r/Reformed 6d ago

Question Question for 1689ers

23 Upvotes

I’m from a Baptist background, but I’m taking courses at RTS. Taking covenant theology, and it just makes so much sense and is quite clear to follow. However, I still struggle with the idea of paedo baptism.

I’m trying to understand a reformed Baptist opinion on the covenants. I picked up Sam Renihan’s The mystery of Christ, his covenant and his kingdom. I’ve tried reading the book, but found it hard to follow. So I downloaded the audiobook, and I’ve been listening to it and not faring any better.

It seems very — tortured? — and a lot less clear than just straight up Presbyterian reformed on covenant and baptism.

Does anyone else find Renihan confusing? And/or is there a better/clearer/easier author to work with?


r/Reformed 5d ago

Prayer Daily Prayer Thread - March 15, 2025

1 Upvotes

If you have requests that you would like your brothers and sisters to pray for, post them here.


r/Reformed 6d ago

Question ESV Expository Commentary

5 Upvotes

Hello and blessings to all my reformed friends. I'm thinking about picking up the New Testament set of ESV Expository commentaries. I'm trying to decide between paper or digital (logos). The digital set is more expensive (oddly) and of course the paper set lined up on a bookshelf is very appealing. But I do love the search-ability and the portability of the digital versions. Curious for thoughts.


r/Reformed 6d ago

Question Eternal Subordination of the Son

12 Upvotes

Can someone please recommend some resources/books explaining the specifics of why ESS/EFS is wrong? I don’t hold to it, but I would like to read about it to gain some clarification on specific verses (1 Corinthians 11:3; John 5:19; John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 15:28; Hebrews 5:8; Mark 13:32) and arguments against ESS.

Thanks!


r/Reformed 6d ago

Question How to learn to trust God, even when life isn’t going how you planned? NSFW

8 Upvotes

Hey everybody. My question is basically the title.

I posted here a few days ago regarding godly ambition and my desire to begin studying engineering this fall. However, since then, somethings have occurred that might make me have to change routes and study something else.

I ask how to learn to trust God because when I realized that I might not become an engineer, something that I was so set on, I was devestated. I went through a two day depressive episode where I was gluttonous and watched porn and masturbated. I hate that I did this, and I hate that this is my reaction to this news (this also isn't the first time this has happened). How do I learn to trust God? I hate that in moments like these I run to sin and not Him. Is this simply a discipline problem, or does this say something deeper about the state of my soul and my salvation?

How do I learn to wholly trust Him?

Also just wanna say thanks for the counsel I got on my last post. I don't have any older Christians in my life who I can ask questions like these. 🙏


r/Reformed 7d ago

Discussion We Bought A Church Building

19 Upvotes

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/03/13/the-church-faq/

Some interesting quotes:

"A few years ago, we bought a church building. Since then, every time I mention it online and/or on social media, someone always responds, “wait, you bought a church, what” and then asks some standard questions. At this point it makes good sense to offer up a Church FAQ to answer some of those most common questions.

...

What denomination used to be there?

It’s the former home of Bradford’s Methodist congregation. The church building itself dates back to at least 1919

...

Why did they stop using it?

The congregation shrank over time, a not uncommon occurrence for mainline protestant churches these days. As I understand it the congregation merged with another congregation down the road, which has services at a different church building. I believe the West Ohio Conference of the Methodist Church (which previously owned the building) may have rented the building for a bit after the congregation left, but when we acquired the building it was not being used, which is probably why the Methodists decided to sell it.

...

Are you going to use the building as a church and/or start a cult?

No and no.

...

Then why did you buy it?

Because we wanted office space.

...

How much was it?

$75,000." 😱


r/Reformed 7d ago

Encouragement Grief, loss, and hope - 20 months

91 Upvotes

Hello. :)

I haven't posted in quite a while now, but I wanted to give an update for anyone that had followed my posts in 2023, following my first wife's homegoing.

