Accountability is always in order; discipline is not. So we must be discerning about when and when not to discipline. We do not want to be like a church in northeast Arkansas with which I am familiar. The minutes from one of its business meetings of long ago tell how the congregation debated whether or... Continue Reading

Last week, the board of directors voted to update the NAE’s stance, and acknowledge for the first time that opposition to the death penalty is also a legitimate application of Christian ethics. “Evangelical Christians differ in their beliefs about capital punishment, often citing strong biblical and theological reasons either for the just character of the... Continue Reading

Dennis Blea, who works with the Navigators in Germany, told me about two Iranian visitors to his church who “had always wondered what a Christian church looked like.” He called the refugee crisis a great open door for conversion: “I think we need to go to them and bring the gospel to them while they... Continue Reading

Most Protestant denominations have a website that includes a function to help users find a local church.  But denominations provide accurate links to the websites of only 32% of all local churches, even though three out of four churches have their own website.  Much of the information on denominational websites about member churches is simply... Continue Reading

We also witness by what we say, not in terms of not using profanity or trying to say encouraging things. We witness by sharing the gospel. After all, gospel means “good news.” We bear good news as we point people to God, as we give the Bible’s explanation for the mess the world is in,... Continue Reading

The Church of Scotland is dying. Without a major miracle of renewal and reformation, the Church of Scotland is in its death throes within Scotland. It’s establishment is rotten to the core, its doctrine has become unbiblical nonsense, it’s discipline nonexistent in some cases – tyrannical in others, its membership and congregations are in free-fall and... Continue Reading

The Evangelical church in the Global South is growing rapidly. But, what good is a rapidly growing church with horrible theology? When thinking of the bad theology of the Global South, don’t think of hymnals vs. modern music or ties vs. button down shirts. Christian churches in the Global South are spreading an array of... Continue Reading

Some of the results may surprise even devout churchgoers: 54 percent of pastors find their jobs frequently overwhelming, and 48 percent often feel the demands of ministry are more than they can handle. So while about half are overwhelmed and wonder if they should quit, another part of the study showed only 13 percent of... Continue Reading

Preachers who want to be interesting want to be interesting because they were taught that interesting is the summum bonum of Christian preaching. They weren’t told that, of course. Instructors in homiletics are not crass people, and they don’t teach people to be self-aggrandizing performers. Homiletics taught that by accident because, if homiletics is true to itself as a discipline, it... Continue Reading

We’re building Burger Kings when we should be planting gardens and digging wells. We’re further indulging the carb-addicted, malnourished population with the same cheap fluff, instead of offering them a balanced meal of Word and Sacrament. Be hospitable, yes, but don’t dumb it down. Don’t make it easy. Trading the body and blood for donuts... Continue Reading