PCA Conversations

by Craig Higgins
HOW CAN I (AND MY FAMILY) KEEP A HOLY LENT?
Traditionally, the Lenten season is observed in four Basic (and often overlapping) ways:
Self-examination- As we’ve discussed, this is central to the traditional Lenten observance. Use this time to ask yourself some hard questions about your spiritual life, your spiritual maturity. If you’re married, ask [...]

by Craig Higgins
People from different religious backgrounds have very different reactions to the season of Lent. Some grow up in churches where Lent is observed, but with little to no real explanation. Whether observed as a time of strict austerity or merely as a time of forgoing a few simple pleasures, Lent may seem like [...]

by Mike Farley
The Eucharist contributes to spiritual formation not only by nurturing the growth of virtues but also by embodying practices that train us in the ways of Christ and conform us to His image.  It is ritualized practice of life in the kingdom of God.
In their works on spiritual disciplines, Dallas Willard and Richard [...]

by Mike Farley
Eucharist contributes to spiritual formation by cultivating virtues that conform us to the image of Christ.  Faithful participation in the Lord’s Supper ought to instill a particular set of dispositions toward God, other people, and the whole created order that reflect God’s purposes for us.
The Supper trains us to be humble.  It does [...]

by Mike Farley
In recent years, American evangelicals have shown increasing interest in viewing the Christian life as a process of “spiritual formation,” and they have sought instruction and literature and practices to pursue spiritual formation from an increasingly broad range of Christian traditions—Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic.  Authors like Richard Foster and Dallas Willard have led [...]

by Joel Garver
As we saw in the last post, we can recognize in the Emmaus story the pattern of historic Christian worship as it began to take shape. It resonates over and over again with the shape of the biblical story, with the actions of our Triune God in the events of salvation history. We [...]

by Joel Garver
Think of the disciples on the road to Emmaus…When they found themselves troubled and confused, Jesus met them along the way. When they confessed their troubles and doubts to him, his words and presence began to change them. He unfolded God’s word to them, pointing to his own person and work.  He dined [...]

In this post we interview the final Denominational Renewal speaker we’ve yet to hear from here on PCA Conversations. Bill Boyd gave a lecture in St. Louis entitled “Renewing Worship: Moving from the Lecture Hall to the Banquet Hall.”  In this, our third podcast, we talk to Bill about real and perceived trends in worship [...]

When PCA Conversations began we asked the five speakers from last year’s Denominational Renewal conference to each contribute one post that related generally to their assigned topic from that conference. So far you’ve read Jeff White on Mission, Jeremy Jones on Theology, and heard Matt Brown on the topic of Ecclesiology. Today we present Greg [...]

by Paul Hahn
As another calendar year draws to a close, a new church year is just beginning. The church year is a system that began to be established by bits and pieces in the early centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection, allowing the church to mark time in a redemptive way. The church year keeps [...]