On:
In: Church, Spiritual Formation

You gotta love Mr. Bean! Each time I watch this guy, he cracks me up. All humor aside, it does illustrate a key biblical concept: Knowing how your skills, knowledge, experience, and desires fit into God’s kingdom for service is essential for building a spiritual community. You gotta find theRead More

On:
In: Bible, Church, Mutualist • Egalitarian, Reviews

I just finished reading through Craig Blomberg’s excellent Can We Still Believe the Bible?. It’s a tour de force that tackles topics such as the trustworthiness of our copies of the Bible instead of original manuscripts, canon of Scripture (both Old and New), King James Version controversies, inerrancy, historicity and genre,Read More

On:
In: Church

Craig Blomberg has a post titled “Why Go to Church?” that has some important observations….as far as they go. He notes that “people are abandoning regular church attendance in record numbers” and with little regret. Hebrews 10, says Blomberg, takes their departure seriously. Specifically he means Hebrews 10:24-25, which readsRead More

On:
In: Bible, Church, Ephesians

Previously I submitted that one person may be endowed with the gifts of pastor and teacher (where the person is pastor) or these gifts may be distributed to distinct persons (where teachers only are involved). That is, all pastors are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. In this postRead More

On:
In: Bible, Church, Ephesians

Recently my wife and I have been exposed to two very different kinds of pastors. One pastor seems to be bent toward a practical model for preaching that is seemingly less rigorous academically, while the other pastor has a great deal of academic interests that are clearly displayed in hisRead More

On:
In: Church

How does your church resolve conflict? Often those in the crosshairs or with their finger on the trigger just pick up and go elsewhere. It’s far easier to leave a church than face the emotionally-charged task of resolution. And it’s simple to “shop around” since most churches of the evangelicalRead More

On:
In: Church, Culture

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm,Read More

On:
In: Bible, Church, Mutualist • Egalitarian

Recently I was talking with a dear friend and brother in Christ when the topic of church leadership was mentioned. In our discussion I recalled this passage from Mark 10:35-45, which reads: Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you toRead More