Covenant Renewal in Corporate Worship
Everything about the service is chosen to form and nurture our relationship with God...We need to view every part of the service this way.
The climax of this covenant renewal worship is communion around the Lord’s Table. Throughout Scripture (and, indeed, history), the ultimate expression of free and open access is being invited to sit at the table. This is illustrated throughout the Old Testament, it is pictured with the Table of Showbread in the Temple, and it is... Continue Reading
An Appeal to Churches to Use Bibles
Whether the Bible is under your arm or on your tablet or phone, it must be used.
Without turning back to a visible and rigorous commitment to the Bible, churches will continue to lead the way in moral decline, giving credence to all kinds of errant and ungodly ideas. Why are some churches, for instance, on the vanguard for what the Bible describes as sinful sexual orientation and practice and places all... Continue Reading
Forming Evangelical Pastors: Theological Education from the Margins
We have no way of knowing where the cultural tides are pulling us, but it does seem clear that we are inhabiting a vastly different cultural context than the one in which the M.Div. was forged.
Christian nationalism—whether from the right or the left—represents a Faustian bargain. It may offer a quick fix of power, reassurance, or apparent victory, but the devil always comes to collect. In the end, what is surrendered is infinitely more costly. We must not turn our churches into social clubs that simply echo secular culture, to... Continue Reading
Gay Anglicans In The ACNA
Never may the theological and the pastoral be separated.
Please note, I am not encouraging us to ignore the pastoral. Quite the opposite: I am convinced we’re often not pastoral enough. It is not pastoral to use the psychological discourse of our therapeutic culture rather than the biblical language of sin and repentance. It is not pastoral to keep nodding when someone self-identifies as... Continue Reading
They Call It Narcissism
Though not a Christian book, I was helped by her kindness and insight, and she actually rekindled my interest in engaging those who fit the narcissist description.
How do we help self-absorbed people? How do we help their family and remaining friends? And how might we be helped by secular literature? Secular literature is most helpful when its descriptions of difficult-to-understand behaviors are coupled with years of experience and when its practical suggestions come close to the wisdom and love we find... Continue Reading
Risk and Learning or Stagnation
As Christians, once we find what works for us, the temptation will always be to stay in our lane to keep things comfortable.
Our creator has given us certain faculties and attributes that should be in constant use. Like a muscle, if we do not use them, they will begin to atrophy, and so will our wellbeing. Have you ever felt like you are in a rut? It is never a pleasant place to be. One of the... Continue Reading
Criminalising Christianity, Prayer, and the Bible
Yes they ARE coming after us.
Since Christians are often the ones at the forefront of offering genuine help and healing in this area, this is a direct assault on biblical Christianity. Indeed, the Bible is a book about transformation – about how God can set people free and make them into new persons with new desires. So clearly the Bible itself... Continue Reading
SBC Executive Committee Disfellowships Four Churches
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee disfellowshipped four churches for adverse policies and practices including employing convicted sex offenders and affirming homosexuality within their memberships.
Disfellowshipped for affirming homosexuality were Towne View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Ga., and St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky. Antioch Baptist Church in Sevierville, Tenn., was dropped for employing a pastor who confessed to two counts of statutory rape. West Side Baptist Church in Sharpsville, Pa., was disfellowshipped for employing as its pastor a registered... Continue Reading
Major Evangelical Adoption Agency Will Now Serve Gay Parents Nationwide
Bethany Christian Services, one of the country’s largest adoption and foster care agencies, announced recently that it would begin providing services to LGBTQ parents nationwide.
Bethany, a Michigan-based evangelical organization, announced the change in an email to about 1,500 staff members that was signed by Chris Palusky, the organization’s president and chief executive. “We will now offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today,” Mr. Palusky wrote.... Continue Reading
Undercover Mentor: Redeeming the Everyday
I’m not suggesting we should be sneaky. There was nothing underhanded about Nelson Knode’s or John Warr’s witness.
God used Nelson Knode to mentor me. At the time, I didn’t see it that way. I was just making loud noises in the church basement. But it has got me thinking—who could I influence in the everyday tasks of life to walk closer with God? Could there be more substance—an eternal aspect—to the relationships... Continue Reading
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