The news was buzzing yesterday with stories of the apparent infringement of religious freedom in Houston. Ed Whelan offered a report on events in the National Review Online and Mark Movsesian today provided a characteristically nuanced legal account at First Thoughts , which corrects some of the...

The Roman Catholics may have had a Popessa , but here at the HQ of the Irascible, Reconditioned and Replaceable, we have our own Iron Lady who rules with a cold and ruthless fist in the name of Puppet Master. No, not La Diva, but the Mad Woman in the Attic whose long, sinister shadow can be felt...

Over at his blog, Jesus Creed, New Testament scholar Scot McKnight offers some interesting reflections on the neglected topic of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's attitude to the work of Rudolf Bultmann. The post is interesting for a number of reasons. First, it highlights the complexity of categorizing...

After nearly a decade at Ref21, this marks my last post on the blog. I think I outlasted every single one of the original cast, all of whom ended up going on to higher and greater things in various more respectable parts of the Evangelical Establishment. Only I remained as the one on whom all...

Pascal put it best when he developed the notions of distraction and diversion: the things, the activities and preferences, which human beings develop to draw them away from thinking about reality, especially death. A good example is provided by the latest business venture of the Osteens: a radio...

Spurgeon on Closed Communion.pdf With thanks to loyal Ref21 reader and Reformed Baptist, Richard D.

And what kind of a man picks on a woman in labour ? Frank, you should be ashamed of yourself. If ever there was a case for shunning in the Reformed community, I think we have found it on our own virtual doorstep.

Frank is doing exactly what we want: offering robust statement of his beliefs in a way that goes beyond the 'Here's my opinion, but I totally respect yours' of other, blander but undoubtedly more influential websites. I would offer just a couple of corrections, though. I did not become...

While Nacho Libre and Captain Windmill slug it out about baptism on the blog in what looks likely to be a sacramental battle of Homeric proportions, as if by magic the Ref Pack address the same broad issue on this week's podcast . Last time we did this, we found ourselves listed among the Reformed...

The Westminster Bookstore is selling two Calvin volumes at a bargain price this week: A Guide to Christian Living and, most notably, a new English translation of the 1541 edition of the Institutes . On the Institutes , Calvin aficionados will know that the 1539 and 1541 editions embody key...

Scot McKnight and I disagree about a lot of things theological and ecclesiastical but share a number of passions. These have led to some interesting and, on the face of it, unlikely 'odd couple' conversations and friendly dialogue over the last few years, on everything from Islay Scotch to the...

On this week's Mortification of Spin , the Mad Woman in the Attic arranged for Rachel Miller to join the Ref Pack to talk about the inroads which the patriarchy movement is making into Reformed circles. Along the way, we have a pop at the Duggars (rapidly supplanting skinny jeans and Aimee's...

As if by magic, after posting yesterday's link to Rachel Miller, this analysis of a new manly church arrived in my inbox this morning. Setting aside the issue of whether real men drink Miller Lite (a habit which may explain this person's need for reassuring himself by his possession of more...

MoS will have a spanking new podcast out this Wednesday, when the Ref Pack spends time with Rachel Miller discussing one of the latest trends to emerge from the Reformed movement, that of patriarchy. It seems that we have tapped in to what is likely to be a significant topic of conversation and...

A rather good few weeks came to a crashing end yesterday when one of my elders broke the sad news to me that Miley Cyrus has covered a Led Zeppelin classic . Now, I am not one of those who think that Zeppelin can never be covered with credit -- Heart's version of Stairway to Heaven being a good...

When I was informed by the Top Man in May, 2011, Fall 2011 and then again in December 2013 that I was persona non grata at TGC, I assumed that I was being singled out for a distinct honour and, being a sensitive sort, felt quite devastated . Now it seems that Disco Dan can reveal that ever I am not...

Remember, remember, The fifteenth of September.

While I have no vested interest in the issue myself, this week's Mortification of Spin takes up the issue of dating and courtship. This is apparently a hot topic in the wider evangelical world but one which has entirely passed me by, despite having been something of a fan of Noddy and the boys way...

Since Aims changed Dispo Dan's name to Disco Dan last week, he has been on something of a roll, offering everything from flow charts to help gospel centred crisis management to this latest post , a thoughtful reflection on small churches. Well worth reading.

The Puppet Master has asked me to remind readers that the arrival of the Fifth Horseman is imminent. Though no one knows the precise date or hour, we know that he is coming soon. Very soon. And when he does, all havoc will be loosed upon the blog and thence upon the world.

Two weeks ago the Ref Pack spoke to Delboy 'Derek' Thomas, the Peter Frampton of Reformed churchmanship. In this week's episode we move from rock to soul, and spend the show talking with the evangelical world's answer to James Brown: Phil Johnson , the hardest working man in evangelicalism The...

Dispo Dan has a fine post today over at Pyromaniacs. I remain amazed at the number of people (including academics, bloggers, and writers for whom disagreement is surely an occupational hazard), who can only read criticism and disagreement through the lens of anger and bitterness. Good on TeamPyro...

Over at Jesus Creed, Scot McKnight yesterday offered a thoughtful and provocative review of the new biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Charles Marsh. Scot has kindly given me permission to post an extended extract here. All I would say in advance is that it seems that Bonhoeffer's close male...

This week's Spin is up and in this episode the team tackle a number of closely related issues: the power of high profile pastors, the psychology of loyal commitment to a big name long after all credibility has really vanished, and the puzzling question of why those who point out that emperors have...