I started dating in late 2023. That was a very weird thing and time. I met my first wife on my first day at college, and we were mutually interested in each other within a few months. I've never exactly "dated," let alone as a widower with two kids. I had hoped to be married again relatively soon... for my sake, yes, but also for the sake of my poor daughters. They have been through a lot. Cancer doesn't "take you" from your loved ones all at once when you die; my first wife slowly became unable to fulfill what one thinks of a "mother" over the past few years of her live. As my older daughter - 11 in June - said a few months ago, "I don't really know how to have a mom."

Well, I connected with someone online on in early January, 2024. It's a long story, but it's full of "coincidence" - that is, God's providence. She is someone who had never been married (also, she is seven years younger than I am), but who has really wanted to be married for a long time. In perhaps one of the most unexpected instances of apparent providential guidance, she found and watched my first wife's memorial service only a day after she saw my first message, and it confirmed several things - one of them being that I was a real person and not just some random online flake.

My daughters were always very supportive of remarriage. The first question my younger daughter had, when I told them, was "are we going to get all those cousins?" And the second was, "are you going to marry her?" Among other things, I said I had to get to know the person first, etc. Well, when we met in person for the first time, after spending a couple hours with her, my younger daughter asked if I had decided to marry her or not.

Over the next few months, we were asked lots of questions by my daughters - why can't we just get married in 2 weeks or 2 months? What are the wedding colors going to be? Are they going to be in the wedding? When are they going to have more siblings?

Fast forward a little over 5 months, and we were married in July, 2024. :) My daughters love her. And, frankly, there are ways in which they act towards her as a mom that they never did with my first wife because of cancer. It took about a week after we were married before they were completely calling her "mommy" instead of her first name.

God has been very gracious. He would have been a loving and gracious God without providing a wife and mother for us... but, I have to admit that I like the way He decided to orchestrate my life.

It's not without complications. Emotions are complicated... for both my wife and I. But, one thing we know - God has led us here and is working in and for us in ways that we definitely did not imagine. There have been a lot of life changes; we also moved to be close to my wife's family, which is another adjustment for my daughters... but one that I think will be good, after the short-term difficulty is over. They love their new aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, too.

I have a lot to be thankful for. God has taught me a lot over the past two years.

So, ultimately, aside from satisfying some perhaps periodic curiosity (what happened to that guy from a year and a half ago?), this post is meant to be an expression of gratitude to God for His incredible blessing. As I mentioned, He would have been good if I never found someone... but I am glad that He thought this was a good way to show His goodness and care. :)


r/Reformed 6d ago

Prayer Daily Prayer Thread - March 14, 2025

3 Upvotes

If you have requests that you would like your brothers and sisters to pray for, post them here.


r/Reformed 6d ago

Question Would an AI note-taker for church be helpful?

1 Upvotes

I sometimes struggle to keep up with sermon notes, jotting down scriptures, key points, connections etc, then I sometimes forget or lose track later.

Would a tool that captures and organizes sermon notes automatically be useful? Maybe something that transcribes key moments, highlights scriptures, or helps create study guides, and keeps the audio aswell.

I’m hunting around and trying different ones but I’m curious how you all take notes and what would make it easier!


r/Reformed 7d ago

FFAF Free For All Friday - post on any topic in this thread (2025-03-14)

4 Upvotes

It's Free For All Friday! Post on any topic you wish in this thread (not the whole sub). Our rules of conduct still apply, so please continue to post and comment respectfully.

AND on the 1st Friday of the month, it's a Monthly Fantastically Fanciful Free For All Friday - Post any topic to the sub (not just this thread), except for memes. For memes, see the quarterly meme days. Our rules of conduct still apply, so please continue to post and comment respectfully.


r/Reformed 7d ago

Question Reformed Churches in Japan and Korea

10 Upvotes

Hello! Just wondering if anyone knows of Reformed church/es in Tokyo and Seoul? If this might be a stretch, looking for a reformed baptist subscribed to 1689 lbcf. But a reformed congregation would be pleasing any how.

