that boys as well as girls are victims of sex-trafficking.  Few people know that the National Human Trafficking Hotline receives an average of 150 calls per day.
Let’s begin with some basic information.  Human trafficking is big business.  According to the Polaris Project, one of the outstanding anti-trafficking organizations in America, trafficking is a “multi-billion dollar criminal industry that denies freedom to 24.9 million people around the world.”  In 2014, forced sexual labor was estimated to be at $99 billion worldwide, with the highest profits in developed countries.  It has been called “Modern Day Slavery” because traffickers buy and sell women — over and over again, until the girl is used up and discarded.  Numbers are thrown around carelessly, but we have some concrete numbers from Polaris.
Read More

Nichols, like Sproul, wrote this biography that people may discover the depths and riches of the God who is not only holy but is “holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3). Therefore, as we reflect on the life and ministry of R. C. Sproul, let us give glory to God, not R. C. Sproul. Dr. Sproul understood that his life was a temporary stewardship testifying to the grace of God in Christ Jesus, who alone deserves all the glory (Revelation 4:11). 

In the midst of rising cultural hostility toward Christ and the widespread theological confusion within the church, how can Christians remain faithful to the Word of God? The life and ministry of Dr R C. Sproul (1939-2017), pastor, professor, author, and the founder and president of Ligonier Ministries, is an exemplary model of covenantal faithfulness, doctrinal precision, and convictional passion. In a word, he remained faithful to the Word of God. The life of Dr Sproul is beautifully portrayed through a chronological outline of the major moments and convictions that shaped him in Stephen Nichols’ biography, R. C. Sproul: A Life. This biography is warm and personal, enlightening and thought-provoking, as Nichols interweaves apt anecdotes to highlight Sproul’s theological convictions. Nichols draws the reader behind the public ministry, giving us an insight into the man and the motivation behind the ministry. It is this personal perspective that made the experience of reading this biography so sweet.
Not only is the biography warm and personal, it is also packed with theological conviction. Sproul’s most famous book, The Holiness of God, arose from a deeply personal awakening to God’s holiness during a midnight trek at the chapel of Westminster College in his second year of college. Nichols quotes Sproul recounting this episode where he had a sudden epiphany of the grandeur of God, an “awakening to the biblical concept of God that changed [his] whole life after that” (p. 49).
Read More

Nichols, like Sproul, wrote this biography that people may discover the depths and riches of the God who is not only holy but is “holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3). Therefore, as we reflect on the life and ministry of R. C. Sproul, let us give glory to God, not R. C. Sproul. Dr. Sproul understood that his life was a temporary stewardship testifying to the grace of God in Christ Jesus, who alone deserves all the glory (Revelation 4:11). 

In the midst of rising cultural hostility toward Christ and the widespread theological confusion within the church, how can Christians remain faithful to the Word of God? The life and ministry of Dr R C. Sproul (1939-2017), pastor, professor, author, and the founder and president of Ligonier Ministries, is an exemplary model of covenantal faithfulness, doctrinal precision, and convictional passion. In a word, he remained faithful to the Word of God. The life of Dr Sproul is beautifully portrayed through a chronological outline of the major moments and convictions that shaped him in Stephen Nichols’ biography, R. C. Sproul: A Life. This biography is warm and personal, enlightening and thought-provoking, as Nichols interweaves apt anecdotes to highlight Sproul’s theological convictions. Nichols draws the reader behind the public ministry, giving us an insight into the man and the motivation behind the ministry. It is this personal perspective that made the experience of reading this biography so sweet.
Not only is the biography warm and personal, it is also packed with theological conviction. Sproul’s most famous book, The Holiness of God, arose from a deeply personal awakening to God’s holiness during a midnight trek at the chapel of Westminster College in his second year of college. Nichols quotes Sproul recounting this episode where he had a sudden epiphany of the grandeur of God, an “awakening to the biblical concept of God that changed [his] whole life after that” (p. 49).
Read More