The blog is now run by the incredibly powerful, yet so easy to use and flexibe Expression Engine (Because of the migration from Blogger to Expression Engine, you will find that all comments on posts before December 27, 2007 are not dated correctly.)
The Theology
We are Reformed Presbyterian in view and practice, and are currently members of a wonderful church and covenant community, Heritage Church. Some of the more distinctive points of the Draper family are as follows:
Covenant Children
We believe that the New Covenant is for believers and their families, just as the Old Covenant was for the children as well when they were given the sign and seal of that covenant. And we believe that Christian Parents are to raise their covenant children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We believe that Christian children do not "belong" to the parent, nor do they belong to the evil one! They are not enemies of the gospel, they are Christ's disciples! They belong to Christ. Christian parents are to realize that the Children the Lord entrusts to them are not their own but Christ's. We are to take heed to follow the instructions of the Bible when it comes to raising our children. We are to be faithful to teach them correct and sound doctrine, in short we are responsible for every aspect of the child's training. We do not have the authority to abdicate and hand that off to someone else. Not to the Church, not to government schools, but we bear the weight and responsibility entirely (the disclaimer must always be added here that I use the term responsibility, not in a way that rules out anyone else teaching our Children anything at all. Indeed, for instance we, TJ and Rachel, are not competent violin teachers and neither of us can play that instrument at all. We would therefore employ an instructor should our children need training in violin. That does not mean we abdicate our responsibility in this matter).
Confessions and Affiliations
We subscribe to:
- The Apostle's Creed
- The Nicene Creed
- The Westminster Standards and Confession of Faith
And we are members of Heritage Church which is in the Covenant Presbyterian Denomination.
The Doctrines of Grace
We affirm the five points of Calvinism as properly and Biblically understood (In other words we deny Hyper Calvinism).
The five points:
- Total Depravity
- Unconditional Election
- Limited Atonement
- Irresistible Grace
- Perseverance of the Saints
Othe points of doctrine we affirm:
- Post Millennialism
- Covenant Renewal Worship
- Liturgical Worship
- Partial Preterism
And we desire to see a modern day reformation which would include among other things (in no particular order):
- A recovery of the singing of Psalms
- A Proper understanding of the place of Lord's Day Worship
- An acknowledgment of the place of the Church within what is commonly referred to as the three spheres of authority
- A proper understanding of the Covenant as it relates to Believers in the New Covenant
- An understanding of roles within the home, specifically of the role of the Father. This would also include a turning of the father's heart to His Children
- Generational Faithfulness
- A return to the Covenant Community of believers
- A proper understanding of the Lordship of Jesus Christ (this is closely tied to Post Millennialism)