Where Is The Church Heading?
In most parts of the world, Biblical, orthodox Christianity is returning to the position it held before the rise of the European church-state complex we call Christendom.
Every indication is that we will continue to see claims from the culture, fed by neo-pagan antipathy to orthodox Christianity, such as those made by Dan Brown and even by some scholars who should know better about competing “gospels” (e.g., the so-called “Gospel of Jude”) or competing “epistles,” which give the impression that the formation... Continue Reading
What If I Can’t Sing?
Your heavenly Father cares whether and what you sing, but he doesn’t mind how well you sing.
If you can speak, you can sing. God designed you to sing and gave you everything you need to sing as well as he wants you to. He’s far less concerned with your tunefulness than your integrity. Christian singing begins with the heart, not the lips (Eph. 5:19). Sometimes we meet people who say,... Continue Reading
5 Things We’ve Learned as We Transition from an Ethnic to a Multicultural Church
We recognize that we need to reflect the diversity of heaven if we are to be a faithful outpost of heaven in multicultural Toronto.
Ministering in multicultural Toronto, it’s easy to assume that any ethnic church would automatically become culturally diverse, given enough time. However, we realized that various practices we took for granted were getting in the way of reaching non-Filipinos. For example, all our services are in English; but our tendency to converse in Filipino dialects unintentionally... Continue Reading
Jesus and Joysticks: Why the Church Should Stop Making Fun of Video Gamers
Video games have grown from a niche industry to one that generated more than $108 billion in revenues in 2017—yet video gamers are a popular target of Christian angst and aggression.
I’ve seen prominent and not-so-prominent pastors portray video gamers as stereotypical, lazy college graduates. These video game players refuse to get a real job. They live at home in their parents’ basement and never take responsibility. We need men to grow up. This may elicit chuckles and high-fives from some, but it may also hurt a faithful... Continue Reading
When a Church Loses Confidence in the Gospel
It seems to me that churches and pastors are often-times pressed to change their biblical positions on issues like homosexuality, ordination of women, and the exclusivity of Christ out of a desire to better reach a rising generation or culture.
What is it within the context of daily ministry life in the local church that leads pastors to begin to question the veracity of what have been long-held tenets of Christian Orthodoxy? We have seen this theological interplay take place with other doctrines besides homosexuality and same sex marriage, such as Rob Bell’s questioning of... Continue Reading
Hudson Taylor’s Founding of the China Inland Mission
Hudson interviewed or corresponded with all of the main English missionary societies about the need to send workers to the unevangelized provinces of inland China.
Through the early months of 1865 Hudson sensed the Lord prompting him to establish a mission that would have as its objective the evangelization of the inland regions of China. Knowing the marked challenges, trials and responsibilities such an undertaking would entail, he hesitated. For weeks he wrestled with God about the decision. Do... Continue Reading
If Gospel Coalitions Can’t Unite, What about Social Gospels?
As much as critics might want to accuse defenders of the spirituality of the church of racism, they should actually consider that a reduced scope for Scripture and the church is much like classical liberalism
The church needs to do more than proclaim the gospel, conduct faithful worship, provide discipline, and care for widows and orphans (with 1 Tim. 5 scrutiny). How could Christianity ever make people go “wow” if the church restricted what it did to word, sacrament, and discipline (and let all the other agencies of a civil... Continue Reading
Church Massacre Shakes Central African Capital
Priest among 16 killed during Mass at Bangui Catholic church which suffered a similar attack in May 2014
The assailants started shooting at people who were outside the church because the building was too small and could not contain all the attendees. They also threw hand grenades. “We are all shocked, everybody is shocked,” said Moses. “We don’t understand why. Why to kill people who are praying—just innocent people who are praying?” ... Continue Reading
United Methodist Bishops Recommend a Way Forward
The majority of the Council recommends the One Church Plan as the best way forward for The United Methodist Church.
The One Church Plan allows for contextualization of language about human sexuality in support of the mission; and allows for central conferences, especially those in Africa, to retain their disciplinary authority to adapt the Book of Discipline and continue to include traditional language and values while fulfilling the vision of a global and multicultural church.... Continue Reading
Thinking Wrongly About Leadership
I do believe the church would be healthier if we spotted these problems and in shining the light on them finally got rid of them.
If our reading of 1 Timothy 3 leads us to believe that no one’s qualified or that almost everyone is qualified, we haven’t understood the passage. Paul wrote to Timothy with the full expectation that he would be able to find men like this in the churches he was serving. And he also wrote with... Continue Reading
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