It’s Probably Not the Worship Style. I was at a denominational meeting not too long ago, sitting at a table with half a dozen other pastors and elders. At one spot in the agenda we were supposed to take 10 minutes to talk about vision and direction of the denomination. This led to a conversation about our churches and why so many RCA congregations keep losing members. An older man at my table lamented that his church continues to shrink. What used to be a rather large church has declined to a shadow of its former glory. He quickly offered an explanation, “People just don’t like traditional worship anymore. I wasn’t sure quite how to respond.
I don’t share that story to suggest that liberal churches always shrink and robust gospel-centered churches always grow. And yet, we can ask better questions. Is the gospel faithful preached? There are scores of other questions you could ask. Copyright © 2014 by the author listed above. The Crisis of Conference Christians. I speak at conferences.
I host conferences. I appreciate conferences. I am also very concerned about conferences. Or, more specifically, conference Christians. The Conference Christian By definition, a conference Christian is someone who spends a great deal of time (and often money) attending Christian conferences. All Around Me Are Familiar Faces Having spoken at conferences for various groups over the years, I’m amazed that the faces of attendees are starting to get familiar. 1. They have a pseudo elder board that they self-select from their favorite preachers and authors. 2. They start comparing the preaching, music, and overall experience of their favorite conference to their local church Sunday experience. 3. They are addicts. If a decent percentage of attendees are in fact conference Christians simply touring around like Deadheads used to, then we’ve got more of a crisis than an upsurge. 4. 5.
They treat preaching the same way wine snobs treat wine tastings. 6. The Options. Www.jesuswalk.com/moses/moses-lesson-handouts.pdf. The Creation-Evolution Debate in a Nutshell. 1. Young Earth Creationism (YEC) The Skinny: Belief that the universe was created miraculously by God around ten thousand years ago (or less). Explanation: YECs often insist that their view is the only way to understand and remain faithful to the integrity of the Scriptures. For them, options which integrate evolution or an old earth paradigm compromise the clear teachings of Scripture and even the essence of the Gospel message. They will often argue (especially since the publication of The Genesis Flood in 1960) that science is on their side using “catastropheism” or “Flood Geology.” They believe in a literal Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden, snake talking, and global flood.
Relationship Between science and Scripture: Scientific discovery always submits to Scripture in all matters. Notable Adherents: John Calvin, Martin Luther, Henry Morris, Ken Ham, John MacArthur, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. 2. Here is how it looks: Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Cyrus I. John Frame on Michael Horton's "Christless Christianity" I have thought for quite some time that Westminster Seminary California (WSC) is not only theologically incorrect on many issues, but often historically mistaken as well. WSC is wrong on Natural Law; wrong on Two Kingdom theology; wrong on the Covenant of Works; wrong on Redemptive Historical preaching; wrong on Molinism; wrong on Law-Gospel; wrong on John Frame – yet had they got Frame right, they probably would not be so wrong on so many things.
They would probably draw finer distinctions than they do. (NOTE: Natural Law, Two Kingdoms and Covenant of Works are all biblical ideas. WSC simply misunderstands them. Redemptive Historical is an excellent manner of preaching. WSC simply places undo emphasis upon it. Molinism implies heresy. That WSC is wrong on so many issues wouldn’t be as bad if the seminary didn’t fancy itself as the keeper of the Reformed faith, another thing they’re wrong about. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Rid of My Disgrace: Interview with Justin Holcomb « 5:21. Rid of My Disgrace is a gospel-saturated book written for the victims of sexual assault. My friend and colleague at Docent Research Group Justin Holcomb and his wife Lindsey wrote this book to apply the good news of Jesus Christ to those sexually assaulted. I have mentioned it a few times on my blog in the past and reviewed it here.
What follows is my interview with Justin on this rare and important book: 1. Quickly, what is sexual assault? How widespread is it? Sexual assault is any type of sexual behavior or contact where consent is not freely given or obtained and is accomplished through force, intimidation, violence, coercion, manipulation, threat, deception, or abuse of authority. The number of occurrences of sexual assaults is staggering.
Regarding the age breakdown of sexual assault, 15 percent of sexual assault victims are under age twelve, 29 percent are ages twelve to seventeen, and 80 percent are under age thirty. 2. 3. 4. 5. First, we have no idea why God let it happen. 6. 7. Plant! Conference Audio. 10 Things Good Pastors Say. 1. Please forgive me. Better than "I'm sorry," which can often be followed with an "if" or a "but," these words indicate a humble heart. Bad pastors hide their faults behind the cloak of their authority, practice self-defense against all charges, and basically pretend.
