The pattern of ministry all throughout the New Testament is clearly established upon a plurality of elders leading and a plurality of deacons serving.  Although this is not a blemish-free ministry pattern, it does provide for the most healthy scenario for discipleship in the local church.   In Acts 6:2, Jesus’ inner circles was known as... Continue Reading

George, who has served as Stanley’s associate pastor since 2012, was named in a pastoral succession plan presented to congregants during two morning services. “While I intend to remain the pastor as long as God gives me health and strength, this plan will be officially in place to ensure a seamless transition in leadership whenever God ordains that... Continue Reading

When the carols are sung, those around us are informed or reminded of God’s faithfulness in the past, and yet they are also hopefully pointed to the present grace that is now available to each of us in Christ. This is why Christmas is the biggest evangelistic event of the year: radical singing produces a... Continue Reading

So how do we apply what we learn in the Bible? We worship God in Christ. If a Christian hasn’t the time to “do” that, or if that sounds a bit too elementary, any conceivable action or service done in the name of the Lord is worthless before the eyes of a holy God. Churches... Continue Reading

Christians should scrap attempts to justify church-away-from-church as church. We don’t approach other areas of life like that. We are not God, and so have no authority to redefine ins and outs of his church. Truths about church and worship are not arbitrarily defined, but mean something specific in the New Testament. Gathering with the... Continue Reading

There was one Reformation 500 message that I heard, however, that was different from the others. It was troubling both as to its content and tone; and, it did not–in any way whatsoever–communicate the good news of the Gospel. The sermon clearly demonstrated the need for further reflection upon the history and doctrine of the Reformation in... Continue Reading

Many congregations are at a tipping point. Some will die. Some will thrive. My prayer is that the summary of these trends can be used of God in your churches to move your congregation toward greater health and Great Commission obedience.   Never in my lifetime have I seen local congregations at such a critical... Continue Reading

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) recently published a report titled, “Submit to your husbands: Women told to endure domestic violence in the name of God.” The subtitle, too, issued a similar claim: “Advocates say the church is not just failing to sufficiently address domestic violence, it is both enabling and concealing it.”   As a sociologist... Continue Reading

It’s the other half of the good news that Jesus fulfilled all righteousness under the law that too often gets left out of these churches….That news doesn’t fit in the natural categories of the unregenerate mind. This foreign announcement of an alien righteousness, given as a free gift, is apparently rarely proclaimed in Reformed churches... Continue Reading

Johnson worked in a number of “predominantly white Presbyterian churches” after he graduated Westminster Seminary.  “The reason that black men do not connect with the American Evangelical church is because (the church refuses) to suffer with blacks and, therefore, are unable to communicate in a message by which black men can understand,” Johnson said in... Continue Reading