The joy of the Trump inauguration stems from eleven elements:

1) The deleterious effects of Biden’s policies coupled with his mental decline.

2) The Democrat’s intentional pursuit of derailing Trump’s candidacy throughout the last two years.

3) The awakening of powerful voices to the destructive nature of woke ideologies creating fruitful alliances possibly never seen before in American politics.

4) The overwhelming election night of Donald J. Trump signaled a clear desire to move towards national conservative policies.

5) The Church’s renewed interest for the good of the city.

6) The mandate to undo the destructive DEI agenda within various institutions.

7) The failed European project of open borders.

8 ) The Vice-Presidency of JD Vance, who stands as a clear runner-up for 2028.

9) The removal of various roles/voices within the government and the innovation of DOGE as an economic gatekeeper against waste.

10) The distinct return to an “American First” philosophy.

11) The kindness of Jesus Christ in preserving our great nation!

God bless the 47th President of the United States of America!

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The question of what it means to be a Jew or Israelite touches upon deep theological and covenantal themes rooted in Scripture. The Old Covenant (OC) provides the foundational framework for understanding the identity of the people of God, while the New Covenant (NC) in Christ redefines and fulfills these realities. Through an examination of the covenantal history and its fulfillment in the church, we can discern the evolving identity of Israel as God’s people.

The starting point of Israelite identity is the covenant God made with Abraham. While Abraham fathered both Ishmael and Isaac, only Isaac was considered the son of the covenant. Both sons were circumcised, but the covenant promise was specific to Isaac (Gen. 17:19-21). Circumcision marked inclusion in the covenant community, but this physical sign was insufficient on its own to secure the covenant blessings; faith and divine election determined true membership.

This distinction highlights a fundamental principle: covenant identity in the OC was never purely biological.[1] It was a matter of divine promise and faith, evidenced by God’s sovereign choice of Isaac over Ishmael. Even within Abraham’s household, circumcision extended to male servants, yet these individuals were not considered full heirs of the covenant in the same way Isaac was (Gen. 17:12-13, 23-27).[2]

The OC allowed Gentiles to join the covenant community under specific conditions, demonstrating that Israel was not an ethnically exclusive entity. A Gentile could become part of the covenant if they:

1. Belonged to the household of an Israelite (Genesis 17:12-14).
2. Embraced the faith of Abraham (Exodus 12:48-49).
3. Waited three generations if they were Edomites or Egyptians (Deuteronomy 23:7-8).
4. Waited ten generations if they were Ammonites or Moabites (Deuteronomy 23:2-3).

Tim Gallant aptly summarizes this dynamic by observing that Israel had “soft edges” to its identity.^[3]Gentiles could enter the covenant community and even become Israelites through circumcision and faith. However, these “soft edges” also had limits. Not all circumcised individuals were Israelites – Esau and Ishmael, though circumcised, were not part of the covenant people. Conversely, those who forsook circumcision were cut off from Israel, underscoring that covenant status was contingent upon obedience to God’s commands (Gen. 17:14).

The covenant shaped Israel into more than a religious community – it forged them into a family, tribe, and eventually a nation. Over time, the covenantal framework intertwined with biological lineage, so much so that Paul could refer to Israel as his “kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3). While Israel retained an ethnic core, their identity was never reducible to ethnicity alone. Covenant membership had a biological dimension, but it ultimately rested on faith and God’s promises.

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Happy Epiphany!

It doesn’t have the same ring as “Merry Christmas” or “Christ is risen!” but Epiphany carries significant repercussions for our Christmas and Easter theology. In some sense, Epiphany is the key that unlocks both classic Christian festivals. Epiphany secures the triumph of Jesus’ life and mission.

In Epiphany, we celebrate the “manifestation” of Jesus to the Gentiles. When the Magi came to give him gifts, they gave him gifts as a foretelling of the great gift the Son will give the Father at the end of history (I Cor. 15:24-26). When Christ returns, he returns with the kingdom as a gift to the Father. Jesus receives gifts, but he is the great gift-giver of history (Eph. 4:11-13).

