The Westminster Standard

Numerous statements and visions are proposed as the "mission of the church" nowadays. But the panel argues the Church already has a mission, given by Christ the king, which is to make disciples. Rather than be distracted by all manner of projects and endeavors, the panel argues the church should remain focused on making disciples through the preaching of the Word.

TEs Stephen Spinnenweber, Ryan Biese, and Wilson van Hooser are joined by Mrs Sean Morris and Mrs Seth Miller, the presbygirls.

Former Covenant Seminary board member TE Doug Serven shares how his interest in the murder of Elizabeth Mackintosh is part of his wider concern to give a platform to others to share their experiences and concerns.

An article based on a study by RE Matthew Lee suggests the PCA General Assembly is not only giving greater attention to ensuring presbyteries are rightly handing TEs with differences with the PCA Constitution, but also that the PCA is becoming more robust in her commitment to the Reformed Faith as expressed in the Westminster Standards. This seems to confirm what TE Chas. McGowan noted at the 50th General Assembly: while the PCA was founded as 'big tent movement,' the PCA has become stronger over the years because of greater theological focus.TEs Jas. Bruce and Zack Groff join the show as well. Find RE Lee's article here: https://pcapolity.com/2024/02/21/exceptionalism-in-the-pca/

"We Old Schoolers can’t work to make our Agencies superb by ignoring them; we need to support them by offering up more elders to serve on their permanent committees. Certainly there is a place to raise concerns and criticisms, but we also need to find men willing to serve on the permanent committees who can change the culture and commitments of PCA Agencies so they will be thoroughly Reformed."

An article read by the author.

There are now dozens of podcasts and blogs focused on the news and polity of the PCA. This was not the case even five years ago. On the program this week we discuss how the proliferation of media focused on the PCA has impacted the General Assembly and the health of the denomination at as a whole. The PCA is healthier now and more robustly presbyterian today than she was five years ago.

tl;dr: we think the greater interest in the happenings of the PCA has resulted in greater participation and thereby a resurgence in a commitment to the PCA's historic commitments of faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Reformed Faith, and obedient to the Great Commission.

On this week's Westminster Standard Podcast TEs Todd Pruitt, Nick Bullock, and Matt Stanghelle as well as RE Steve Dowling join the program to assess the dangers posed by the distortions of the Federal Vision theology and mood..

RE Joshua Torrey joins the program to discuss an overture he wrote that would require PCA Presbyteries and Sessions to create policies to implement background checks as part of their examinations of potential elders and deacons. The overture Torrey wrote has since been passed by two presbyteries (Warrior and South Texas). View the overture passed by South Texas Presbytery here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6fkd3wrjxvpws7iw8psfs/Mandatory-Background-Checks-for-Officers-2024-STP-FINAL.pdf?rlkey=dssu04j67qwse5geaej4d9f7v&dl=0

What are the limits of state power and the Christian's duty of obedience? Christians are called at all times to be submissive to the governing authorities, but is submission to the governing authorities the same as obedience? In this episode we contemplate both the origin of the civil magistrate and his authority as well as the limits on the civil magistrate's lawful authority as understood by Reformed Theologians historically.

At the end of last year, RE Melton Duncan was kind enough to share a few minutes with me reflecting on what it was like growing up in the PCA as those faithful men of the founding generation labored to seek God bring a Continuing Presbyterian Church into existence.

As we looked back on the 50th Anniversary of the PCA last year, we can see how God has strengthened and enriched the PCA in her commitment to the historic Reformed Faith through the work of the faithful seminaries serving the PCA.

RE Duncan provides an overview of the many histories that have been written about the PCA and the events leading up to her formation. Many of these books would make great additions to your 2024 reading list.

PCA Pastor Alex Ford is the stated clerk of Northern California Presbytery and the author of Overture 2, which proposes to bring greater clarity to our process for transferring ministers into PCA Presbyteries. Link: https://pcaga.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Overture-2-Northern-California-BCO-13-6-website.pdf BCO History Project: https://www.pcahistory.org/bco/index.html

The Second Commandment, like all of God's Law, promotes the glory of God, the freedom and peace of His people. Increasingly ministers in the PCA are stating differences with the Westminister Standards related to the Second Commandment. What are we to make of this?PCA TEs T. David Gordon, George Sayour, and Aldo Leon as well as OPC Pastor Andrew Smyth join the show to discuss this issue as well as a forthcoming article written by Dr T. David Gordon. The Westminster Standard is the podcast of Jude 3 & the PCA. Visit our website: www.Jude3pca.org.

