The beginning of the first amendment to the United States Constitution reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. We will focus on the “prohibiting the free exercise” element. The present difficulty is that historic,| Gentle Reformation
All the demands in life can sometimes pull us away from our family. So, it is right and good to reevaluate our priorities and to focus on the family. Even more importantly, though, we should focus on Christ, for it is when we lose focus on him that our focus| Gentle Reformation
The following post is from guest author Fiona Mackay. Originally from the Isle of Skye, Fiona lives and works as an English tutor in Inverness, Scotland, along with her photographer husband, Roddy, and their three children. Her heart is for sharing her creative enthusiasm in both Shakespeare and local women&| Gentle Reformation
"Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.” You’ve heard that line before, I am sure. A storm is raging across Prospero’s island, and Trinculo is caught without cover. In his wandering he stumbles upon Caliban, the island’s deformed and despised native,| Gentle Reformation
Overall, I think this is a great idea and you've provided a very motivating and practical guide, easy for pastors to copy and paste or to stir up their minds to apply a modified version to their own ministries and congregations. Thanks!| Gentle Reformation
While attending an evening worship service recently, I was again impressed by the joyful blessing of simply being there with God and His people. Though I have shared before the biblical reasons for churches having an evening service on the Lord's Day (see here), this article is more| Gentle Reformation
Dr. Ryan Swale is pastor of Immanuel URC in Jordan, Ontario, and a graduate of Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary who wrote his dissertation on "The Imprecatory Pastor: A Practical Theology of the Imprecatory Psalms." Psalm 60 is perhaps not a psalm many of us have given| Gentle Reformation
As we pray for effective hearing of the word preached, let’s prepare for it as well in our daily household worship. That is, to enhance the hearing of the Word preached by reviewing the Word that has been preached and previewing the Word that will be preached is one of the aims of Worship Connected.| Gentle Reformation
People in the United States are not always well-disposed toward those who hold orthodox and historic Christian beliefs. Christians in 2025, when they seek to follow Jesus honestly, sincerely, consistently, coherently, and faithfully, are noticeably different from the world around them. Blending in is in many ways a telltale sign| Gentle Reformation
Rebecca VanDoodeward is a guest contributor to Gentle Reformation and author of Uprooted: A Guide for Homesick Christians, Your Future ‘Other Half’: It Matters Whom You Marry, and Reformation Women: Sixteenth-Century Figures Who Shaped Christianity's Rebirth. This article was originally published in the| Gentle Reformation
Many years ago I came across a cartoon in a rather ill-judged, Christian, magazine. I don't necessarily disagree with the observation and the point it was trying to make (being jolted into self-awareness is a good thing): but in the end it was untrue, unkind and unfair. So| Gentle Reformation
When those who preach Christ’s lordship over the nation also trip every alarm the Bible sets to warn of false prophets, it becomes clear that the dominion they promote is not Christ’s, but their own.| Gentle Reformation
The division of the church is a product of man’s sinfulness. There should be one visible church. When Christ returns, our denominational labels will be no more. There will be one church, and all of Christ’s body will be visible as one under King Jesus. But| Gentle Reformation
In the first century, the Pharisees took God’s good gift of the Sabbath and added to it so many ridiculous rules and regulations that it was no longer a blessing for God’s people. It became a burden (Matt. 12:1-14). What God meant to refresh His| Gentle Reformation
This article originally appeared on Ligonier.org. Murder mysteries are popular these days. Agatha Christie’s fiction works continue to be read by a new generation, making her the best-selling author of all time. TV shows such as Dateline or 48 Hours feature weekly narrations| Gentle Reformation
We wake up in the morning and perhaps lay in bed for a while. We get out of bed. We start our day. It is likely that most of us seldom contemplate our existence. We are likely settled into our own existence, and the routine of life has likely lulled| Gentle Reformation
Over the last number of weeks we've been chatting to lots of young people on the streets around our Church - one of the repeated objections that we have come up against, in discussions with Muslim folk, is that the Scriptures are not inspired, and that the Christians have changed| Gentle Reformation
We vote for presidents, but we also vote for local government officials. It may be tempting to focus entirely on one position, the president, while ignoring key politicians that you can have a relationship with and who make decisions that impact your local life. Here in PA, our municipal primary| Gentle Reformation
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He| Gentle Reformation
During recent outreach efforts on the streets of the East Coast, I have been met by a number of Jewish men and women who believe that the suffering servant of Isaiah is the collective Hebrew nation. Partly as an attempt to deny the case for Christ (which, in light of| Gentle Reformation
What pastor wouldn’t want his congregation focusing all week long on taking in and living out his preaching because their daily family or household worship is helpfully connected to the weekly corporate worship and is enhancing how they remember and observe the Sabbath?| Gentle Reformation
No denying that everyone around us is in a tizzy, which, fittingly, it seems, just happened to be the Wordle of the day recently. Whether face-to-face at yet the latest protest over something going on in another country, or leaning in with angry gusto at the pixel image before them| Gentle Reformation
