Reformed Forum

What role do historic confessions play in the life of the Church today—and why should we care? In this episode we welcome Dr. D. Blair Smith, President and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC and author of Reformed Confessionalism (P&R Publishing). We explore the theological, pastoral, and spiritual value of the Reformed confessions—not as artifacts of a bygone era, but as living instruments for the Church’s health and faithfulness. From the Church Fathers to the Westminster Assembly, Dr. Smith draws out the continuity and vitality of confessional Christianity, highlighting how confessions serve as tools for Christian formation, doctrinal clarity, and ecclesial identity. Topics include: Why every church is a “confessing church”—whether it admits it or not The relationship between Scripture and subordinate standards How confessions function pastorally and devotionally The dangers of doctrinal minimalism in the modern church How Reformed confessions express catholicity, not sectarianism Encouragement for pastors and churches seeking to recover confessional depth Whether you’re a church leader, seminarian, or thoughtful layperson, this episode offers a compelling case for embracing confessionalism as a rich, living tradition that grounds the Church in biblical truth and historic continuity. Watch on YouTube Chapters 00:07 Introduction 05:21 Writing This Book 08:06 The Confessing Church 13:32 Promoting Unity 19:59 The Relationship between Confessions and Systematic Theologies 26:19 Challenges Facing Confessional Churches Today 31:50 For the Entire Church 36:02 Examples of How the Confessions Guide the Church 42:40 The Usefulness of Confessions for Church Planting and Revitalization 49:26 Conclusion This is Christ the Center episode 926 (https://www.reformedforum.org/ctc926)

This is the third lesson in Dr. William Wood’s Reformed Academy course, Redemptive History and the Regulative Principle of Worship. This lesson covers the following topics: 0:00 The Importance of Biblical Theology for Worship 2:56 What is Biblical Theology? 15:23 Errors of Continuity 26:08 Errors of Discontinuity 32:17 The Significance of Redemptive History for Understanding Worship Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to twenty-seven additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedforum.org/courses/red... Your donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/ #biblicaltheology #Worship #reformedtheology

What does it mean to be truly blessed in the kingdom of God? In this episode, Camden Bucey welcomes back pastor and author Jonathan Cruse, pastor of Community Presbyterian Church (Orthodox Presbyterian Church) in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to discuss his latest book, Paradox People: Learning to Live the Beatitudes (P&R Publishing). Together they explore how Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:3–12 turns worldly expectations upside down—and how the Beatitudes offer not a checklist for salvation, but a portrait of Christ and those united to him by faith. Drawing from pastoral experience and theological insight, Cruse explains how the Beatitudes call Christians to a counterintuitive life: one of meekness, mourning, mercy, and spiritual hunger. Yet far from being burdensome, this vision of kingdom living flows from the grace already secured in Christ. The conversation also touches on inaugurated eschatology, Christian distinctiveness in the culture, and how the Beatitudes equip believers to live faithfully as pilgrims between two ages. Listeners will be encouraged to see the Beatitudes not just as commands, but as Christ-centered comfort—anchoring our present obedience in a certain future hope. 🎟️ Don’t forget to register for the Reformed Forum Theology Conference on September 27, 2025: reformedforum.org/conference Watch on YouTube Chapters 0:00 Word & Deed 2:19 Introduction 9:35 The Heart of the Beatitudes 15:08 The Present Needs and the Applicability of the Beatitudes 18:24 It Begins with Blessings Not Commands 21:52 Christ Has Lived the Beatitudes 26:58 The Future Orientation of the Beatitudes 31:32 Pursuing Holiness 34:32 Struggling with the Beatitudes 41:02 Driving in the UK 44:15 Being Salt and Light 50:04 Resources on the Sermon on the Mount 54:15 Upcoming Projects 59:11 Conclusion

This is the second lesson in Dr. William Wood’s Reformed Academy course, Redemptive History and the Regulative Principle of Worship. This lesson covers the following topics: 0:00 The Regulative Principle of Worship 6:41 The Ten Commandments and the Regulative Principle of Worship 19:36 Exodus 32 and Leviticus 10 30:10 Elements, Forms, and Circumstances of Worship 41:59 Answering an Objection to the Regulative Principle of Worship Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to twenty-seven additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedforum.org/courses/red... Your donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/ #biblicaltheology #Worship #reformedtheology

In this installment of the Vos Group, Camden Bucey and Lane Tipton continue their deep dive into Geerhardus Vos’s Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments. Together they explore Vos’s treatment of the essence of the kingdom of God (pp. 385–387), drawing connections to his “Doctrine of the Covenant in Reformed Theology.” This conversation highlights Vos’s thoroughly theocentric vision—where creation, redemption, and faith all center upon the glory of God. Dr. Tipton unpacks how this framework distinguishes Reformed theology from other traditions, and how the kingdom manifests historically through the power of the Holy Spirit. The discussion further shows how Vos integrates covenant, kingdom, and eschatology, pointing us to our inheritance in Christ and the glory of God as our ultimate portion. Whether you are a pastor, student, or thoughtful layperson, this episode will help you see more clearly how Vos unites themes of covenant and kingdom in a way that sharpens our understanding of Christ and strengthens our hope in his coming reign. Chapters 0:00 Word and Deed 2:19 Introduction 7:29 Vos on the Doctrine of the Covenant 20:10 Jesus' Use of the Term "the Kingdom of God" 30:15 Power Is Central to the Kingdom of God 33:36 The Role of the Spirit in the Kingdom 48:36 Conclusion Watch a video version at https://www.reformedforum.org/ctc924

Triple tragedies strike Jacob in chapter 35. The death of his beloved Rachel, his firstborn son’s violation reprehensible sin disqualifying him from leadership, and his father Esau’s death. Yet in the middle of this passage is a genealogy signifying the fact that God’s plan of redemption will continue. We learn how important it is to trace important events throughout Scripture, and see how the weeping of Rachel becomes a signpost pointing to God’s work of redemption through Christ.

