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Tag Archives: church
more on megachurches
Catablog has links to studies regarding the current state of megachurches (over the last few years). Here are some of the findings, but go to Catablog and hit the links to the source materials for more detailed information. “Megachurches – … Continue reading
megachurches on the slide?
is the age of the megachurch showing signs of beginning to pass? here is a fascinating look at this question in USA Today. statistical blip or the start of a trend? On paper, megachurches look like a trend still on … Continue reading
Is the church for evangelism?….continued even further
In a way this whole discussion seems weirdly artificial. All of our life as Christ followers is the gospel. Everything we do or say is because of the presence of God in us. I am not a preacher (vocational pastor … Continue reading
Posted in church
Tagged church, evangelism, gospel, preaching, proselytizing, teaching
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is the church for evangelism?….continued
Ken Stewart, professor of theological studies at Covenant College, had a comment posted to Tony Payne’s thoughts that I mentioned in this post. The comment was elevated to the text of this post Here is the beginning of what Professor … Continue reading
elder led
In an earlier post regarding congregationalism, I made the point that God’s model of leadership in the local ekklesia is elder led. Phil Newton has written an article for Tabletalk magazine touching on this topic so I can link to … Continue reading
Posted in church
Tagged biblical elder standards, church, church governance, deacons, elders
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Is the Church for Evangelism?
this is the question posed by the Ramblin’ Pastor Man and by Tony Payne. It is a more difficult question than it appears on the surface. Tony makes some good points and here is one of them: However, even if … Continue reading
Posted in church
Tagged ambassadors for christ, church, evangelism, ministers of reconciliation, mission, worship
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why government?
Pulpit Magazine has a two part series from Nathan Williams on why God put government in place. here is the introduction to the series. With the Democratic National Convention being held last week, and the Republican National Convention being held … Continue reading
Posted in teaching
Tagged christian response to government, church, government, role of government
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more reading
do you agree or disagree with congregationalism? (governance of the church by the congregation). I grew up Baptist which means basically that we were pastor led congregational governance model churches. I never really thought about whether or not that was … Continue reading
some weekend reading
a three part series over at the Ligonier Ministries blog explores “the church, the Body of Christ. here is part one There are fundamentally two views of the church…..The first conception of the church is stated as follows: It is … Continue reading
one pollster's take on the church of the future
here is a part of Chuck Warnock’s post on one pollster’s take on the future of the church in the U.S.: “The church of the future will be a bungalow on Maple Street, not a megastructure in a sea of … Continue reading
Posted in church, culture
Tagged authenticity, church, community, future, pollster, Zogby
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what is community?
Ok. the Thirsty Theologian had an interesting link on his page that I followed yesterday evening to discover this post. (by the way, TT has some great posts up top right now about why a literal translation of the Bible … Continue reading
Posted in church, culture
Tagged casual friday church, church, god, individualism, love, neighbors, rebellion
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Think like beginners
Steve is on it again. Go read his block quote from Alan Hirsch and his two concluding questions. Rather than a quick fix or silver bullet, we need silver imaginations. Minds that are transformed and renewed by our willingness to … Continue reading
Steve figured out the right way to do church
Steve Bradley figured it out. The right way to do church. the whole thing is such an excellent post. here is a bit of it: What if local congregations were seen as the various parts of Christ’s body, and not … Continue reading
Is it possible?
Is it possible to combine elements that the emerging church is using to connect with the culture, with correct doctrine? are they antithetical? or can they be complimentary and fill the gaps in each other’s approach? Must we choose one … Continue reading
Posted in church, culture
Tagged church, church basement road show, culture, doug pagitt, emerging church, mark scandrette, tony jones, truth
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connecting with the culture
Newbigin in the quotes from my post below says that we, as Christians, should try to understand the culture from the point of view of the Gospel. In other words, we should be countercultural and have a different framework for … Continue reading
vision
Steve at Vision Navigator has a post up about the Kingdom of Heaven. It is an interesting idea about using imagination and the post has an embedded bearded Australian man video to boot. In the post Steve links to series … Continue reading
Posted in church
Tagged church, kingdom of god, kingdom of heaven, purpose, vision, vision statement
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The Call
As believers in Christ, what is our calling? Jesse Phillips is asking a pointed question on the Catablog. here is the issue and the question: Some evangelicals believe it’s our duty to fight for righteousness in our nation, creating laws … Continue reading
The Big Give
here is an idea that a church of any size can do in its community. We wanted to plan an event that was all about serving our community, so we planned this event where we would give away new backpacks … Continue reading
Posted in church
Tagged back-to-school, backpacks, church, fun, games, haircuts, missions
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transitions
transitioning a conversation to the gospel requires the intention to do so and the opportunity. Joe Thorn has a list of eight topics from which the gospel is an easy leap. There are more in the comments. Here are the … Continue reading
Posted in church, culture
Tagged church, community, conversation, evangelism, missions, politics, sin
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A fish story
here is a fish story from a book by Wayne McDill called Making friends for Christ: Wayne McDill – Making Friends For Christ p.8 Whatever Became of Evangelism? Now it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves … Continue reading
Posted in church
Tagged church, evangelism, fishers of men, fishing, forrest gump, mission, shrimp
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getting our children engaged in christian growth
My lovely wife and I have been wondering about/concerned with the question of how to encourage our children to appropriate the Faith for themselves in a vibrant and real way. Julie sent a link out yesterday to some folks as … Continue reading
Pitiful failure
Here is what David Laubach recently had to say about the state of the church in America at the recent Baptist World Alliance meeting: According to Laubach, 75 percent of churches in the United States are plateaued or declining and … Continue reading
Posted in church
Tagged ambassadors, church, evangelism, growth, reconciliation, survival
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age segregation
one of the things that has bothered me for some time about the way we do church is age segregation. Breaking up Sunday School or other small group time into age categories seems like a way to pool the collective … Continue reading
wanting the familiar even if it hurts
Here are two interesting items that I ran across and emailed to a few folks toward the end of June. The first is a series of youtube videos with Adrian Warnock interviewing Ed Stetzer about missional church planting etc that … Continue reading