Reformed Journey

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...

The 1.3 billion Catholics in the world have a new Pope. Leo the XIV. In the time of the reformers, he would have been welcomed by the protestants of the day as the Antichrist. As modern-day protestants, we can, and should agree, that at the very least the Pope is the leader of an idolatrous theology, which includes the rejection of justification of faith alone, the claims of papal infallibility and the veneration and/or outright worship of Mary and the saints.  But is Pope Leo XIV the Antichrist?  Because I grew up in a Pentecostal charismatic church, it follows that I had a Dispensational Premillennial understanding of end-time events. This means that the Antichrist was always just over the horizon. He would be a charismatic political leader, possibly from Europe, who would one day sign a peace treaty with Israel, rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and unleash global deception during a seven-year Tribulation. Scriptures like Daniel 9, 2 Thessalonians 2, and Revelation 13 were i...