PCA Founding Father was born Dec. 11, 1923. In honor of the anniversary of his birth TEs Roland Matthews, C.N. Willborn, Zack Groff, Zachary Garris, and Ryan Biese gathered to reflect on some of his legacy.

Grove City College Professor of Music Dr Paul Munson along with TE Sean Morris join the program to discuss Munson's book, Congregational Singing, which aims to apply biblical principles for what and how the people of God should sing in public worship. Munson collaborated on the work with Dr Joshua Drake. Visit their website: http://www.congsing.org. TE Sean Morris is the dean of the Blue Ridge Institute for Theological Education: https://www.brite-va.org. The Westminster Standard is the podcast of Jude 3. Visit our website: jude3pca.org.

Dr Robert Godfrey gives an overview of the seismic shift that occurred in the 20th Century in which Protestant churches largely abandoned an historic biblical theology of worship in favor of a pragmatic, charismatic worship. Read the book on which this lecture is based: http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/a-history-of-contemporary-praise-worship/382404 Visit the RWC Website :https://midwaypca.org/church-life/ministries/reformation-worship-conference/

Ruling Elder Matt Fender reflects some lessons learned in the Jonesboro decision and the need for the Church Courts to follow the proper procedures in our Book of Church Order. RE Fender reminds us the principles of due process manifested in our BCO have been developed over centuries to help ensure judicial fairness. By following these ancient and biblical principles, we can better walk with justice and mercy.

TEs David Strain and George Sayour join the program to discuss the challenges posed by a Progressive ethos to the PCA's faithful mission. In order to remain faithful to our mission and our confusion, we must rightly understand what Progressivism is and how it influences us. In order to remain united as the PCA, we must faithfully uphold the Confession we have subscribed. We must not succumb to a defacto "system subscription," but must remain whole heartedly a "Good Faith Subscription" church. TE David Strain is the Pastor of www.fpcjackson.org and TE George Sayour is pastor of https://meadowviewpca.org. The Westminster Standard is the podcast of Jude 3 & the PCA. Visit our website: jude3pca.org.

This lecture has been provided to us from the 2023 Reformation and Worship Conference hosted by the Midway Presbyterian Church in Powder Springs Georgia. In this lecture, Teaching Elder Carlton Wynne outlines the incompatibility of Modernism with Christianity. Modernism or Theological Liberalism is fundamentally an assault on the transcendence of God in an attempt to do away with the distinction between the Creator and the Creature. The deepest assault on the Christian faith by the modernist is against the transcendence of God, which is absolutely fundamental to understand God. Dr Wynne helpfully defines transcendence and reminds us that God’s transcendence is not simply an extension of creaturely categories and he fortifies us against some of the errors creeping into Reformed Theology in our own day. In the main portion of his lecture, Dr Wynne identifies four movements in which the modernist attempts to compromise God’s transcendence in order to accommodate God to the culture. If we can understand these four shifts, it provides an excellent framework to diagnose the dysfunction in our current cultural moment. He closes with several applications to guard our own hearts against compromising God’s transcendence and the importance of God’s transcendence to our eternal hope and comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ. Dr Wynne is on the faculty of Reformed Theological Seminary and associate pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. https://midwaypca.org/schedule/

Pastor David Strain of FPC Jackson articulates the difference between classical theological liberalism and contemporary theological progressivism. Thank you to Midway Presbyterian Church's Reformation & Worship Conference for providing this lecture to us. https://midwaypca.org/schedule/

Machen lays out the fundamental contrast between Genuine Christianity and Modernist Religion.

This is the year of Machen. For Sunday school at First Presbyterian Church Fort Oglethorpe we are making our way through Machen's Christianity & Liberalism. Here is a biographical lecture with some applications for our time on the life of Machen.

