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Pastor and Theologian
A great article from First Things provokes some thoughts for me. I want to be faithful as a leader, a pastor, and expositor of the Word. These thoughts are good: The drain of our wider theologians from the pastorate to the academy has resulted in a two-fold problem. First, the theological water-level of our local parishes has dropped considerably. Inasmuch…
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The purpose of the liturgy
I am currently working my way through In Constant Prayer for a book review. In Chapter 4 the author tells a story about a neighbor who wasn’t getting the hang of “liturgy.” Why not just sing a couple of songs, preach a good sermon, and go home? The pastor told the man, “The liturgy is not for you, Bill. It…
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The Glorious Church
Christ loves his Church. It’s his body. Sometimes we think too little of the Body of Christ. We get critical of the Church, not thinking when we do so that we can run the risk of offending Christ himself. It’s not to say we don’t point out difficulties. It IS to say we pound on the Body of Christ too…
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Being a Confessional Pentecostal… or is it a Confessing Pentecostal?
It shows how much I don’t know… and I readily admit it. But there is something that is becoming evident to me: I want to be more confessional in my Pentecostal roots and beliefs. I want to be more “credal.” Is that a word? I just got a spell-check squiggly… (This isn’t going to be a very formal treatise.) This…
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Is the Church Useful?
Has the Church outlasted its usefulness? Is it now up to individual faith, or some “community” interpretation? Bloesch tackles it head on. His observation is that postmodern theology questions the infallibility of the gospel itself. Creeds aren’t useful to identify faith definitively. Since there is no “infallible” interpretation, it doesn’t do much good to pay attention to creeds. Using Karl…
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Shepherd
I am reading through John 10 this week in preparation for my message on Sunday. Jesus declares himself to be the Good Shepherd. He is not a hired hand that would take off at the first sign of trouble. He does not lose those who are his. My Savior lays his life down for me. He contrasts himself to the…
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Essence
Imagine you live in a small town in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). It’s the First Century and you part of a small group following the teachings of Jesus. What would essential for you as a group? What would be essence of what you believe?
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Religious
This column in Christianity Today is thought-provoking. Are you “religious” or “spiritual”? Careful how you answer! The word religion comes from the Latin religare (re: “back,” and ligare: “to bind”), so the term is associated with being bound. In that sense, defining oneself as “spiritual, not religious” couldn’t be more apt, reflecting a desire to not be bound by any…
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Age Segregated Worship = Racially Segregated Worship?
I found this blog post refreshing. How about you? In a day where we try to find “relevance” we are losing solid grounding through the generations. I like what Coral Ridge is doing.
Category: Church