Jesus introduces himself to the Gentile world as a fulfillment of Simeon’s song. He is a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Israel (Matt 2:1-12). Jesus’ entire ministry is a ministry of gift-giving, which culminates as his body is given for his people (Lk. 22:19). Indeed, gift-giving is a crucial component of the revelation of Jesus to the world.

We can be sure of the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) because Epiphany’s gifts to Jesus are gifts that will be dispersed among men. Jesus is the unfailing gift-giver to the nations. He has never failed to provide for his people. He promises to be a “light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:32).

For the Christian, Epiphany signals a season of discipleship through gift-giving rituals. The entire biblical premise of sanctification entails a life of exchanges (my life for yours).

Christians are called to think through their ordinary rituals and adjust them accordingly to reveal Christ’s work to the nations. We can consider three questions to build a gift-giving environment in our homes and churches:

First, how can my home be a gift of refreshment to my children and those who enter it? Have I made my house a house of prayer? Is it perfumed with the aroma of heaven?

Second, how/what are my daily habits? In what ways are those rituals bringing life to my own soul and those around me? Am I refreshing my spirit to refresh others in the hope of the Gospel?

Third, how am I being an ambassador of Jesus in my endeavors? How is my private and public life sharing the mission of Messiah to the world? Is my life manifesting glory in my community?

Epiphany means to make known what was hidden. Christ’s presence was a mystery to the Gentiles, but now his life is made known to the nations as a babe and as the Creator of the cosmos.

Epiphany summons us to wrap our lives as gifts to those around us and to be constantly on the lookout to give of ourselves to others out of the abundance of gifts we have received from Christ, our manifested Lord.

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By Rev. Bo Cogbill

A Homily to Ministers of the Gospel at Anselm Presbytery

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray with me.

Father of Heavenly Lights and fount of all Wisdom, guide us we pray, by your Word and Spirit, so that in your light we may see light, in your truth find wisdom, and in your will discover your peace. Add Your blessing to the reading, the hearing, and the preaching of Your Word, and grant us all the grace to trust and obey You, and all God’s people said, “Amen.”

The scripture reading we’ll consider tonight is from Paul’s letter to Timothy.

Hear God’s Word:

1 Timothy 4:7–16 – [7] Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; [8] for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. [9] The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. [10] For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

[11] Command and teach these things. [12] Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. [13] Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. [14] Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. [15] Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. [16] Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. 

[1] Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, [2] older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. 

This is the word of the Lord; thanks be to God.

We could probably do a whole series of presbytery talks on this passage – talks about what is and isn’t’ a silly myth or irreverent babble, talks about how ministerial scandal might be avoided if we saw the women and girls among us more like mothers and sisters and daughters than mere women, or how some of us need to get a little more value from our bodily training, but PM Stoos asked me to address Anselm w/some of the words I tried to encourage the RES students with during our convocation a little over a month ago.

That talk was supposed to be on an eschatological vision for ministry.

I’m pretty sure the expectation going in was for me to inspire the students who were aspiring to the ministry by giving them a vision for what role their ministry might play in the eschaton, but instead, I tried to do the opposite. 

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Guest Post by Toby Sumpter

Red-pilling is the realization that you’ve been lied to, the world isn’t the way you were told. A bunch of what you thought was real was actually a sham, a scam, a facade. Satan is the father of lies, and satanic cultures and kingdoms thrive on lies. This is why conversion to Christ is the ultimate red pill. Christ is the truth incarnate. His truth sets men free. And therefore, His Word in Scripture must be our touchstone for everything. Christ is King, not Satan, not his useful idiots in places of power.

