By Simon Jooste, pastor of RCSS Embodiment is central to salvation, so is suffering in the body. Without the incarnation, passion, and ongoing enfleshed intercession of Christ, there is no redemption. This was the heartbeat of the apostle Paul’s preaching in ancient Corinth, a city pulsing with ideas and illicitContinue Reading
On 21 September 2022, RCSS pastor Rev. Dr. Simon Jooste gave a presentation at Westminster Seminary in California on the proposal for his book, Pilgrim politics: recovering the cruciform in our creed. The book proposal is below. I. Book topic and rationale for its writing The Apostle Paul once wroteContinue Reading
Was there a more un-sanctified and immature congregation of which we have an apostolic record than the Corinthian congregation? From a reading of Paul’s two canonical letters to them, they were beset by power struggles and schisms within, tolerant of gross immorality, besotted with flowery rhetoric, and unimpressed by theContinue Reading
Tom Hervey There is a common idea in the contemporary Presbyterian Church in America that our people should be winsome, particularly in their polemics and intra-denominational disagreements. Thus we find, for example, two Covenant College professors lauding a controversial figure in the denomination as winsome in the course of aContinue Reading
Among the many spiritual ills that afflicted the Corinthian congregation was a class of leaders, self-appointed “Super Apostles” (2 Cor 11:5, 12). These so-called “Super Apostles” compared themselves to the Apostle Paul and claimed to be superior to him. Where Paul’s speech was imperfect, theirs was polished. Where he wasContinue Reading
A major issue facing Christian theology today is the question of power. On the wider cultural level, the postmodern critique of thinkers such as Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Derrida and especially Michel Foucault contains the charge that all claims to truth, including the claims of theology, are merely secret bids forContinue Reading
Sara de Moor writes: Shame: The intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging. As Christians we believe that we—and this world—are flawed. We see evidence of brokenness all around us. This is the reality of living in a fallenContinue Reading
Christians suffer in this life, not only because they live in a fallen world, but also because of their cross-bearing identity with Jesus Christ. Depression is one way that disciples of Christ suffer. With the advancement of medical technology, there is an ever-increasing range of psychotropic drugs available for treatingContinue Reading
Gerhard Forde in his book, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, uses the analogy of addiction to describe sinful humankind’s addiction to law-abiding self-sufficiency (a theology of glory) until the “medicine” of the cross intervenes and the sinner “bottoms out”: The addict [addicted to drugs, booze, sex… etc.] mayContinue Reading
The audio of the following sermon can be found here. The blessings of the covenant (Deut 28:1-14) This life is not heaven on earth, is it? There are plenty of experiences of pain and suffering. Most things take hard work. However, two things that do come easy are expecting blessingContinue Reading