Reformed Journey

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...

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...

“Jesus became poor so you could live in abundance – yes, even financially. This verse [referring to 1 Corinthians 8:9] reminds us that Jesus gave up everything, including His heavenly riches, to meet all our needs. Are you walking in the financial freedom and generosity God has called you to?”                                Charis Bible College Facebook post Tues, 11 Mar 2025.  This post appeared on the Chris Bible College Facebook page above a picture of the verse, 1 Corinthians 8:9, which states, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” The phrases “your sake” and “might become rich” were specifically highlighted.  We will look more closely at this verse in a moment to see what the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, really meant when this verse was written to the Corinthian...

Healing Now? "It says in 1 Peter 2:24, by his stripes we were healed. You aren’t waiting on God to heal you, God has already healed you. He’s already provided the power, it’s already done, it’s already released. It’s not a matter of whether God will heal you, but you have to reach out and receive, and this is what it took me 20 years to learn."                                                                                                                     Andrew Wommack  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hb4kYFzKNxw 1 Peter 2:24, which the Apostle Peter quotes from Isaiah 53, is a common prooftext for false, word of faith teachers such as Andrew Wommack who attempt to show that Jesus, by dying on ...