Paul never says, as he does of Jews, that believers in Christ rely on the law, boast about the law, know God’s will through the law, are educated in the law, have light, knowledge and truth because of the law, do, observe and keep the law, on occasion transgress the
I am currently working through Brian Rosner’s helpful book Paul and the Law: Keeping the Commandments of God. For any Christian who has thought seriously about the relationship between the testaments, you know that the relationship between the Law and the Christian is among the most difficult to grasp. There are many
I am almost finished with Organic Church by Neil Cole. It has been a fun and challenging read. Towards the end, Neil shares what he would do differently as a church planter if he could start all over. Here are his 7 church planting lessons: “Recently I was asked to
It seems the debates about spiritual gifts won’t be dying down anytime soon. John MacArthur recently caused quite a stir with his Strange Fire conference and the subsequent release of his book by the same title. By all accounts the conference and the book sweepingly condemned the Charismatic/Pentecostal movement (CTM).
Church discipline can often be an uncomfortable and confusing subject. I am currently working on a document for our church family that articulates our position and practice of church discipline. As I have begun writing I’ve tried to consider some of the ways the various folks in my church might
I’ve recently been learning about the concept of “third place.” No, I’m not speaking about a bronze medal in the local pig-wrestling contest. Although third place in pig wrestling is nothing to be ashamed of! Instead, the concept of third place was developed to explain one of the key ingredients
What is grace? Along with “Who is Jesus?” this is perhaps the most important question a person could ever ask. And yet, according to Tullian Tchividjian, grace is one reality our world, including Christians, has tragically misunderstood. In his latest book One Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World,
In my last post, I introduced the concept of rhythms in small groups and why they are so important to fulfilling our mission. Today I want to look at one example of what a healthy rhythm could look like. AN EXAMPLE OF A GOOD RHYTHM When our rhythms of small
You can’t do it all in two hours a week. If your small group is going to be growing in the knowledge and love of Christ, developing deep community with one another, and reaching out with the gospel, you must develop rhythms of life that actually make it possible to
There are two opposite temptations small group leaders face: forcing depth and avoiding depth. In an effort to create an atmosphere of grace and truth, however, it is imperative that small group leaders learn how to cultivate small groups that are deep and wide. DON’T FORCE DEPTH Inevitably some small
