America’s Achilles’ Heel: Powerless Sermons and Prayerless Churches
The strength of the church is in its purity and spiritual power, not in its numbers.
Leonard Ravenhill noted that the Cinderella of the church today is the prayer meeting. The prayer meeting is relegated to a dark corner somewhere in the church on an off night so that there is little expectation that anyone will pay her any attention. She goes about unnoticed, unloved, and uncelebrated, yet she is the... Continue Reading
Zoom, the Pandemic, & the Death of Sacred Spaces
Zoom—as a medium of education and relationship—prevents us from truly connecting because of technology’s nature to divide, distract, and isolate.
Like television or the invention of writing, Zoom makes a promise that it cannot uphold. Those that wish to be monks will be monks wherever they are, but sacred spaces exist to provide a connective tissue for the rest of us. Some instructors have found that Zoom school has been highly effective for the monkish... Continue Reading
Putting Others First, the Way of Jesus
We still build the church by watching how we speak and how we act, when fellow believers disagree.
Christians disagree about food and drink and the use of time. We differ about the best way to spend money, use social media, seek entertainment, express ourselves politically, stay healthy, and more. For the sake of others, we must ask, “Should I keep my convictions to myself? Act in ways that please others, instead of... Continue Reading
Aim Your Boy at Manhood
To help prepare our boys for manhood, we can communicate the calling, instruct him for it, and lean on the help of others.
Even though the specific applications will look different for other families, I advise fellow parents to consider intentionally cultivating mature manhood in their boys through a clear aim, persevering and patient preparation, and a definitive declaration and commencement. If we continue without clear direction, our boys may grow up confused and unprepared for manhood, leaving... Continue Reading
“The Karate Kid” & the Merits of Authority-Based Discipleship
It is precisely the virtue of submission and obedience that is essential for the student’s growth.
Obedience and authority may seem like old-fashioned ideals. The positive virtue of “obedience” has been substituted for the negative term “subservience,” and the positive virtue of “authority” has been substituted for “authoritarianism.” Even those who value obedience struggle to articulate what true obedience and just authority might look like. We may grant that Mr. Miyagi... Continue Reading
Finnish Bishop Elect Charged Over Historic Christian Teachings On Human Sexuality
Rev. Juhana Pohjola, Diocesan Dean and Bishop Elect of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland has been charged by Finland’s Prosecutor General with incitement against homosexuals.
At the same time, he continued, “this does not remove the fact that, according to the Bible and the Christian conception of man, homosexual relations are against the will of God, and marriage is intended only between a man and a woman. This is what the Christian church has always taught and will always teach.”... Continue Reading
Deconstructing Doubt in the Church
While it might seem like your world is being shaken, perhaps even like you’re experiencing a kind of death, we are convinced a more robust, settled faith can exist on the other side.
Christianity—to be more specific, Jesus—can help, whatever your questions. Whatever your struggle, it gets better with more—not less—Christianity. It might be tempting to leave the church in order to find the answers. But we want you to reconsider the church as the best place to deal with your doubts and deconstruction. Deconstructing, however jarring and... Continue Reading
The Work of Ministry
Corporate worship is formational, but it is not individualistic formation, it is corporate formation.
Just as an eye needs a hand and a foot needs a leg, so each of us need each other, with our unique and diverse giftedness, in order to grow in our relationship with God. This is true for our Christian lives in general, but it is particularly true for the corporate gatherings of the... Continue Reading
Deconstruct Your Culture, Not Your Faith
Learning to disenculturate the gospel from evangelicalism has not only saved my faith. It’s helped me love the gospel more.
Disenculturation is the process used by missionaries to differentiate the gospel from culture. Having moved from one culture to another, missionaries can see that the gospel is like a kernel protected by an outer husk (culture). Their job is to ensure that the gospel kernel is free to enter new cultures without being captive to... Continue Reading
The Explosion of the Protestant Reformation
We need men who are willing to do far more than tell the story of Wycliffe, Hus, Luther, and Tyndale. We need men who will stand with them.
As we trace the Reformation from Germany through England—we must note that something explosive happened in Worms in 1521 when Luther took his bold stand at the Diet of Worms. It resulted in a German Bible which influenced Tyndale to translate an English Bible. Without those two Bibles, we would still be in the darkness... Continue Reading
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