Good pastors know they're sinners and admit it. 2. Good pastors know they're not always (not usually?) 3. Bad pastors chicken out when it comes to calling people on sin or biblical ignorance. 4. Why did we stop saying this? 5. I think one reason we stopped saying "Jesus loves you" to people is because we don't really love them ourselves. 6. Next to "Grace is true" (see below), these might be the most important words in pastoral counseling. 7. Of course you don't mean it literally. 8. Bad pastors think they're owed. 9. I think deep down we all want to hear "You're approved" (see below), which is why we find "Grace is true" such a radical statement. 10.
Urban Legends: The Preacher’s Edition : Kingdom People. Those of us who are entrusted with the task of expositing the Scriptures in a local church must take care to verify our sources, illustrations, and stories. No matter how helpful an illustration may be, it is dishonoring to God if it is untrue. Here are a number of urban legends that get repeated in sermons. Some are more pervasive than others, even appearing in commentaries and scholarly works. 1.
The “eye of the needle” refers to a gate outside Jerusalem. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God,” says Jesus in Mark 10:25. Maybe you’ve heard of the gate in Jerusalem called the “eye of the needle.” The illustration is used in many sermons as an example of coming to God on our knees and without our baggage. 2. Various versions of this claim have been repeated by pastors, but it is a legend. 3. 4. This is one of the most pervasive and fast-spreading stories to flood the church in recent years. 5. 6. 7. Clarus ‘11 Recap – ‘Scripture: God Speaks’ Clarus is Latin for clear, bright, or radiant. From April 29 to May 1, Christians from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the surrounding Southwest region gathered at Desert Springs Church for Clarus ‘11 , a regional conference of The Gospel Coalition .
This year’s theme, “ Scripture: God Speaks ,” focused our attention on the subject of the Bible, God’s Word written. Our speakers, G.K. Beale and Carl Trueman , both professors at Westminster Theological Seminary , approached this theme from a variety of angles: what Scripture says about itself, how Christians have understood the nature of Scripture throughout history, the effects of meditating on Scripture, the need to defend Scripture, how the Scriptures persevere us in suffering, how Jesus fulfilled Scripture, why and how Scripture is meant to be preached, and how Scripture shapes Christian marriage. In addition to a panel discussion led by Ryan Kelly, both men spoke a total of four times. G.K. The Effects of Meditating on God’s Word (Ps. 1) Fight the Text Before You Flee to Christ.
Recently The Gospel Coalition hosted a national conference with the simple, clear theme of preaching Christ from all of Scripture. I went and was greatly impacted by the proclamation of the greatness of Christ in all of the Scriptures. This passionate priority has begun to really take hold of many (especially younger) preachers. I rejoice in this because I think it reflects Jesus’ own view and model of biblical preaching (Luke 24). With this however, there is a practice that is not best. Let me get at it this way. Guys want to preach Christ-centered sermons. They don’t want to moralize the Bible. But there is a problem. Our temptation is to jump into the passage with our Christological veins bulging and neglect the original context. Here’s my issue: those passages have a context. Why? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. I am all for preaching Christ in all of the Scriptures.
Erik Raymond is the lead pastor at Emmaus Bible Church in Omaha, Nebraska. Copyright © 2014 by the author listed above. TGC Asks About Cautions for Christ-Centered OT Teaching. During The Gospel Coalition's national conference in April, the plenary addresses modeled Christ-centered preaching from the Old Testament. TGC has also maintains a website permanently dedicated to helping you preach and teach Jesus from the various genres and books of the Hebrew Bible. We hope the conference and website excite and equip you to introduce nonbelievers and fellow Christians alike to the God who reveals himself from Genesis to Revelation. We recognize, however, that there are many different ways to teach Christ from all of Scripture.
We also recognize that in their exuberance to preach Christ from the Old Testament, some teachers are tempted to forget their exegetical bearings. As much as we can learn from positive examples, we must also be warned by negative ones. So I turned to three seasoned preachers and asked, "How would you caution teachers intent on preaching Christ in the Old Testament?
