Replacing Sunday Mornings
Where we went when we stopped going to church... and why we came back.
At the finish line, people we didn’t know cheered for us madly. They held up their hands to meet our sweaty palms, and for the first time that we can remember, we feel like the victors that the pastors always promised we were. There has been lots of talk lately about the millennials leaving... Continue Reading
Mark Driscoll vs John MacArthur: Battle of the Self-Promoting Calvinists
Both are self promoters, love to attack others, yet call themselves humble men of God.
Ironically, this whole incident highlights another similarity between Driscoll and MacArthur: besides both being relentless self-promoters who make their names by loudly denouncing others, they also hate when people call them out as self-promoters who loudly denounce others, preferring to be known as quiet, humble men of God who love and respect their enemies –... Continue Reading
Gurnall on Celebrity Pastors
We need to guard our spirits against the temptation to create new celebrities.
We go beyond that properly Berean spirit that receives the word with all readiness and searches the Scriptures to find out whether the things being taught are so (Acts 17.11). Our chosen big cheese has only to press the ‘publish’ button or produce another book and – on the assumption that his (or, indeed, her)... Continue Reading
4 Reasons Radical Feminism and Christianity Can’t Mix
Feminism cannot work in the church because the ideology is incompatible with the Christian faith.
But feminism is no longer “simply” women combating societal prejudices. Feminism has morphed into an ideological agenda that far exceeds bra burning and hairy legs. It’s 2013 and feminism is not dead. Modern feminists are heralding “new Feminism” or “Third Wave” feminism, which scoffs at any belief system purporting God made male and female with separate,... Continue Reading
How Then Should We Love?
Our ability to love others comes from remembering that He first loved us.
Sometimes in reaction to our culture, which often confuses love with sappy sentimentality, Christians are tempted to let the pendulum swing too far in the other direction. We say things such as “love is not a feeling—it is a commitment.” While I am sympathetic with the concerns of well- meaning Christians, I have to admit... Continue Reading
Believers in Unbelieving Churches
What Should Be Done by Christian People Who are in a Modernist Church?
But I propose to the readers of this page that we should now approach the question in an entirely different way. I propose that we should see what the Bible has to say about the matter. Does the Bible permit Christian people to live year after year, decade after decade, in a church that is... Continue Reading
Is N.T. Wright’s Book on the Psalms a Dangerous Gateway Drug?
What do you do with a helpful book on an important subject written by a man who is in serious error in a central and crucial area of Christian doctrine?
I started reading Wright’s book on the Psalms a few days ago, not really expecting much from it, and was immediately overwhelmed by the power of his prose, the force of his arguments, the startlingly fresh insights, and especially the beauty of his writing. I posted a couple of quotes on social media and within... Continue Reading
Full Members at Age 1
Are we welcoming children into all of church life?
One of the best ways to bring our children to Jesus is to welcome them into worship, the place where God promises to meet with his redeemed people. This is not a radical idea. The fact that Paul includes a word directly to children—”obey your parents in everything” (Col. 3:20)— in a letter intended to... Continue Reading
Gays in Church
The topic of a Grand Rapids conference that includes Minnesota state senator
The conference at Central Reformed Church, 10 College Ave. NE, starts Thursday, Oct. 24, and includes a 7 p.m. worship service open to the public. A 7 p.m. Friday concert and keynote speech by Justin Lee, The Gay Christian Network founder and author of “Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays vs. Christians Debate,” also is... Continue Reading
Should We Pull Back from Politics?
Those who wish to retreat are wrong. Ignoring so-called “political issues” doesn’t lead to a less politicized church but to a more political church.
That means we speak and we vote and we mobilize. Onward Christian soldiers. But we don’t do so as gloomy pessimists, continually wringing our hands or crying conspiracy. And we don’t do it as naïve utopians, believing we can organize our way back to Mayberry. We do it as those who weep for those around... Continue Reading