Fundamentally Reformed Former independent fundamental Baptist discusses errors & weird traits of extreme fundamentalism, IFBx, KJV-only debate, contemporary Christian music [CCM], Calvinism/Covenant Theology, & the Bible, while promoting Christian unity & magnifying grace. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 7538 5 7345

Articles from Fundamentally Reformed

Casting Crowns & MercyMe: A Look at Motivations 2007-06-09 08:02:06 Casting Crowns [“Who Am I”, “Voice of Truth”, “Lifesong”, “Set Me Free”, “Stained Glass Masquerade”] and MercyMe [”I Can Only Imagine”, “Word of God Speak”, “Homesick”]. I am not alone, as these are among the most popular Christian music groups today. Casting Crowns has sold 2.5 million records in less than 4 years, with both of their albums being certified Platinum (1 million CDs sold). MercyMe’s major record label debut Almost There is nearly a Triple Platinum, with one if not 2 other albums also being certified Platinum. Recently, I purchased the special platinum edition of Almost There. The bonus disc contains an interview with Bart Millard the lead singer and songwriter for the group. I was fascinated by the story behind their hit “I Can Only Imagine” making it on secular radio. Two years or more after they released the song on Christian radio, a radio station in ...

Another Republican Presidential Debate 2007-06-07 09:21:44 But they don’t get it. 2 Tiers — there definitely are two tiers of candidates. If you are one of the top 3 (Guliani, McCain, and Romney), you get twice as long to speak, and get asked twice as many questions. Part of the disparity can be traced to these candidates’ ability to raise large amounts of money quickly, and part of it can be traced to early polls and media tampering. The media has made it into a 3-way race, with Thompson and Gingrich as possible would-be contenders. Sure, I’m biased, and the media often merely reports, yet I can’t help thinking that if the media didn’t hype certain candidates, things might be different. Mike Huckabee (the guy I’m rooting for), might be wrong. He is banking on the fact that the nomination should be and will be won on the basis of ideas and positions, not on the basis of how much money you can earn, and which big-time donor you know. I hope people watch the debates and research the issues, because ...

The Christ of the Covenants, by O. Palmer Robertson ? A Review 2007-06-02 15:22:35 This is a review I’ve been meaning to write for some time. My brother gave me this book, back when I was a fairly new convert to covenant theology (or better a new ex-dispensationalist), a couple years ago. With my poor reading habits, I started (and sometimes finished), a good many other books before I actually finished reading this one. Don’t get me wrong, I love books and I love reading. I just am not as disciplined a reader as I should be. Anyways, this book is not a covenantal theology manual, as some might suspect. The Christ of the Covenants, by O. Palmer Robertson, is a book about the many Scriptural covenants: the covenant with Noah, Abraham, and David, to name a few. Robertson departs from many covenant theologians in refusing to call the pre-Creation Divine determination to redeem fallen man an actual covenant, even as he argues for the basic correctness of the covenantal position on Israel and the church. What this book does best is show how the covenants ...

Happy Memorial Day 2007-05-28 13:28:59 Happy Memorial Day, everyone.  I thought I’d post about some of what’s been happening around here. Thursday, our oldest daughter (Emily), turned 4 years old. That is quite amazing to us. Our daughter is not a baby anymore. School is a little more than a year away. And this was the age I was, when I first trusted Jesus. So we are all the more conscious of our responsibilities as Christian parents. The number four has another meaning to us these days. We are expecting our fourth child. We have 3 girls, so we are hoping for a boy. Some may think less of us for being so undisciplined as to have four kids in a little more than 5 years, but we have determined to have as large a family as we are able to support for God’s glory. See my post, Christians, Contraceptives, and Children for more on that topic. These thoughts about our responsibility as parents were deepened through an experience we shared yesterday.  We survived a car accident which most likely totalled ...

Huckabee on a Roll 2007-05-22 19:01:11 Even if you didn’t watch the 2nd Republican Presidential Debate on May 15th, you might have heard about former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee’s line of the night: “We’ve had a congress that spent money like John Edwards in a beauty shop.” Sure the line was funny, and it got the biggest laugh of the night. But more importantly, it has helped Huckabee generate some steam in his push to become a viable candidate worthy of winning the Republican nomination. Huckabee has shined in both of the recent Republican debates. His performance in the second debate has attracted considerable media attention and praise. Some claim he is on the verge of breaking into the top tier of Republican candidates. Time’s Joe Klein, in a recent blog (HT: Mike Huckabee President 2008) claims that Mike Huckabee is out-performing Sam Brownback in “the battle of the religious conservatives”. Excepting the far-out Ron Paul and the current top 3 candidates (Guliani, ...

