Sub-Christian Nationalism? (Part 12)

In article XIII: On the Great Commission, the Statement says, Article XIII: The Great Commission WE AFFIRM that Christ’s commissioning of His Church to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey all that He has commanded includes . . . Continue reading →

Jesus Already ‘Gets Us,’ We Need To Get Him

Now, as the UMC shrinks, Methodists are spending millions of dollars through The Servant Foundation to run an exceedingly silly campaign called “He Gets Us.” Trying to be relatable, they have run ads during sporting events wading into the cultural fight with . . . Continue reading →

Idea: Let’s Try Every Way But Christ’s Way

This essay was my response to an 2007 article by Nancy Morganthaler on the failure of the church growth movement (HT: Justin Taylor). It is necessarily somewhat autobiographical. My criticisms of the church growth movement are partly theoretical and partly practical, to borrow an . . . Continue reading →

Popes, Progress, And Protestant Evangelicals

When John Paul II was elected pope in 1978, some American evangelical observers of Rome referred to him as “J2P2.” About ten years later that nickname receded, an indication of a significant transition in his pontificate: this pope was becoming even more . . . Continue reading →

New Evangelism And The Megachurch

100 years ago to this very day, something important happened that dramatically changed what people have come to expect from church here in America and around the world. On January 1st, 1923, Aimee Semple McPherson opened the doors of Angelus Temple in . . . Continue reading →

What I Learned From Polycarp About Pearls, Swine, And Modern Evangelicals

In the fall semester I teach two courses on the ancient church. One is a seminar in which we read the Apostolic Fathers (a somewhat arbitrary collection of texts from the second century) as well as other important writers from the period. . . . Continue reading →

Fables, Friendship, and Living the Gospel: Why the Gospel Matters (Part 3)

The concept of “friendship evangelism” is very popular with this generation. If friendship evangelism means that Christians are to be friendly to unbelievers and preach the good news to them, then that is wonderful and should be encouraged. But all too often . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 229: On Van Til, Tats, And Evangelism

Heidelcast

This is the first-ever “best of” Heidelcast episode. The Heidelcast has been in production since 2009. Not every listener has heard every episode and for this one we brought together some of highlights from 2010 including one of Dr Clark’s all-time favorites: . . . Continue reading →

On The Limits Of Winsomeness

And I started to recognize another danger to this approach: If we assume that winsomeness will gain a favorable hearing, when Christians consistently receive heated pushback, we will be tempted to think our convictions are the problem. If winsomeness is met with . . . Continue reading →

The Next Church-Growth Fad: Big Data

One of the several quiet revolutions introduced into American life by the two Obama Administrations was the use of “Big Data” to target voters. To that point no campaign had harnessed the power of the internet the way the Obama campaign had. . . . Continue reading →

Straight Talk About Homophobia

In just a few short years the noun Homophobia has become one of the most powerful words in the English language. It has an interesting, if brief, history. It was derived from the combination of two Greek loan words brought into English, . . . Continue reading →

Mass Anesthesia: Self-Medicating Our Deconstructed Souls

Americans have always been restless. We are, after all, a nation of immigrants and once those immigrants arrived here they kept moving. The impulse to move and to keep moving is driven by dissatisfaction. Sometimes it has been dissatisfaction with the religious . . . Continue reading →

Santa Ana Reformed: New URCNA Congregation To Be Planted in Orange County California

From Peter Bell, an intern at Oceanside URC: We are planting a Reformed Church (URCNA) in Santa Ana, the city seat of Orange County. We are beginning the informational sessions and Bible studies near the end of October, with a goal (Lord . . . Continue reading →