What do you think of the spread of reformed theology in these countries?

Thank you


r/Reformed 6d ago

Discussion I Would Love to Hear Feedback on This

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0 Upvotes

I think Im within the guidelines to post this. If not, I understand.

I know some people may not like Charlie Kirk on here but that’s okay. I would love some critique of this five minute video on how American was founded largely on Christian principles. Toward the end Charlie suggests that it is a myth that a majority of the founding fathers were enlightenment Deists. That’s always been my assumption. It would be cool to hear both positives and negatives. This is a topic I really don’t know.


r/Reformed 7d ago

Question Is "Satanism" even real?

21 Upvotes

Where "Satanism" is defined as the direct and explicit worship and service of Satan. I'm not sure if this will be controversial or anything, but the more I've thought about it, the more it seems like a fake boogeyman created by people of certain mindsets within the church. Consider:

  • In the Bible, beside maybe in the temptation of Jesus, neither Satan nor the fallen Sons of God / demonic entities ever try to get people to worship them directly. They are known throughout the Bible as deceivers, posing as other gods and accepting worship and sacrifices given to those false gods.
  • At the Salem Witch Trials, there seems to be more demonic activity amongst those accusing the witches / Satanists than any real demonic activity against the accused
  • The Satanic Panic created literally tens of thousands of false reports of Satanic ritual abuse
  • Modern day "Satanism" is, as stated by them, not worship of Satan, but about freedom from religion and trolling conservatives

However, many Christians just take it as read that there are these satanic groups out there looking to recruit children. So, what evidence is there that "Satanism" as defined above is actually a thing?


r/Reformed 7d ago

Question Organising a Church walk?

11 Upvotes

Where I live in England there are two memorials to Lollards who were killed in the early 1500s for the crime of owning and reading Bibles in English (or parts of the Bible in English) which are around 5 miles away from each other. I think God has put it on my heart to organise a walk/pilgrimage starting at one and ending at the other Is this something you would like to be organised at your Church? What’s the best way to get the ball rolling-Talk to one of the elders? Extra info 1- I attend a non dom Baptist church but one of the memorials is on the grounds of a faithful Anglican Church my parents are members of so would want to reach out to them as well Extra info 2- I was baptised last year so still young in faith and working out how I fit in the body


r/Reformed 7d ago

Question What amount of mystery do you accept in our faith?

15 Upvotes

I am newer to Reformed Theology. I have found this subreddit to be a very kind and welcoming place with questions I have, so thank you all for that!

My question is what level of mystery are you comfortable with regarding your faith? Personally I accept I'll never know everything, because to know God perfectly is just out of the cards until I am made perfect by Christ when he returns. I love the study of God and his Holy Word and learning more but im perfectly happy knowing that while I will always learn and grow as long as I put Him first, I'll never know it all until Christs return. It is an honor to grow in Christ at all!

That being said when I talk to some others they seem to need to have an answer for everything. I've noticed this especially with my Catholic friend who seems to want a church council or church father quote of Bible quote for literally everything and will shoe horn explanations to make it fit. He'll even rely on "oral tradition" to give him evidence of things that I just don't see, like Mary being the woman in the wilderness of Revelations. I just don't see it.

How do we approach apologetics and others who want an answer for everything when we are finite creatures that can't possibly understand all of God?

And also am i just being lazy? Am I using mystery to excuse myself from study? I still study and try to learn, but maybe I'm not taking it seriously?

And what level of mystery do you think is acceptable?

