Full of Good Fruits
14. September 2020
Made with real fruit. Bursting with fruity flavor. Fruit in every bite. Advertising slogans repeatedly reveal one simple truth: fruitfulness is ...
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The Wisdom from Above Is Full of Mercy
13. July 2020
James tells us that wisdom shows itself in a range of ways (Jas. 3:13). In fact, the essence of wisdom is knowledge that is applied to real life. Your ...
The Wisdom from Above Is Reasonable
14. May 2020
We live in an increasingly polarized world. Everything is binary. Nuance is suspect. Taking time to understand another is tantamount to compromise. ...
Wisdom That Is Gentle
18. March 2020
My grandfather Paul Faris (1916–2010) was ordained a Reformed Presbyterian pastor in 1944. He and young peers were troubled by the rancorous tone of ...
The Wisdom from Above Is Peaceable
29. January 2020
The wisdom from above is peaceable. John Calvin said that this was to teach the church that wisdom is “not contentious.” Wisdom from above ...
Wisdom Is Pure
02. December 2019
Foolishness seems to be the order of the day. When you read the latest headlines, follow social media trends, or listen to the current political ...
Wisdom from Above
25. September 2019
Over the next several issues of the Witness, the Gentle Reformation writers will address, one by one, the qualities of heavenly wisdom given in James ...
Discipleship and Death
26. July 2019
I was briefly spooked by a website predicting my death. I typed in details of country, height, weight, and birth, then clicked. In a few seconds my ...
Equipping Laborers
23. May 2019
Our 15-year-old daughter, Rebekah, is preparing for a hiking expedition in a few weeks as she works toward a particular award. She and her team will ...
Discipling the Unbaptized, Unchurched, and Unfamiliar
20. March 2019
In my previous article entitled “Discipling the Unbaptized, Unchurched, and Unfamiliar,” I explained that discipleship in the 21st Century needs ...
Discipling the Unbaptized, Unchurched, and Unfamiliar
21. January 2019
An atheist, a Buddhist, and a Jehovah’s Witness walk into a church. What’s the punchline? There isn’t one. It’s no joke. What do we do with a ...
The Pastor and Discipleship
14. November 2018
How should the pastor practice discipleship? What should congregations expect from their pastors? Jesus is the chief Shepherd, and, in the Great ...
The Cost of Discipleship
12. September 2018
Whenever the topic of discipleship is brought up in the church, one truth is essential to the discussion: You cannot talk about discipleship without ...
The Timothy Principle
27. July 2018
Principles tend to lose their meaning and significance out of context. So, let’s get into context. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior of the world, ...
The Great Commission and Discipleship
09. March 2018
The river current swiftly moved us downstream without much commotion. A quiet anxiety hung in the air. We were all mindful that soon this winding ...
Andrew Melville
17. January 2018
Andrew Melville was born in 1545 in Montrose, Scotland. He was the youngest of nine sons. Orphaned in childhood, he was raised by his eldest brother, ...
Anne Vaughan Locke and Her Basket of Rocks
15. November 2017
“The most perfect school of Christ…since the days of the apostles.”1 Many have heard these words concerning Reformation-era Geneva, penned ...
Henry Bullinger
30. September 2017
The name of the second-generation Swiss Reformer Henry Bullinger (Zwingli’s successor in Zurich) is not nearly as well known today as that of ...
Great Reformers
31. May 2017
William Farel was the spark plug of the Reformation in French-speaking Switzerland. He placed his faith in Christ while studying the letters of the ...
Great Reformers
08. March 2017
The last issue of the Witness reminded readers that 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses, an event used to ...