There are many well known Reformed and Evangelical nonprofits that make use of contracts, NDAs, and agreements that are by definition ungodly.

Inventions Assignment Agreement

One example is an “inventions assignment agreement” that was made as a condition of full-time employment. The agreement states:

“Employee agrees that any inventions (including, but not limited to, work product and intellectual property, regardless of form and medium) made, developed or created by Employee solely or jointly with others during the term of this Agreement, that (1) are made with the Organization’s equipment, supplies, facilities, trade secrets or time, OR (2) that relate, at…

Jeroboam’s Alternative Religion

In 1 Kings 12:25–33, we find a kingdom divided. As Rehoboam takes the throne of the southern kingdom of Judah, Jeroboam takes control over the tribes to the north that become the northern kingdom of Israel.

Because the Temple of the Lord is located in Jerusalem within Judah, Jeroboam fears that the people within the northern kingdom would defect to the southern kingdom since they would make frequent pilgrimages to the Temple. So, he comes up with the idea to create two golden calves in Bethel and Dan where people would worship and offer sacrifices instead.

“Here…

Spiritual Abuse

Spiritual abusers and those who enable them will often play a back and forth game with those who present credible accusations.

When told that spiritual abuse has occurred, they will often ask for a specific example. When an example is provided, abusers and their enablers will try to isolate that instance from the entire pattern of abuse. Common ways they do this is:

1. “That was a misunderstanding.” They will argue that it wasn’t abusive, but rather it was an honest misunderstanding by the accuser.
2. “You’re blowing it out of proportion.” They will argue that it may or may…

People who have experienced spiritual abuse have ultimately undergone a traumatic experience with long lasting effects. Many experience symptoms that are parallel to if not identical to what we see in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

People may experience trauma triggers that set off their PTSD. These triggers can be anything from sights, sounds, smells, or thoughts that remind a victim of the original traumatic event(s) and bring them back into a state of fear or helplessness. In fact, the study of neuroscience has posited that our brains actually create a lasting imprint of the memories of trauma. …

Posturing is Natural!

More than likely, when you hear the words, “Let’s pray,” you instinctively will do at least one of the following:

1. Close your eyes
2. Fold your hands
3. Bow your head

What you may not have realized is that you have been doing liturgical postures all this time. Children from Christian homes are taught from a young age to close their eyes and fold their hands.

The posture of prayer reinforces the act of prayer. We close our eyes confessing that though we may not see our heavenly Father with our eyes, he is in every way real. We…

Archetypal/Ectypal Distinction

Francois Turretini (Frances Turretin), the Genevan-Italian Reformed scholastic theologian of the 17th century, summarized an important theological distinction in his Institutio Theologiae Elencticae (Institutes of Elenctic Theology).

Theology, Turretin claims, regards the knowledge of what God has revealed. Yet, in no instance can humanity claim to have full, exhaustive, and complete knowledge about God. Theology must be divided between archetypal theology and ectypal theology. Archetypal theology is the infinite knowledge of God that is known only by God himself and no other. Ectypal theology is all true finite theology patterned off of archetypal theology. Humans, as finite creatures…

Even after clear and recorded accounts of police brutality and abuse of authority, I still find Evangelical and Reformed Christians arguing that “not all cops” are like that. There may be “a few bad cops out there,” but there are “more good cops than bad ones,” these Christians claim.

However, as Christians who must read and submit to the Bible’s definition of sin and not our American-individualized version of it, we must understand sin in terms of both the corporate and individual, systemic and interpersonal. Others have talked about necessity of seeing sin in these multiple dimensions previously.

So, to…

In Matthew 2:14–15, a close reader of Scripture will find one of the most bizarrely placed citations:

“So [Joseph] got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”

Matthew seems like he jumped the gun when he claims that Hosea 11:1 is fulfilled at this point in the life of the holy family. If we wanted to be exact, “Out of Egypt I called my son” is…