Recently, I heard of a church that had cut off support to an orphanage in another country. Why? Because they believed that the helping children under 5 years old was not consistent with the Great Commission. Now I freely accept that any church has the right to support or stop support for any outside ministry. …
Month: March 2011
Redemptive Analogy
Don Richardson has done a lot of work with Redemptive Analogies, in Peace Child and Eternity in Their Hearts (among other places). Redemptive Analogies are important in faith, but are also problematic. Consider some of the redemptive analogies in the Bible. This is not a complete list. 1. The Vine. Those who are part of …
The Cross or the Sword? Part 1
Cover via Amazon Christianity was a peaceful faith for the most part for many centuries. As the church became institutionalized and nationalized there was a tendency to link the church to the military and to coersion. With Charlemagne, the gloves came off. With his Grandfather (Charles Martel) having to fight off Muslim invaders, and his …
The Back Door of Faith
There is a big disagreement as to whether someone can “lose” their salvation. Jesus seemed to set up a stark separation between those that were in God’s hand and those where weren’t. John certainly expressed doubt that the elect could ultimately be deceived. On the other hand the writer of Hebrews seemed to suggest that …
“150 Percent Person” Quote
"If we desire to be obedient to Jesus' command to carry the good news of his resurrection to the world, we must be willing to become 150 percent persons. We must accept the value priorities of others. We must learn the different definitions and rules of the context in which they live. We must adopt …
Missionary Methods: St. Barnabbas’ or Ours?
Roland Allen's classic book, "Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours?" is an important book that examines how we do missions. It certainly has good points. If I wanted to be honest about it... the obvious answer to the question of Roland Allen is "Ours". That is because we always need to tailor our methods to …
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Missions and the Resurrection of Christ Part II
Is the resurrection of Christ important to missions or tangential. beyond what was covered in part I, I would suggest it is important because it was central to the early church. And that centrality also adds credence to the historicity of the resurrection. How do we know the early church focused on the resurrection? A. …
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Missions and the Resurrection of Christ Part I
Is the resurrection of Christ important in Christian missions? Is it relevant? Is it a worthy point to study, teach, and support? I believe so. I believe it is foundational to our hope and our message. It Verifies God’s power. If God could raise Jesus, he could raise us. If He could not raise Jesus, …
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Missions Starts at Home. Part II
Curiously, a previous post, "Missions Starts at Home" has gotten an awful lot of hits. The problem is, perhaps, that my title was confusing. Missions to me is a wholistic educative process of transformation. The Matthew version of the Great Commission says that we are to Make Disciples... or create learners. Part of this process …
The Gospel Blimp, and Holy Tee-shirt Cannons
"The Gospel Blimp" by Joseph Bayly is a great short story (or perhaps novella). It is a parable in the sense that it attacks commonly held "truth". The story revolves around an evangelical church in Middle America that wants to "reach their community for Christ". This was motivated by the neighbor of one church member …
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