Covid was a major red-pilling moment in our culture. The media and cultural elites tried to convince us that millions would die if we didn’t shut down our “non-essential” businesses and churches and schools, stay home, wear masks, stand 6 feet apart, and then when we noticed that abortion clinics and casinos were still open and they were still having private dinner parties, while our grandparents died alone in nursing homes, while they were arresting lone guys on beaches, we saw through the charade. When BLM riots ripped through our cities and protests and marches gathered like churches and they were praised and justified by our politicians and pastors, we realized we had been lied to… by almost everyone.

The trans-jihad has been another radicalizing red pill moment. Demanding that sick men have access to our daughters’ and mothers’ bathrooms and locker rooms and athletics, drag queens in libraries, and performing stripteases in front of young children, and the sudden rush to chemically castrate or permanently, surgically maim any teenager with a moment’s worth of sexual confusion, not to mention the millions of dollars behind it all — revealed to many that this is not about love and equality but about perversion, grooming, pedophila, and a corrupt counseling and medical industry.

And don’t forget the schools. The public/government schools have been complicit in all of this. From sexualizing kids from young ages to DEI indoctrination from preschool to universities, white Christian guilt and shame has metastasized, not to mention plummeting scores and standards on basic math and literature and history, all filled with Cultural Marxist religious talking points, in the name of neutrality and secularism and freedom. Heh. Loads and loads of fabrications, lies, and deception.

But all of this is a setup for any thinking man to wonder if he’s been lied to about everything. The same people who told me to mask up, take a jab, put money in some dude’s junk, and feel bad for being a white Christian also told me that the civil rights movement was good, that the confederacy was pure evil, the Salem witch trials and the Spanish inquisition were some of the worst examples of religious persecution, and the crusades and the wars of religion are what happen when people take Christianity too seriously.

It’s no wonder people start asking if the moon landing really happened or if the earth is actually flat and maybe there really are aliens and UFOs. And what about mermaids and unicorns and giants? Could a man really walk on water? Can water be turned into wine? Could the dead rise? Some of these things are true, some are partially true, and some are not.

So what do we do in a moment like this? To the Word and to the Testimony. The false teachers and educational wizards and media gurus have always muttered and chirped with their delusions and lies, scraping for power, trying to manipulate the masses with fear. But God’s Word stands true forever. Men will falter. Men will lie. Men will forget. But God’s Word is sure. And in His Light we see light. In His truth, we can distinguish truth from lies. And the truth is that we did not get here in a moment or even in just a few years. We got here by slowly neglecting God’s Word. When you cover the lamp, it gets dark in the room. When you stop celebrating God creating the world in six days, when you stop loving God’s good law, when you stop singing all of God’s favorite songs, the Psalms, when you stop telling the story of God’s covenant faithfulness from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses to David to Christ, when you stop loving children, welcoming children into your family, into worship, and doing everything you can to raise them as Christians, when you stop preaching the substitutionary atonement for sin, God’s absolute sovereignty over the universe, and the certainty of the victory of the Great Commission, well, that’s how lies get feet. That’s how it gets dark. That’s how you become susceptible to charades.

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Guest Post by Bill Peacock

“Many persons, having never viewed the subject (of liberty) in this light, charge us with excessive zeal, when they see us so warmly and earnestly contending for freedom of faith as to outward matters, in opposition to the tyranny of the Pope.” – John Calvin

Most Americans these days are more worried about the tyranny of civil government than of the Pope. Yet many of them, including some Christians, are squeamish about or opposed to applying biblical teachings to the public square in order to address the problem of tyranny. Some conservative Christians are hesitant about this because they believe it will lead to conflating Christian liberty and civil liberty and undermining the message of the freedom from sin we have in Jesus Christ.

While these two terms should not be conflated, neither should they be put asunder. John Calvin, in his commentary on Galatians 5:1, wrote that liberty is “an invaluable blessing, in defense of which it is our duty to fight, even to death; since not only the highest temporal considerations, but our eternal interests also, animate us to the contest.”

These temporal considerations of liberty extend into our social and economic lives. The Eighth Commandment, “You shall not steal,” confers an obligation on citizens and rulers not to take property from others. This obligation includes allowing the application of our labor and creativity to God’s creation so that we may use, buy, and sell the property we can make from it, and keep the profits from doing so. “Free market” or “capitalism” are the terms generally used to describe this state of affairs.

