A lot of discussion on world missions bears a haunting resemblance to the well-known story of “The Blind Men and the Elephant”: Once upon a time, five blind men came upon an elephant. “What is this?!” asked the first one, who had run headlong into its side. “It’s an Elephant,” said the elephant’s keeper, who was sitting on a stool, cleaning the elephant’s harness. “Wow! So this is an Elephant! I’ve always wondered what Elephants are like!” said the man, running his hands as far as he could reach up and down the elephant’s side. “Why, it’s just like a wall! A large, warm wall!” “What do you … [Read more...] about World Missions: Overcoming Barriers to the Fulfillment of the Great Commission (Introduction)
Are Biblical Tongues a Personal Prayer Language?
In this post I propose to present my exegetical case for believing that the tongues referred to in 1 Corinthians 14 (and in Acts) are not necessarily known human languages used to proclaim the gospel to native speakers of that language, but may also be what has been labeled a private prayer language (though I believe the term personal prayer language is a more accurate description). I am not proposing an exhaustive treatment of this question here, but rather one which I believe will be sufficient to demonstrate the validity of my case. Neither am I presenting here a defense for the … [Read more...] about Are Biblical Tongues a Personal Prayer Language?
Missional Boundaries and Entangling Alliances
A lot of ink has been spilled in recent years about missional Christianity. Without delving into the technical issues involved in defining the term, or attempting to say exactly what or who qualifies as truly missional, I would like to think out loud with you about some of the practical issues that sometimes come along with being missional. As I understand it, a big part of being missional has to do with getting involved in the community. It means, even though your church or ministry may be located geographically in the very same town in which you grew up, viewing this ministry with … [Read more...] about Missional Boundaries and Entangling Alliances
Priority #1: Placing “Our People” Atop the “Seven Mountains of Culture”?
In a recent Christian Post article entitled “How Christians Can Change Our Culture,” devotional writer and conference speaker Os Hillman makes the following statements: "We must realize that making more converts will not necessarily change culture. It is important to have conversions, but it is more important to have those who are converted operate at the tops of the cultural mountains from a biblical worldview. Those at the tops of these mountains are expressing their liberal worldview through these cultural spheres. The more godly the change agent at the top, the more righteous the … [Read more...] about Priority #1: Placing “Our People” Atop the “Seven Mountains of Culture”?
Denominational Loyalty and the Body of Christ
Underlying all the recent kerfuffle over Norm Miller, Ed Stetzer, “treason,” and who said this and who said that, was a discussion between Rick Patrick and myself over the value of denominational loyalty within the SBC. Let’s leave the “treason” comment to the side here. I have no interest in pursuing that any further. Rick’s post Ten Traits of a Southern Baptist president over at SBC Today, however, got me to thinking again about an issue that, from my perspective, may well be one of the most significant issues facing us in the SBC today (no pun intended): the relative degree of loyalty we … [Read more...] about Denominational Loyalty and the Body of Christ
Habemus Papam?: Some Observations from Church History
As popes go, Jorge Bergoglio seems to be a nice enough guy. He is from Latin America: a mark in his favor, in my book. He appears to have strong convictions on important moral, ethical, and social issues. He seems to prefer a simple lifestyle, at least in comparison to a lot of the pomp and circumstance that normally goes along with the office of priest/bishop. He even, from what I gather, appears to be on comparatively friendly terms with Evangelicals. All fine and well. Only time will tell what his legacy in the role of supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church will be. Seemingly lost … [Read more...] about Habemus Papam?: Some Observations from Church History
A Few Introductory Thoughts on Gospel Proclamation and Cultural Contextualization
When God created man, he created him with the ability to develop culture. With the progress of history, cultural differences emerged. According to the biblical account of Genesis 10 and 11, it was God himself who took the initiative to disperse humanity into different territories, dwelling together as different clans and nations, and speaking different languages. This reality stimulated the further development of cultural differences, creating at the same time a communication gap between people of different cultural backgrounds (Gen 11:7). God himself, however, is not limited in his ability … [Read more...] about A Few Introductory Thoughts on Gospel Proclamation and Cultural Contextualization
Mark Dever: The Pastor and the Community
In my opinion, the following list statements by Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hills Baptist Church in Washington, DC, is chock-full of keen pastoral insight and scriptural balance on a very important and controversial topic. Dever originally presented this list at a Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference on April 9, 2009. I believe it well worth wider distribution and thoughtful discussion. You can also access the audio file of Dever's talk and a Q & A session over this list here (highly recommended). David Rogers ---------------------------------- 35 somewhat overlapping statements as a … [Read more...] about Mark Dever: The Pastor and the Community
I Voted Today… for Tim Pawlenty
I voted today… for Tim Pawlenty. I know a lot of you, after reading that, have already decided that I am an idiot. Perhaps I am. From what I understand, in the state of Tennessee, where I live and where I voted, the votes of those whose names were not on the ballot were not even tallied. And Pawlenty’s name was not on the ballot. That means, from the perspective of some, that my vote meant absolutely nothing. I have taken that into consideration, and thought long and hard about it, but at the end of day came to the conclusion that, at least, by way of this blog, and by Facebook, and Twitter, … [Read more...] about I Voted Today… for Tim Pawlenty
A View of Rome
As anyone who has followed what I have written on blogs in the past six years or so will be aware, an issue about which I am very interested and concerned is that of a biblical approach to Christian unity. One of the most important and thorniest aspects of Christian unity, in my opinion, has to do with how we as Evangelicals (and as Baptists) should relate to Roman Catholics and to the Roman Catholic Church at large. Having served for 18 years as a missionary in Spain, a country which traditionally has had an overwhelming Catholic majority but which in recent years has become increasingly … [Read more...] about A View of Rome