When we speak of reaching out to our culture through the gospel, we must be reminded that the gospel is also a culture. In the attempt to “translate” the gospel into the language of the culture, something is lost. We are learning that you have not said “salvation” when you say “self-esteem.” “The American Way” is not... Continue Reading

For one thing, music doesn’t bring people to Jesus. Jesus does that work admirably enough through the Holy Spirit, certainly better than a brush with David Crowder’s beard. But there’s an even deeper flaw in our thinking. Worship is not an evangelistic tool. Missional Meditation Consider this comment I received on the “Modernized Hymns” post.... Continue Reading

Ezekiel 33 calls us all to be watchmen over souls and lives our Lord and Savior died for on a blood-stained cross one Friday over 2,000 years ago. All church leaders must take seriously their responsibilities to present well-thought and biblically based sermons and teaching that come from God’s infallible, inerrant Word and lead the... Continue Reading

“Jesus gave the command that ought to characterize everything the church does. This is her mission. Everything the church does is to promote people coming to know Christ and grow in him. As a result, the church must be intentionally involved in evangelism….The church also must be a training church. People need to grow in... Continue Reading

“In Anglicanism, Scripture alone is supreme as the saving Word of God. Reason and tradition play an auxiliary role. This was the view of divines like Thomas Cranmer and Richard Hooker. There is a popular myth that Anglicanism views reason, tradition, and Scripture as a three-legged stool of authorities, but it is quite false.”  ... Continue Reading

“Millions of dollars spent on property lawsuits look increasingly like money badly spent, and still the coffers fill up with millions of dollars from terminally ignorant Episcopalians still bent on pouring their hard earned money into the institution.”   The Episcopal Church can now rightly claim that it has consecrated to the sacred order of... Continue Reading

“It’s unlikely that the New Atheists are responsible for the growing statistical prominence of “nones” as Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins hit the bestseller lists a good 10-15 years after the uptick in “nones” back in the 1990s. It’s important to recall, however, that the presence of Americans who find Saturday- or Sunday-morning solace in nature or... Continue Reading

In sum, the Epistle to Diognetus shows that the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement, and also the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, are not late inventions, but were present very early in the history of Christianity. Did some Christian groups hold other views of such matters?  Sure.  But, the continuity between the teachings of this epistle,... Continue Reading

The church, which serves roughly 30 adults and up to 10 children, argues that the regulation’s significant difference in the size of the signs and how long they can be displayed is essentially regulation based on content, which the Supreme Court only rarely allows in First Amendment cases. “The town’s code discriminates on its face... Continue Reading

“Many local churches are tempted to conduct themselves as if they didn’t know any other local evangelical churches existed around them. Or, if they acknowledge them, they are chasing “end-of-the-year bonuses” by competing with and beating out other churches in ministry. Add to this the fact that many pastors struggle with finding their identity in... Continue Reading