Unfortunately, the free market is waning in today’s uber-regulatory world. The government tells us what we must inject into our bodies to keep our jobs, what products we can–or must–sell, what people we must serve–or reject, the wages we must pay–and receive, the price at which we can buy and sell products, and more.

Capitalism, which as the replacement for feudalism allowed people from all classes, for the first time in history, to freely use their land, labor, and capital to their own benefit, is rapidly being replaced by a modern-day feudalism in which the wealthy and politically connected are once again becoming our lords.

Many Christians, perhaps out of concern about maintaining a “separation of church and state,” appear to be oblivious to these problems. While they are quick to point to harmful actions by individuals or businesses in the marketplace, they often ignore worse injustices committed by our rulers.

This is not to say there have not been challenges with capitalism over the centuries since it sprung out of 14th-century Renaissance Europe—poor working conditions, fraud, and strained relationships between owners and workers among them. Even so, the benefits of capitalism indisputably outweigh its human faults in terms of human prosperity and health.

Also indisputable is the history of failure by government officials who attempt to override the decisions of market participants—and their God-given rights—by intervening in markets. Yet the interventions—and failures—continue.

A long line of philosophers, theologians, and political thinkers have understood that humanity’s “Unalienable rights” are not supplied by government but instead are “endowed by their Creator.” This dependence on God rather than the state was expressed by Abraham Kuyper when he wrote that the dominating principle of Calvinism “was not, soteriologically, justification by faith, but, in the widest sense cosmologically, the Sovereignty of the Triune God over the whole Cosmos, in all its spheres and kingdoms, visible and invisible.”

We express the sovereignty of God over us and the state as our God-given rights and obligations of charity, stewardship, and dominion are freely exercised individually and collectively by people. Outside the family and church, the primary way we do this is through markets.

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By Pastor Brooks Potteiger
Pastor Brooks Potteiger is an ordained minister in the CREC. He has also received Master’s degrees in Christian Apologetics and Pastoral Care and Counseling . He enjoys live-edge woodworking, photography, the poetry of George Herbert, the sturdy theology of the Puritans, the creative destruction of a chainsaw, and the convulsive belly laughs that accompany G.K. Chesterton amongst friends.

¹² And Isaac sowed in that land (that is Gerar) and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, ¹³ and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) ¹⁶ And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.” 

¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. ¹⁸ And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah. ²² And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” 

²³ From there he went up to Beersheba. ²⁴ And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵ So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well…. 

³² That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” (Genesis 26:12-25; 32)

How do the sojournings of a patriarch from 4,000 years past relate to the encouragement of Christian educators?  Why choose Genesis 26 as the concrete slab to build such an exhortation?

My defense for doing so is two-fold:  Firstly, I have to admit I have been preaching through Genesis for a few years at church so I oft have Genesis on my mind. Secondly, as I consider our current cultural moment and your task as Classical Christian educators I find much common ground with you and Isaac’s situation.

Allow me to make a few parallels to explain. Beginning in verse 12 we learn that Isaac was tremendously blessed of God. He was astonishingly rich and as Americans in 2024 so are we.  We have been trusted with a great inheritance and an embarrassment of riches both physically and spiritually.  We can acquire food and medicine easily and access immediate information about anything at the tip of our fingers.  If you hit a snag on any project you have YouTube to pull up a personal mentor who will walk your through each step to completion.  

We have immediate access to, not just information, but literally anything, thanks to Amazon Prime.  If any other person at any other point in human history saw us use this portal to the world’s goods, they would think we were practicing wizardry.  Ponder this for a moment: if we want something we pull a magic wand out of our pocket, tap a button and it just appears on our front porch that same day, which is simply incredible.

So I go back to where I started. Like Isaac, we’ve been blessed with riches.