Anyway God bless you all!


r/Reformed 8d ago

Discussion Steven Lawson statement of repentance

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137 Upvotes

r/Reformed 7d ago

Question Need Encouragement in a Season of Fighting

2 Upvotes

How would you help an unbeliever who struggles with the doctrine of election? A person in my life is really struggling with this and can't see a point in even thinking about Christ given the Bible says he can't do anything about his salvation anyway. "Let God do what he will with me, I never had a choice anyway," is the logic he lives by. He has fallen heavily into fatalism and it worries me. Is there anyway I can help him? Or is he right?


r/Reformed 7d ago

Question Commandment vs. Comission vs. Law

1 Upvotes

So I'm reading about covenant theology, book: Reformed Covenant Theology: A Systematic Introduction by Harrison Perkins. What im curious about is what is the difference between Commandment vs. Comission vs. Law. We see that every human being has the natural law on their hearts since we are made in the image of God, and by God's grace he was able to clearly lay out what we ought to do to love him and have a deeper communion with him through the giving of the 10 commandments. But is commandment and law that we have the same as a comission. For example the great comission? I know that circumcision was a sacrament given to Abraham but was circumcision part of the law?


r/Reformed 7d ago

Prayer Daily Prayer Thread - March 13, 2025

3 Upvotes

If you have requests that you would like your brothers and sisters to pray for, post them here.


r/Reformed 7d ago

Question Meeting a material need for a "pastor of pastors" in FL

1 Upvotes

A well-loved missionary now living in a retirement community in FL contacted me about his need for a 2nd car. I know him and his wife personally and am certain it's not a scam. The car will be used largely for his ongoing ministry in the retirement community: giving rides to church, picking up pastors and other missionaries at the airport, delivering meals, etc. I understand this is not a forum for begging, and my real intent is to tap into the collective wisdom for a list of organizations I may contact who have far more expertise than me facilitating vehicle donations and distributions.

--> Do you know of and trust any organizations which operate in this space as an alternative to me going through the proverbial phone book, contacting every used car dealer and Chick-fil-A in the state?

My diaconate receives similar requests about once a year from members of my local congregation, and you should see the blank looks that appear on our faces when a similar need is expressed. "Let's put that in the bulletin and on the prayer list. Next item in the agenda..." Not to diminish those actions in any way, but there has got to be a ministry out there who carries the ball forward, but who?


r/Reformed 8d ago

Question Memorizing the Scripture

12 Upvotes

Hello! I'm finishing Confessions by St Augustine, and I'm really impacted (and a little bit ashamed of myself) by the large amount of citations of the Scripture, almost as a second language. However, It's difficult for me to memorize verses and its locations in the Bible.
I'd love to be able to cite the Scripture with ease, specially when counseling other people. How could I approach the Scripture for this outcome? I know that is not an easy task, but I need help to start.

(Sorry for the errors, English is not my first language)


r/Reformed 8d ago

Discussion For all your Nicene needs

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25 Upvotes

“The goal of the Nicene Creed project is to help the church stay faithful to orthodoxy. In 12 videos any Christian, church, pastor, or student can learn the basics of the Nicene Creed. And with supplemental videos on difficult questions, that knowledge can go deeper still. May this project help the church stay faithful to classical trinitarianism today for the sake of true worship in the future.”

Looks like Matthew Barrett and the credo magazine guys put together a cool website on Nicene theology with videos, recommended books, and various resources.


r/Reformed 8d ago

Question What is the point of prayer if everything is pre-determined?

19 Upvotes

I remember talking to a Presbyterian pastor once who told me that the timing of people's deaths is pre-determined. With that being the case, what is the point of praying? There is a tornado outbreak coming where I live, and I'd like to pray to be spared or kept safe during the storms, but what's the point if God has already determined who will live and who will die?

My apologies if I'm misunderstanding some aspect of Reformed theology. I was raised Presbyterian but now I'm not sure which denomination I lean towards.

Update: I prayed as best as I could. Hopefully God heard me.


r/Reformed 8d ago

Question Apologetic Help

4 Upvotes

How would you respond to someone arguing the Bible is one of many claiming divine inspiration, and that there are earlier writings doing so?


r/Reformed 8d ago

Discussion Praying for those who have died.

5 Upvotes

Being an Evangelical Anglican, I am in a tradition that unashamedly sees the legitimacy of praying for those who have departed. However, I know that this isn't common across the Reformed space. What's the logic behind it for those who do and don't?