This is the first lesson in Dr. William Wood’s Reformed Academy course, Redemptive History and the Regulative Principle of Worship. This lesson covers the following topics: 0:00 Introduction 10:26 Review of the Literature on Worship 14:43 Broad and Narrow Concepts of Worship 23:41 Definition and Features of Worship 30:28 The Importance of Humility Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to twenty-seven additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedforum.org/courses/red... Your donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/ #biblicaltheology #Worship #reformedtheology

The warning passages of Hebrews, especially Hebrews 6:1–6, have long puzzled interpreters and unsettled readers. Is it a threat to assurance? A theological anomaly? In this episode, Dr. Marcus Mininger, Professor of New Testament Studies at Mid-America Reformed Seminary, joins us to explore the redemptive-historical framework behind one of the New Testament’s most debated passages. Drawing on the insights from his new book, Impossible to Be Restored?: Temptation and Warning in the Epistle of Hebrews (B&H Academic), Dr. Mininger explains how the warning in Hebrews 6 fits not only within the argument of Hebrews but also within the broader flow of covenantal history. We discuss what the original audience was tempted to do, why returning to the old covenant to be right with God is impossible, and how this passage should shape pastoral ministry today. Along the way, Dr. Mininger helps listeners see how the “impossibility” language of Hebrews 6 is not a spiritual dead-end but a serious exhortation rooted in the once-for-all nature of Christ’s redemptive work. If you’ve ever struggled with how to understand or teach Hebrews 6, this conversation offers clarity, theological depth, and pastoral wisdom. Watch on YouTube Chapters 00:00:07 Introduction 00:02:22 Impossible to Be Restored? 00:06:52 What Drew Dr. Mininger to this Subject 00:11:49 Starting in a New Field 00:17:28 Placing These Difficult Passages in Context 00:23:54 The Nature of the Temptation of the Original Audience 00:56:06 Relating the Warning Passages to the Application of Redemption 01:05:06 The Pastoral Application of These Passages 01:13:13 Conclusion

This is the twelfth lesson in Dr. Camden Bucey’s Reformed Academy course, Defending Our Hope: An Introduction to Christian Apologetics. In the final lesson, we bring the threads together by affirming that faithful apologetics must be rooted in a comprehensive Christ-centered worldview. You will be reminded that defending the faith is not merely about technique but about seeing all of life through the “spectacles of Scripture.” From metaphysics to ethics, Christ’s lordship governs our understanding and our witness. This conclusion encourages you to press on in the calling of 1 Peter 3:15—to make a defense for the hope within you—with clarity, humility, and unwavering trust in the sufficiency of God’s word. Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress, download supplemental resources, and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to more than two dozen more video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedforum.org/courses/def...   Camden Bucey (MDiv, PhD) is Executive Director of Reformed Forum and a minister of Hope Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Grayslake, Illinois. He is the author of Karl Rahner (Great Thinkers) and Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: A 12-Week Study.   Your donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/   #apologetics #evangelism #presupp

What does it mean to see work not as a curse but as part of God’s original design? In this episode of Christ the Center, Camden Bucey is joined by board member Mark Van Drunen to welcome David L. Bahnsen for a rich conversation about his new book, Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life. Bahnsen is the founder, Managing Partner, and Chief Investment Officer of The Bahnsen Group, a private wealth management firm managing more than $4.5 billion in client assets. David is the author of Crisis of Responsibility: Our Cultural Addiction to Blame and How You Can Cure It, The Case for Dividend Growth: Investing in a Post-Crisis World, and There’s No Free Lunch, 250 Economic Truths. Mark Van Drunen works in finance and is a ruling elder at Redeemer PCA in Hudson, Ohio. He serves on the Reformed Forum Board of Directors. Together, they explore how a robustly Reformed view of vocation challenges the sacred–secular divide, recovers the dignity of labor, and reorients our understanding of productivity and flourishing. Drawing from Genesis 1, Reformed anthropology, and the legacy of Kuyper, Bahnsen argues that work is not a mere means to consumption or status, but an essential expression of our identity as image-bearers of God. The discussion also addresses pressing contemporary questions—from the pitfalls of “work–life balance” and “follow your passion” mantras, to the theological problems with universal basic income and the cultural obsession with consumption. Listeners will be encouraged to see their daily labor as an act of worship, anticipating the greater work of the new creation secured in Christ. This is a conversation at the intersection of theology, economics, and discipleship—aimed at helping Christians recover a biblically grounded vision for work that fosters maturity in Christ and glorifies God in every sphere of life. Watch on YouTube Chapters 00:00 Reformed Forum Conference Early Bird Rate 01:53 Introduction 08:18 Work Is Not a Curse 11:22 Working in Heaven? 17:10 The Meaning of the Title, Full-Time 21:57 Making Money and Gaining 24:49 Glorifying God at Work 28:10 The Bible and Economics 36:55 Universal Basic Income 41:11 Following Your Passion 47:39 Work and the Pulpit 51:03 Don’t Waste Your Life 55:12 If You Don’t Find Joy at Work 58:34 Conclusion