“If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intention one purpose…” Phil …

Rev. Brian M. Abshire
Wine, in Scripture, is a promise from God of the blessings of the covenant (Psa 4:7 “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than when the grain and new wine abound.”). Though sinful men misuse and abuse this gift, yet God Himself uses it as an example of His goodness towards …

Rev. Brian M. Abshire
They are among us. They look like us, they talk like us, and they act like us. But they are not of us. They are… Pod People…
In a recent essay, entitled “Pod People” I used an admittedly silly analogy from badly made 1950’s Science Fiction movies to illustrate the dangers of the …

Some Thoughts on Authority, Power and Church GovernmentRev. Brian M. Abshire
Recently, a hot topic on one of the Internet discussion groups to which I subscribe, concerned pastoral tyranny. Various allegations of malfeasance were hurled at pastors who “tyrannized” their congregations by requiring all sorts on “non-biblical” practices. Now the point was …

Some Necessary ConsequencesRev. Brian M Abshire
The Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20 is often summarized as the Lord Jesus’ final marching orders to His church. In one of the last specific commandments given to the Disciples, He recapitulates the Dominion Mandate of Genesis 1:26, demonstrating that the Gospel is the means by …

Rev. Brian M. Abshire
We’ve all been to them. And suffered in them. And wondered whether they were really worth the time or trouble to go to them. We’re talking about Bible studies. Over the twenty years of my own professional ministry, I have started, led, organized and participated in hundreds of Bible studies. Furthermore, before …

Rev. Brian M. Abshire
For the past twenty odd years (and some of them have been very odd), I have been writing and lecturing about the tragedy, futility and sheer insanity of the broad evangelical church in America. My doctoral dissertation, while on the surface a treatise on the sociological effects of Puritan theology on the …

R. J. Rushdoony’s Doctrine of the Church
The Rev. Brian M. Abshire
“The church is God’s armory for the application of the aspects of God’s image… the church issues God conscription, trains the troops for action and sends them out weekly to conquer in Christ’s name…”
R. J. Rushdoony, Systematic …