“Look at my dark skin and my green eyes,” the young man said, “for they are a testament to the lust of those heretical Dutch who had children with the native women…” I listened with curiosity to our guide on a visit to the old churches in the city of Olinda (Pernambuco) who praised the valiant and pious Portuguese resistance to the Dutch invaders while at the same time denouncing the impiety of those European Protestants.

In the early nineteen-seventies, as Brazil was under a military controlled political regime, an acclaimed Brazilian filmmaker popularized the expression “ideological patrolling” to describe what he understood to be the following:

The organization of people or groups that, sharing the same ideological orientation, act in such a way as to preserve this theoretical line against other forms of criticism or revision of the ideology defended.[i]

A story of political corruption in ancient Israel can help the church speak out.

The Shadow of Blooming Grove

Francis Russell wrote a book about Warren G. Harding, titled The Shadow of Blooming Grove. It’s a biography of a man considered one of our worst presidents, who came from Blooming Grove, Ohio.

Preamble: July 19, 2024 was the eve of our departure to India from the US after a month with our children and their families.  That morning our son, Deepak, 41 years old, began his day as he did three times a week with gym and devotions with neighborhood Christian friends who met next door to their house in Cheverly, MD. 

On April 1^st and 2nd, 2025 the North American East Coast Regional Board of The World Reformed Fellowship will be sponsoring a two day consultation at the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Bethesda Maryland, on the theme of The Future of Denominationalism.

One of the purposes of the World Reformed Fellowship is to advance partnerships across Reformed groups, particularly with churches. We operate as a forum to assist the Reformed church to cooperate on missions and evangelism, theological and ministerial education, and doctrinal considerations as our world changes and in order to foster deeper unity in the bride of Christ.

Cameron Fraser’s book, Evangelicals and Abortion, is just remarkable. It not only covers the most crucial discussions through the centuries but also gives a compelling overview of many aspects of other areas of Christian theology that relate meaningfully to abortion.

 ²⁴ A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. ²⁵ And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. ²⁶ But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. ²⁷ For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. Luke 22:24-27

A lecture given at a conference on “Contending for the Faith” at Seventh Reformed Church (RCA) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 18, 1995, by William s. Barker, Vice President for Academic Affairs Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

Richard Burnett, Machen’s Hope: The Transformation of a Modernist in the New Princeton. Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s, 2024 Pp. x + 591.  $45.99, cloth. A Review by Dr. Samuel Logan 

The early Reformers, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox, faced persecution. Luther went into hiding, Calvin fled France, and Knox’s opposition imprisoned him. Hundreds of other Protestants and church leaders also faced the same fate as English Reformer Thomas Cranmer, being burned at the stake.

Everyone, it seems, has something to say about something – or someone. And what they have to say isn’t pretty. But must it all be said?

 “Mom!”

Following that shrieked exclamation, many a fault (real, fabricated, or imagined) has been charged to a sibling or a friend or a puzzled pet. It is inherent in the sinful nature of man – seen most cutely, if not most acutely, in children – to point out the shortcomings of others.