A Distant Look Back at Missionaries and Attrition, Part I
“The opinion is often expressed that the present-generation missionary does not view his work as a work for life.”
This is the kind of sentiment that sounds as relevant today as it did in 1933—maybe even more so. After making this statement, though, Lennox then goes on to show that the missionaries of his day were actually serving longer, on average, and the proportion of “lifelong” service was increasing compared to their predecessors. The... Continue Reading
Six Challenges New Pastors Did Not See Coming
Not all expectations are unmet. But a number are.
I have been working with local church pastors for over three decades. I love these leaders. I love their hearts. And I hurt with them when they tell me these stories. Six of these stories are so common, I can almost predict them for new pastors. Of course, I hope they don’t take place; but... Continue Reading
Jordan Peterson at Liberty and A Cry For Help
"...These rules work. But they all stop short without the Ruler.”
At roughly the 21-minute mark in the convocation (link here), as Peterson is answering a question, there’s a commotion offstage. A young man rushes up and grabs a microphone, on the verge of tears: “My name is David [full name redacted], and I need help! I need help! I just wanted to meet you. I’m... Continue Reading
Charles Spurgeon’s Outlook on Sharing the Gospel
Spurgeon's outlook on sharing the Gospel is worthy of our consideration and emulation.
“I did not see the lamplighter. I do not know his name, nor his age, nor his residence. But I saw the lights which he had kindled, and these remained when he himself had gone his way. As I rode along I thought to myself, ‘How earnestly do I wish that my life may be... Continue Reading
When Your Pastor Becomes A Social-Justice Action Hero
I fear that a kind of bully pulpit is (re)emerging by pastors who are pushing harder than ever these societal struggles upon their congregation (and everyone else), to the distraction of the one thing that is lasting and eternal.
“Gospel” in this scheme is nothing more than the deliverance of people from societal abuses. God’s word is simply a tool of the pastor to fulfill that agenda. The congregation is slowly conditioned to expect the pastoral tangent from the pulpit every Sunday usually over one issue the pastor has become obsessed with. I know... Continue Reading
Has Christian Apologetics Failed?
I want to look at one specific sub-question that Peterson’s rise has induced in some of my discussion circles: Has Christian apologetics failed?
Because “Christian apologetics” is not a monolith, it’s important to make some distinctions when answering this question. Are we talking about Ray Comfort, Sye Ten Bruggencate, and Ken Ham? Or are we talking about William Lane Craig, John Lennox, or Ravi Zacharias? Are we talking about young earth and global flood apologetics, or arguments for... Continue Reading
The Church That Prays Together, Stays Together
The place where we are most connected to Christ our Mediator, our representative before God, the head of the body (Col 2:19) and, in him, most connected to each other is not the coffee shop.
The preaching of the Word, the use of the two sacraments instituted by Christ (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), and prayer. All these occur in public worship. As important as it is for congregations to bond together horizontally, person to person, it is even more important for the, to be united together in meeting face... Continue Reading
Three Ways We Impede Gospel Ministry in Deprived Communities
We need to resource both existing churches and new plants over the long haul.
We ought to be aware that there aren’t enough churches in our deprived communities. Plenty of them have no church in their midst and no viable means of getting to one. So, without putting too fine a point on it, we need people to plant churches in deprived communities and, one way or another, they... Continue Reading
Go and Tell: Church Social Media
If a church does engage in social media ministry, it must be committed to doing it well.
Like it or not, social media is setting the agenda of personal discussions in our world; people are comfortable talking about what they know their friends already have shared. So, if you want to open doors for members of the church to “go and tell” in discussion, you can help by first giving them something... Continue Reading
Why “We Need to Reach the Young People” Might Distract Your Church
A church focused upon it’s own survival is a church just waiting to die.
The church, just like disciples, is meant to be self-denying for the sake of the kingdom. Doing things which are motivated by self-preservation are opposed to the ethics of God’s kingdom. A church might even “turn around” by a good focused mission. But if the foundation is self-preservation instead of kingdom-expansion, don’t be surprised when... Continue Reading
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