Andwe are not just physically rich, but we are rich spiritually as well.  We have  received a startling inheritance  Even amidst the present onslaught of secularism in our day, we are still free to worship the Triune God on the Lord’s Day in broad daylight, through a live microphone and without fear.  The currency we print in our country still reads, “in God we trust,” and our forefathers didn’t mean some vague sky-fairy by that; they meant the God of the Bible. In courtrooms throughout this land we still swear on the Bible and many judges still actually think that means something.

Here in Tennessee we are especially blessed by the recent actions of our legislature who enacted Resolution 803, which was a call to consecrate July as a time for prayer, repentance, and intermittent fasting.  Consider this excerpt from the Resolution:  

BE IT RESOLVED, that we recognize that God, as Creator and King of all Glory, has both the authority to judge and to bless nations or states.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we recognize our sins and shortcomings before Him and humbly ask His Forgiveness.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we ask the Lord Jesus to heal our land and remove the violence, human-trafficking, addiction, and corruption.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we ask that the Holy Spirit fill our halls of government, our classrooms, our places of business, our churches, and our homes with peace, love, and joy.

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Chase Davis is the Lead Pastor of Ministry of The Well Church in Boulder, CO. A two-time graduate of Denver Seminary (M.Div., Th.M.), Chase is also a Ph.D. candidate at the Free University Amsterdam studying historical theology. He is the author of Trinitarian Formation: A Theology of Discipleship in Light of the Father, Son, and Spirit and hosts the Full Proof Theology podcast.

Much Like Climate Alarmism, The Charges of “Misrepresentation” in Megan’s Book Are a Hoax

Gavin Ortlund has made a name for himself as a YouTube apologist. As the son of Ray Ortlund Jr., a “respected” voice in the Young, Restless, and Reformed (YRR) movement, and grandson of Ray Ortlund Sr., a pastor and Christian radio program host, Gavin follows in the tradition of his fathers by pursuing a career of being a big-time Christian communicator to the next generation. As the author of several books, he, too, has now established himself as a “respected” voice for many mainstream evangelicals. 

While Gavin is staking out his own claim on the YouTube silver screen, he is also undeniably positioned within the broader ecosystem of what some call “Big Evangelicalism” or “Big Eva” for short. 

Along with trading on his family name, he is a beneficiary of a family-created position as the theologian-in-residence at the non-denominational “gospel-centered” Immanuel Nashville, serving alongside his father. Also on staff with Gavin is the former head of the ERLC and current Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today, Russell Moore, and Associate Pastor Sam Alberry, famous for his quibbling on matters related to human sexuality, and Assistant Pastor Barnabas Piper (himself a fellow progeny of a patron saint of the Young Restless Reformed, John Piper). To top it all off, he is a fellow at The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics,  a program started by The Gospel Coalition where the Lead Pastor of Immanuel Nashville, T.J. Sims, serves as a Council Member. 

When it comes to his name and his elite evangelical pedigree, Gavin is a true blue blood. Perhaps that’s why he thinks he is above being questioned by scrappy reporters exposing a dark underbelly to Big Eva. 

Names and Pedigrees Won’t Save You from Being Exposed in Shepherds for Sale

This week, Gavin found himself in hot water as an illustrative figure in the first chapter of Megan Basham’s blockbuster book Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda, which sits in the top 20 of all books available on Amazon at the time of this article. It should be no surprise that men like Ortlund would be a person of interest in Basham’s work. Basham’s book covers the gamut of Leftist ideologies and infiltration in the evangelical church in America. With the eye of an investigative journalist, she details how various figures and entities in evangelicalism have knowingly or unknowingly adopted Leftist frameworks either by taking money or by parroting leftist slogans. 

Her thesis is that evangelical pastors and speakers with large platforms are attempting to convince their followers of certain policies associated with the Left because they are being influenced wittingly or unwittingly by outside entities. These pastors and speakers are caught up in the propagandist nature of our day because there are certain incentive structures created to be a “good boy.”

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