Local Church Issues

13 September by Mike Bergman

God is Big Enough (but do we live as if it is so?)

2 comments

On Sunday Mornings, we are presently doing a 21-week jaunt through Acts.  This past Sunday I preached on Acts 9:32-11:30.  My focus was for us to wrap our minds around the “bigness” of God.  Three of my four points were: God is big enough to deliver us from our infirmities, to rescue us from death, [...]

9 September by Mike Bergman

Why We Practice “Open” Communion

48 comments

I appreciate the Baptist Faith and Message as a general and systematic declaration of our faith, and I agree with the majority of what it states—that’s part of the reason why I am, have been, and plan to continue to be Southern Baptist.  There is one aspect, however, that I and the church I pastor [...]

18 July by Mike Bergman

Rethinking the Ministry of the Evangelists

63 comments

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…–Ephesians 4:11-12 Most of us are likely familiar with the term “evangelist.”  Certainly we have heard about Billy Graham and his crusades, and if you grew up [...]

6 July by Thom Hunter

The Devilish Debate Over Choice vs. Chance

4 comments

Don’t take credit for not falling into a sin that never tempted you in the first place. — Billy Graham The clash between pro-gay culture and the church is turning into a tragic comedy with about the air-time quality of a 20-year-old 2 a.m. TV-Land repeat. Snooze. Who loses? Truth loses. I think sometimes we [...]

1 July by Jeff Musgrave

Lessons Learned in Disastrous Situations

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Wednesday (June 29th), I had the opportunity to go to Minot, ND with a visiting mission team and serve as a disaster relief chaplain for a day.  I jumped at the chance to put all of that time spent training for just such a time into practice.  It took a lot longer time to get [...]

24 June by Mike Bergman

Reclaiming Gospel Community

5 comments

In my post A Church-less Gospel? I lamented “gospel” presentations that have little-to-no emphasis on church, the gospel community.  Part of the problem we face is our cultural focus on individualism that mars a greater sense of community.  We do not build biblical community because we do not truly understand and practice the ideas of [...]

23 June by Jared Moore

What if There is No Southern Gospel in Heaven?

31 comments

Will you care?

7 June by Mike Bergman

A Church-less Gospel?

9 comments

Trevin Wax wrote a recent piece about the proper place of church in the story of the Gospel.  This certainly touches on a broader issue that we see a lot of places from George Barna all the way down to the person we see in worship once in a blue moon: the sad issue of [...]

2 June by Mike Bergman

I am happy, I just express my happiness in a different way than you…

16 comments

The other day I went bowling with a group of people from my church I consider good friends.  I’m not good at bowling, but I always have fun—it’s one of those things I do just to do it because I enjoy it.  I enjoy being with the people I went with as well. But then [...]

20 May by Mike Bergman

What is Congregationalism, Biblically Speaking?

19 comments

Different discussions you see and hear about church government as Baptists assume a type of congregationalism.  Yet it’s rare in such discussions that anyone presents a definition and defense of congregationalism.  I want to address that issue.  Certainly in church life, Jesus stands as the sole authority over his church (as Dr. Russ Moore says, [...]

11 May by Mike Bergman

It Ain’t About the Benjamins

8 comments

The nation’s economy is in a crunch.  Unemployment rates are high, gas is high, utilities are high, the dollar is falling…translate this to church and the SBC: giving is down and the Cooperative Program is down.  Many churches are having to slash budgets (including mine—our budget year ends the last day of June and it [...]

14 April by Mike Bergman

Bringing Joy to Your Pastors

7 comments

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.  Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.—Hebrews 13:17 Recently, there’s been some talk about the discouragement pastors face in [...]

8 April by Thom Hunter

The Blessed Affliction of a Conflicted Heart

4 comments
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What if the lines in the sand just keep shifting? What if the boundaries we set up keep slipping? What if the truth we’ve been seeking keeps drifting? What if we don’t make it through all of this sifting?   What if our reach leaves us grasping at air? What if our longing finds no [...]

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