In Episode 10 of the Westminster Standard Podcast, we consider what are the laws of economics revealed in nature and how Christians can faithfully apply them in their lives. Dr Ritenour is a professor of economics at Grove City College. https://www.gcc.edu/Home/Staff-Directory/Staff-Detail/shawn-ritenour TE Nate Xanders is pastor of Christ the King PCA in Louisville, TN. https://ctktn.org

Pastors Matt Adams and Kyle Brent discuss the need for the PCA to unite in our use of language regarding official titles. Currently in the PCA there are many congregations who address unordained men and women as "deacon" or "pastor," despite our Book of Church Order using those titles in a technical, official sense. Item 1 would explicitly limit the use of those titles to refer to ordained men only. The Westminster Standard is brought to you by Jude 3 & the PCA. Visit our website: jude3pca.org.

David Hall and Zack Groff join the show to discuss Hall's new book, Irony & the Presbyterian Church in America, which reflects on the first half century of the PCA's life. We also talk about the Reformation & Worship Conference hosted by Midway Presbyterian Church: https://midwaypca.org/church-life/ministries/reformation-worship-conference/ The WESTMINSTER STANDARD Podcast is sponsored by Jude 3 & the PCA. Visit our website: Jude3pca.org

Pastors Josh Rieger and Andy Young discuss how the Westminster Standards provide not merely a summary of the teaching of Scripture, but a philosophy of ministry. Rieger and Young reflect on their experience seeing churches planted and built up through the ordinary means of grace in very different places in England. Rev. Young is pastor of Oxford Presbyterian Church in England (https://www.oxfordpres.co.uk). Rev. Rieger is currently Pastor of Riverside Church in Beaumont, Tex. (https://www.riversidetx.org), but until recently was the organizing pastor at Hexham Presbyterian Church in England (https://hexhampres.uk). The Westminster Standard Podcast is sponsored by Jude 3 & the PCA. Visit our website: jude3pca.org

Professor James Bruce (https://jamesebruce.com) joins the show to talk about proposals to admit atheists as witnesses to PCA Church Courts. We discuss whether atheists can even take an oath as well as a particular proposal from Piedmont Triad Presbytery that would remove witness oaths completely from PCA Church Courts. TE Bruce is an associate pastor (https://covenantchurchpca.org/about-us/leadership/), a professor (https://www.jbu.edu/faculty/?id=79736439708), and the Director of the Center for Faith and Flourishing (https://www.faithandflourishing.org).

TE Mark Robinson (twitter.com/Merobinaa) and TE Derrick Brite (twitter.com/DerrickBrite) discuss recent comments by "Big Eva" elites expressing dislike for Bunyan's writings. Is Bunyan still relevant to the PCA? Has our "therapeutic age" moved beyond the introspection of the 17th Century Puritans? Special Report of the Westminster Standard, the podcast of Jude3pca.org. Mark Robinson is on the faculty of Trinity Christian School and the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (rpts.edu). Derrick Brite is on the faculty of the Birmingham Theological Seminary (bts.education).

Dr Steve Tipton and Dr Duncan Rankin join to discuss the foundational principles of our polity, which set forth the nature of the Church and of Church power. These principles have been subjected to wide misinterpretation and misapplication in recent years. Drs Tipton and Rankin help to set us straight. The Westminster Standard is the Podcast of Jude 3. Visit our website: Jude3PCA.org

RE James "Bebo" Elkin and I discuss how the PCA has changed since 1973, the early days of PCA Campus Ministry, and how pastors and ministerial candidates should prepare for a (new) call. Bebo Elkin is one of the first graduates of Reformed Theological Seminary and a founder of the PCA's campus ministry. He has served on the faculty of Covenant Theological Seminary, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He is currently a principal at https://consultingservicesfoundation.org. Season 1 Episode 3 of The Westminster Standard Podcast.

There are many resources available for members and officers desiring to appreciate the rich Reformed and Confessional heritage of the PCA. TE Zack Groff is a new pastor and church planter in the PCA serving at https://antiochpca.com. He is the editor of https://pcapolity.com and a graduate of www.gpts.edu.

Season 1 Episode 1 of the Westminster Standard, the podcast of Jude 3 & the PCA.

A new podcast coming this August. Join us for interviews and analysis aimed at encouraging confessional integrity and biblical fidelity within the PCA and in support of a renewed appreciation for the Westminster Standards. This is the official podcast of Jude 3 & the PCA.

Paul is explaining how the Christian is to relate to the civil authority; how are we to find God’s “good, acceptable, and perfect will” in relation to the civil authorities.