Why Go to Church? 2007-05-21 12:31:46 This sign raises a question: why do we go to church? I, for one, don’t think the answer given on the sign is theologically correct. Before I explain my thoughts, perhaps some of my readers (assuming I still have any…) would like to weigh in on what is wrong with this sign. Or maybe you agree with its basic premise. Please, join the conversation. I’ll be posting my thoughts on this later today or else tomorrow. ...

Programming Note 2007-05-06 02:42:54   Sorry for the lack of blogging this week. We are taking off for a week-long trip here tonight. You all take care now. ...

A Letter from the Church of Smyrna 2007-04-29 14:28:42 letter from the modern-day Church of Smyrna.  The letter speaks of recent persecution: a German missionary, a local Turkish pastor and another Turkish Christian were martyred for Christ.  Read the letter.  Be challenged to pray for the persecuted church around the world.  Be encouraged to see that God is presently at work redeeming a people for His name from every tongue and tribe.  Be convicted of the importance of the gospel.  And be shamed for your lack of dedication and committment to the cause of Christ. May God turn our rightful shame into a determination to risk all for Jesus Christ and for the spreading of the Gospel to all peoples. ...

Hiatus 2007-04-27 13:49:28 ...

Gone for the Weekend 2007-04-20 03:18:05 ...

God & The Virginia Tech Massacre 2007-04-18 02:00:45 the ministry of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Blacksburg, as well as other Christian churches in the area. Let me leave you with the words of the African Benediction (see above link for more on this), as well as the links I promised. Minister: All our problems . . . People: We send them to the cross of Christ! Minister: All our difficulties . . . People: We send them to the cross of Christ! Minister: All the devil’s work . . . People: We send them to the cross of Christ! Minister: All our hopes . . . People: We set on the risen Christ! Minister: Christ, the Son of Righteousness, shine upon you and scatter the darkness from before your path: and the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you, forever and ever. Amen. ———————————————————– John Piper: “21 Ways to Love and Comfort the Hurting” (HT: DG ...

Marvelous Light 2007-04-15 03:41:44 Recently, we have been singing a wonderful modern praise song at church that I’d like to share with you. Before I do, let me add a disclaimer. I love hymns. And our church often sings hymns. I would agree with many who would say the evangelical church today is in jeopardy of losing its rich musical tradition, as evidenced by the widespread neglect of hymns. But my blog is directed more towards people within fundamentalism and those familiar with it. Many fundamentalists ignore or disdain modern church music in favor of hymns. So my music posts aim to highlight doctrinally rich, excellently crafted, modern church music. I have previously posted the lyrics to numerous songs of the modern hymn variety. And I have just started posting lyrics to praise songs. I think fundamentalists hurt themselves by not using modern music, which often can be utilized in more traditional settings. And worse, they misrepresent CCM and modern praise music as shallow and carnal, across the boa ...

Mike Huckabee on the Issues 2007-04-15 00:26:02 Mike Huckabee for President, has generated quite a bit of interest.  I think that’s great.  So I wanted to follow up by spreading the word about a great new resource I’ve discovered. Brian McCrorie just pointed out a great new way to learn more about where Huckabee stands on the issues.  Explorehuckabee.com has created a YouTube page with several short video clips (1-2 min.) of Mike Huckabee discussing issues such as immigration, health care, education, sanctity of life, marriage ammendment, national security, taxes/economy, etc. Take a few minutes and check them out.  Go over to explorehuckabee.com for more info, and then jump on the bandwagon and spread the word about Mike Huckabee!  I fear his message will be lost in the shuffle of so many competing candidates.  So join a grassroots effort, and blog for Huckabee!  (Reminder: explorehuckabee.com makes it very simple to spread the word through blogging or email invites.) The following video clip is an introductory clip, wh ...

Believing Men, Beware the Blog 2007-04-13 15:23:25 ...

A Quick Laugh & A Great Read 2007-04-12 15:28:02 Alex Chediak). Then I also wanted to point you to a great post by the iMonk (Michael Spencer) which criticizes some of the currently popular evangelical trends.  Its definitely worth the read (HT: Ryan DeBarr). ...