When the fool is struck by the Word, those with understanding will understand and beware (Pro. 19:25). The lost have seen plenty of capitulation and flip-flopping all around them. What often sets them back, awakening them to grace, is seeing men and women of God stand with conviction for the whole counsel of God without getting red in the face for those portions of Leviticus about shell-fish. The world has seen plenty of cowardice, perhaps it is waiting for Christians who are actually courageous to believe, live, and declare the Word with boldness.

In the years that I’ve been writing publicly, a common contention is that pointing out and knocking down certain worldly viewpoints might be hurtful to people. The frequent rebuff I’ve seen is that Christians are supposed to be loving, not judgy and all that. Or some keyboard warrior will ask, “Why did you pick a fight on this or that issue, shouldn’t Christians be Gospel centered?”
Confronting some cultural nonsense, whether in the church or outside it, will often earn you the chiding of other Christians implying that you need to be more gracious, sweet, and kind. I’d like to address some of these objections, showing why we need twice the courage and half the niceness.
Impotent Gospel-Centeredness
First of all, too often claiming to be “Gospel-centered” has become an excuse to confine the Gospel to the size and scope of a linen closet. You’re not gospel-centered if you’re embarrassed by the Gospel as it is found in Leviticus, or in the hard sayings of Christ, or in the biting rhetoric of the Prophets, or in the salty stories of Judges. To be Gospel-centered actually requires us to be Bible-centered. We must read and receive the whole book.
You can think that John 3:16 is the only verse you need to hop up and down on, but even there, in that famous verse, Jesus clearly lays out the consequences of not believing in the only begotten Son: you will perish. Jesus seems to be implying, trigger warning, that outside of faith in Him there is no meaningful life.
It does no good to be Gospel-centered with an impotent Gospel. The Gospel of Christ is that He demands the whole of your life, your neighbor’s life, and Saudi Arabia’s life. He is Lord of all the earth. It all belongs to Christ. He has commanded us to disciple the nations, not coax them to join our religious LARPing club. Our Gospel is to the whole world, for the whole world.
The Godly Virtue of Picking Fights
Others object that picking a fight, by writing on a controversial topic (which I have been known to do), doesn’t seem very grace-filled. This all depends on if you define grace Biblically, or if you have had it defined for you by the sort of books with the author’s face taking up 90% of the front cover. Grace is proclaiming that God looks upon those in Christ with favor, having forgiven them all their sins. Grace is not molly-coddling folly or sin. Numerous examples of Prophets & Apostles, let alone our Lord Jesus, show that picking a fight can be the most godly course of action. Through these instances of godly fights, we see God’s grace displayed to sinners.
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Although the President said he intends to end the system that allows Imams to train overseas, some have suggested he may be using “radical Islam” to garner public support for the move which would simultaneously undermine the freedoms and rights of Christian parents.

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced on Friday his intention to outlaw homeschooling in 2021 for all children unless they have a medical exemption that forces them to stay away from schools, Life Site News reports.
According to the report, the President said the government would also step up control of self-funded, private and independent schools, through inspections of curricula and by strong enforcement of a new law that requires private schools to teach a “common core” defined by the state.

The announcement comes as part of Macron’s plan to combat “Islamic separatism” and to “free Islam in France from foreign influences.”

“The goal of training and promoting in France a generation of Imams and intellectuals who defend an Islam fully compatible with the values of the Republic is a necessity,” Macron told an audience in Les Mureaux, Paris.
Although the President said he intends to end the system that allows Imams to train overseas, some have suggested he may be using “radical Islam” to garner public support for the move which would simultaneously undermine the freedoms and rights of Christian parents.
According to Macron, his aim is to “protect children from religion,” and that includes Christianity.
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This pair of amendments was drafted in light of the failure of Overture 2022-15 from the 49th General Assembly in response to Side-B homosexuality and the Revoice Movement. Many actions have already been taken to address this controversy in the PCA (i.e. a study committee on human sexuality, an SJC decision on the handling of Revoice, corrective responses concerning the Revoice Conference in Missouri Presbytery, and ratified amendments in BCO 16-4, 21-4, and 24-1). Furthermore, all of this has taken place in light of the church which sparked this controversy by hosting the Revoice Conference leaving the PCA (along with its ministers). Many hope this will be the last round of amendments concerning sexuality in the PCA (at least for now).

I may not be King Theoden from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and we are not on the verge of the Battle of Helm’s Deep, but I would like to make the observation that we in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) are beginning another significant event in the life of our Church. While Book of Church Order (BCO) amendments pale in comparison to the excitement caused by orcs laying siege to an impregnable fortress, they have significant importance as it relates to the work of the Church. What begins now is the voting season for the items passed by the 50th General Assembly held this past June in Memphis. Presbyteries all across the United States and Canada will have the next 9 months or so to offer their advice and consent about the amendments passed at this year’s Assembly. You can find overall results of the General Assembly here.After an amendment passes the Assembly, it is bundled together with other proposed amendments and together they are then presented as “items” according to their location in the Book of Church Order. These items must pass at least 2/3 (or 59) of the 88 regional presbyteries by a simple majority vote of each presbytery. Any amendment that reaches the 2/3 threshold will be considered for final ratification at the 51st General Assembly in Richmond, VA on June 10-14, 2024. This year, there will be three amendments for the presbyteries to consider (derived from Overtures 23, 26, and 27).  These proposed changes, respectively, clarify the sexual character expected of ordained officers in the Church, the use of technical titles for non-ordained laypeople, and an alteration in the procedure for a case without process. This article will include the language for each amendment, the history of the respective section in the BCO, and the rationale for each amendment. You can follow the progress of these amendments here (also linked on the Presbyterian Polity homepage).
Item 1: Overture 26
Overture 26 seeks to amend BCO 7-3 on church officers to address the usage of the titles pastor, elder, and deacon for those who have not been duly ordained for said office in the PCA. The amendment reads (underlined section):
7-3. No one who holds office in the Church ought to usurp authority therein, or receive official titles of spiritual preeminence, except such as are employed in the Scripture. Furthermore, unordained people shall not be referred to as, or given the titles of, the ordained offices of pastor/elder or deacon.
This amendment passed the assembly with about 75% support from commissioners with a vote of 1427-481. The relevant section in the BCO (Chapter 7) deals explicitly with the general classification of officers in the church. Section 3 concerns the scriptural authority and titles for those who hold office. Historically, this section grounds the authority of officer bearers to Scripture itself. Furthermore, it protects the church from “men usurping authority because they hold office in the church.”[1]The rationale for this amendment arises from misapplication of the titles pastor, elder, and deacon (e.g., unordained “youth pastors,” “music pastors,” but also those who are not ordained to the office of deacon receiving that title). Those in favor of this amendment hope that it will help to protect the Church from the unordained (intentionally or unintentionally) usurping the authority of the ordained by claiming the titles of those ordained by God. If this amendment is ratified, what was once implicit in the Church’s constitution will be made explicit.
Item 2: Overture 23
Overture 23 seeks to amend both BCO 8-2 on elders and 9-3 on deacons to require officers’ conformity to the biblical standards of chastity and sexual purity. The amendments read as follows (underlined section):
8-2. He that fills this office should possess a competency of human learning and be blameless in life, sound in the faith and apt to teach. He should exhibit a sobriety and holiness of life becoming the Gospel. He should conform to the biblical requirement of chastity and sexual purity in his descriptions of himself, and in his convictions, character, and conduct. He should rule his own house well and should have a good report of them that are outside the Church.
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