How to Keep 390,319 Sheep in Green Pastures
With growth comes an important question—how do we, as elders in the PCA, effectively shepherd a large denomination?
The greatest guardrail entrusted to us is the “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). We cannot allow the demands of growth to deter us from a proper use of our authority, from striving to maintain this bond of peace. The question thus becomes: how can we use our authority to... Continue Reading
3 Wrong Reasons to Leave Your Local Church — and 5 Right Reasons to Stay
Having served as a pastor for almost twenty years, I would categorize three areas of ungodly departure from the local church.
It’s been commonly said that we don’t choose the people who sit next to us in the pew, but God does. Love requires, in response to the gospel, that we invest in the lives of those who are often most difficult and unattractive to us. It’s one of the saddest things to witness someone throw... Continue Reading
General Assembly Worship & Culture
Reformed Worship, Biblical Worship, worship that is reformed according to Scripture transcends culture and is portable from one culture to another.
While I ordinarily prefer the old tunes over the new, this is not about a matter of style. I am not asserting General Assembly worship should only feature old hymn and psalm tunes. There is a place for new tunes, but new tunes should be introduced in a circumspect manner. TE Sean Morris recently noted... Continue Reading
Being Christian in an Age of Heightened Hostility
For the sake of our neighbors, all who believe in the importance of truth must continue to say so.
The Family Research Council concluded that over 400 “acts of hostility” have been committed against churches in the last five years including “vandalism, arson, gun-related incidents, bomb threats, and more.” The headline is not that there are suddenly those who disagree with Christian conviction or similar beliefs. That has always been the case. However, the... Continue Reading
Officials Charge Retired CRC Pastor In 1975 Cold Case Murder Of Delco 8-Year-Old
Law enforcement officials have brought charges against an 83-year-old Georgia man, a former CRC minister, for the murder of Gretchen Harrington
Gretchen Harrington, 8-years-old, disappeared on Aug. 15, 1975, while on a walk from her Marple Township home to a Bible school less than a mile away. Stollsteimer said that, at that time, Zandstra served as a reverend at Trinity Christian Reformed Church, one of two churches that Harrington regularly attended. As she walked to Bible... Continue Reading
Foundations of Biblical Worship
Earthly human worship is not something new for us, unique to us, or initiated by us; worship is perpetually taking place in the world without end.
The similarities of heavenly worship between Isaiah’s vision and John’s vision reveal that this is eternal worship, the reality of heavenly worship as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. The heavenly worship of John’s vision, coming as it does after the incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of... Continue Reading
Taking Up the Sacred Mantle: The Church’s Gospel Authority
May it be said of each of our churches that we love the gospel deeply and that we take our God-given privilege and responsibility seriously.
Christ has entrusted the church with the responsibility to identify who is making a credible profession of faith in Christ, based upon their life and testimony, and who is therefore baptized into the visible body of believers known as the church. This is a major aspect of what church membership is all about. It’s about... Continue Reading
Big Eva Says Out with Complementarianism, In with Anti-Fundamentalism
As the head of a major evangelical institution, Moore is very well positioned to advance this vision.
Moore is a former Southern Baptist leader and Gospel Coalition council member who is now the editor of Christianity Today magazine. The mere fact that he’s now the editor there shows something is afoot, given that Moore was historically strongly complementarian and Christianity Today has long been egalitarian. As I noted in a previous post, Moore... Continue Reading
Megachurches are Getting Even Bigger as Churches Close Across the Country
For the last several years, Liquid Church has been one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation, and a big part of its success has come through assimilating smaller, more traditional congregations. Four of its seven campuses — all in New Jersey — have come through these mergers.
“Many small churches either have disappeared around the megachurch … or they’ve created their own mission … and have figured out a way to offer alternatives to what the megachurch offers. [They’ve] made sort of their peace with the big kid on the block,” says Thumma. At the same time, megachurches that have adopted the multisite... Continue Reading
Who and How to Show Hospitality
Hospitality is an exercise of trust, patience, endurance, and wisdom. Seek these things from the Lord!
The first step to start practicing hospitality biblically is to change your mindset. Rather than thinking of hospitality as a noun, an event, a specific party, think of hospitality as a verb. The Apostle Paul in Romans 12:13 uses a hunting word: “pursue” hospitality. Chase hospitality down. Run after hospitality. Take aim and diligently follow... Continue Reading
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