Reformed Journey

A More Excellent Way: A Biblical Guide to 1 Corinthians 12–14: Spiritual Gifts, Tongues and Worship  It’s finally here! After months of writing, revising, praying, editing, and more editing, I’m incredibly thankful to say that my book, A More Excellent Way, is now available on Amazon in Kindle e-book, paperback and hardcover.  This book has been a joy to write. I loved every step of the way. It was born out of my desire to see my family and friends open Scripture and see what these chapters in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians really teach. It was shaped by thirty years of life in the Charismatic movement and written with a genuine desire to help Christians think more biblically about what these chapters say about spiritual gifts, tongues, and worship. And now I finally get to share the finished work with you.  For years, I saw 1 Corinthians 12–14 used as a roadmap of sorts for modern supernatural church life, where tongues, prophecy, and emotional “Spirit-filled” experie...

The question of divine healing is something that every believer wrestles with at some point. We pray for the sick, we rejoice when God heals, and we question Him when He doesn’t. In recent years, many teachers have claimed that it is always God’s will to heal, that Christ’s atonement guarantees complete physical healing this side of heaven for every Christian who has enough faith. Teacher Andrew Wommack is one of the more prominent. His 2010 book God Wants You Well has become one of his most popular and widely read. There are members of my immediate family who are not well and yet insist that God desperately wants to heal them, but for some reason cannot. They have been taught (by Wommack and others) that because Jesus healed people, then that must mean that God always wants everyone healed. But at the same time, because they are not healed, it cannot be God's fault. The inevitable conclusion is that it’s our fault. We don’t have enough faith, there is unforgiven sin in our lives, ...

The evil and tragic murder of Charlie Kirk in the U.S last week was a shock to everyone. Charlie, who confessed to being a Christian and argued against “trans rights” and “gay marriage” etc, was shot and killed while speaking at an event at a university in the state of Utah. The news brought a strong outcry from many across both the political and religious worlds. Politicians, not just in the U.S, called the act “senseless” and “disgusting” and insisted that violence has no place in politics or public life.  The conversation on social media has swung wildly between grief and anger, accusations and blame from one side of politics to shameful and evil celebrations and joy from the ‘other side’ over the death of a man they saw as dangerous to their worldview.  It's natural to feel sorrow, shock, and anger when the world around us seems so evil and wicked. How do we as Christians deal with all these strong and intense feelings coming from both sides? Where do we, as Bible believer...

“Christianity doesn’t need just some pontification about some belief, it needs a genuine encounter with God. People can argue doctrine, and I believe in having good doctrine, but they can argue that what this says and that says, but when you encounter God, there's no argument.”                                                                                                                                      Charismatic Pastor Russell Evans. On the surface and at first glance, this actually sounds pretty good. Who doesn’t want to ‘encounter’ God? Who doesn’t want a faith that feels alive and re...

“Why isn’t everyone healed? That’s because they don’t believe it is God’s will to heal everyone. The people who are perplexed are those who do believe it’s God’s will, and yet aren’t seeing every single person—perhaps even themselves—healed. Why does that happen? The answer Jesus gave the disciples to their question of why they couldn’t cast the demon out of the boy is very revealing: Because of your unbelief. Matthew 17:20”                                                      Andrew Wommack, “God Wants You Well” 96.  One recent Sunday, my wife and I visited our son and his family in another town to where we live. We went to their church with them on Sunday morning. Their church meets in a movie theatre, and as we were taking our seats, the music team began to come on stage in preparation for the service.  Among t...

I was just standing up after the last song in the front few rows of the church we had just attended. I stretched as I looked around for people I needed to talk to. Out of the corner of my eye, a lady, whom we knew, who had supported us, approached me with a smile. She was a kind and friendly lady and prayed for us regularly, which, of course, we appreciated greatly. However, we knew her to be a Christian who firmly believed God gave her visions and dreams for other people. She shook my hand and said, “As I was sitting in church, I saw you and God gave me a word for you, God told me……”  In many churches today, across various denominations—not exclusive to the charismatic church—you will hear well-meaning Christians say, “God told me…,” or “God spoke to me about…,” or “God showed me…” While most often associated with Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, this language is also common throughout Evangelicalism, including some Reformed churches.  One of the most influential books p...