The conversation goes on. And from the perspective of some among us, it goes on and on and on and on and on. “Why can’t we just let bygones be bygones? Why do we have to keep on dredging up the past and revisiting the same sins over and over again? Didn’t we already say […]
The Rub
Driving home in my car just now I turned my radio on to the local Christian talk station just in time for the Jay Sekulow Live program. The topic of discussion for today was tax reform. Even though it is not the topic I want to write about, nor what I really want to discuss […]
Business as Ministry vs. Ministry as Business
Rule of thumb: “Business as ministry,” as a general principle, is honorable and good. “Ministry as business,” as a general principle, however, is neither honorable nor good. Necessary points of explanation and nuance: * God created man to be industrious and to work. Work has intrinsic value in and of itself. * God expects us […]
American Civil Religion & New Testament Christianity
As I have reflected on the matter, I have come to the conclusion that the underlying cause of many of the conflicts between different groups of Christians today in North America is a difference in the way we conceive of the proper relationship between civil religion and the practice of our Christian faith. In order […]
Nationwide and Citywide Revival
Though the concept of revival (or spiritual awakening) is certainly not absent from Scripture, it is my contention that some of the ways in which this topic is frequently broached in contemporary North American Evangelicalism are either Scripturally unbalanced or unfounded. One example of this is our tendency to talk of revival more on a […]
An Antinomist’s Perspective on Life in the SBC
Dave Miller’s post the other day got my mind to working, and conjured up an image that I am going to try to describe to you in this post, which could also be titled “Calvinism, Free Will, and Narnia: Redux,” as it picks up where I left off in another post I once wrote called […]
The Worst of “the Christian Right”
A recent article at The Christian Post entitled “Christian Leaders Call on Believers to be Less Rigid, Support Flawed Politicians” embodies what I consider to be the worst of what the political Christian Right has to offer. The setting of the article is the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Harbor […]
Eschatology and Religious Liberty
Q. What is the one thing that is not present in heaven (or in the millennium, or in the New Jerusalem, depending on your take on eschatology) that we can be thankful is still present with us here today on earth? A. Religious liberty. —————————————————————————————————————— “[The woman] gave birth to a male child, one who […]
A Biblical Evaluation of the Homogeneous Unit Principle, Part 5
This is Part 5 of a 5-part series. The other parts can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. CONCLUSION The lessons learned by many in diverse settings around the world have proven time and time again that racial and social reconciliation, even among those who have experienced the transformative power […]
A Biblical Evaluation of the Homogeneous Unit Principle, Part 4
THE PRACTICE OF UNITY Having established that racial and social unity is the theological ideal that should be manifested in the Church, we are still left with the thorny question of how to most effectively and edifyingly put into practice this ideal in the everyday contexts in which missionary and local church ministry take place. […]
A Biblical Evaluation of the Homogeneous Unit Principle, Part 3
Other Biblical and Theological Considerations In addition to one’s interpretation of the Great Commission, there are a number of other biblical and theological considerations that have a bearing on the legitimacy of the HUP as a missionary strategy. God’s Plan for Diversity and the Tower of Babel Proponents of the HUP argue that ethnic and […]
A Biblical Evaluation of the Homogeneous Unit Principle, Part 2
Editor: This is a continuation of the first post in what promises to be an excellent series. The first post can be found here. Criticism of McGavran’s Understanding of the Great Commission Various critics, however, have found elements of McGavran’s exegesis of the Great Commission to be seriously flawed. The Meaning of Ethne First of […]