" 1. 1. Collin Hansen serves as editorial director for The Gospel Coalition. Media | The Counseling Solutions Group, Inc. Earnestly Desire Spiritual Gifts: the gift of prophecy in today’s church? « Heat and Light. As an Evangelical Christian, you may hold to a wide array of Evangelical perspectives. Among my fellowship runs the whole gamut from dispensationalists to preterist – Calvinist to Arminian – young-earthers to old-earthers to the few (very few), the proud, the sailhamer-ites – cessationists, and even charismatics. It is because these differing opinions can be found among genuine Evangelical Christians that I believe this topic is of such great importance – especially as it relates to the last two categories: cessationists and charismatics. Historically, Reformed Christians have been cessationists beginning with Martin Luther and John Calvin. This means that they often believe that the more outstanding miraculous gifts have ceased.
Recently, however, there has been a refreshing shift in both movements – a movement towards self-criticism and reflection. There is a practical outworking of this truth – to disobey or disbelieve an Old Testament prophet’s words was to disbelieve God himself! Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World - Download free content from Reformed Theological Seminary. Victory Over or Struggling With? | RPM Ministries. Victory Over or Struggling With? Last night I was reading Wesley Hill’s book Washed and Waiting. I was struck by many thoughts, including his quote from Philip Yancey: “Much of what I read on depression, on doubt, on suicide, on suffering, on homosexuality, seems written by people who begin with a Christian conclusion and who have never been through the anguished steps familiar to a person struggling with depression, doubt, suicide, suffering, or homosexuality.
No resolution could be so matter-of-fact to a person who has actually survived such a journey.” Hill concludes, “I hope in what follows to convey something of what it’s actually like to have survived—or, rather, to be surviving—the anguished journey of struggling with homosexuality.” How We Communicate Our Struggles I wonder if Yancey is onto something with his diagnosis. Many of the leaders of modern Evangelicalism and of modern biblical counseling, like myself, are middle-class, “type A,” academically-inclined, white males. Acts 29 Network: Seattle, WA > By Pastor Scott Thomas Every young man that considers church planting asks the question, Am I a Church Planter?
It is the question I asked myself before planting a church. It is the question we ask every man who submits himself to our Acts 29 assessment process to be a lead planter in our network. Many times he is depending on our assessment process to confirm his calling. Not all churches have a vision for church planting and few have insight into what a church planter looks like. Our church leaders should be able to spot a church planter and then send him to plant as soon as he is ready.
I did a survey of pastors associated with a church planting movement in 52 countries of the world and asked them to describe the characteristics of a church planter. We believe strongly that the Bible teaches that this office of an elder and pastor is reserved for males. In creation, God made Adam first and then Eve to be his helper. Summarized: 20 Characteristics of a Church Planter 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Biblical Counseling Coalition Blogs.
Www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Reference/CJ_Mahaney_P_PC.pdf. What They Said. Challies Dot Com | Informing the Reforming. Desiring God Blog. Blog By Topic Subscribe David Mathis Wednesday went quietly. Too quietly. With the previous three days awash in drama — Sunday’s triumphal entry, Monday’s temple cleansing, and Tuesday’s temple controversies — now Wednesday, April 1, A.D. 33, comes like the calm before the storm. But out of sight, lurking in the shadows, evil is afoot. Marshall Segal Sometimes it’s hard to sort out our lives before Christ. In his new single “Crimson Cord,” Propaganda pulls on the scarlet thread of God’s love in the past of the believer. Justin Taylor and Andreas Köstenberger It is now Tuesday morning, March 31, A.D. 33. Now if the disciples had ears to hear they would recognize that Jesus is talking about more than seemingly magical powers that can curse trees and crumble mountains....
Jonathan Parnell To help you make the most of Holy Week, we’ve ventured into the archive to find five of the best Piper articles related to the Easter season. 1. Just... Jon Bloom Ben Stuart “How do I love my wife well?” Ministries Blog. His Transcendent Awesome Glory from Nathan W. Bingham Jan 25, 2017 Category: Ligonier Resources 2017 Winter Conference at Reformation Bible College: Audio and Video Now Available from Nathan W. Bingham Jan 24, 2017 Category: Events Last week, pastors, church leaders, and students gathered on the Ligonier campus in Sanford, FL for Reformation Bible College's 2017 Winter Conference. The theme was "Scripture in the Early Church" and R.C. Sproul was joined by Michael Haykin, Michael Kruger, Stephen Nichols, and the faculty of Reformation Bible College to address topics such as early Christian preaching, Augustine's use of Scripture, the development of the biblical canon, and other topics.
Keep Reading The Right to Be a Christian from Nathan W. January 22nd marked the 44th anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Biblical Counseling Coalition. 5:21. Blog. Kevin DeYoung. The Gospel Coalition Blog.