As I argued at the WSC faculty conference “Missional and Reformed” the Reformed Churches have a sense of “mission.” We haven’t always been faithful to it and the Reformed understanding of the church’s mission is not that of the “missional” movement, especially . . . Continue reading →
every member ministry
Missional Monday: Who Has the Keys?
There were a lot of questions we didn’t have time to answer at the Missional and Reformed conference. I don’t know if I am able to answer them all but here’s another: “Does the individual Christian witness in the world participate in . . . Continue reading →
Does Acts 8 Provide a Warrant for Every Member Evangelism?
An HB Classic
During his recent excellent interview with Darryl Hart, Mark Dever made reference to Acts 8 in regard to every-member evangelism (EME). The question of the nature of evangelism is a popular one on the HB. I’ve addressed the problem of hyping the great . . . Continue reading →
Ministers All?
The uniqueness and centrality of the official preaching of the Word is diminished when we equivocate between the official, public, ordained administration of the Word and the unofficial witness to the gospel by the laity. The tendency among evangelical is to describe all . . . Continue reading →
A Seventh-Century Opinion On Every-Member Ministry
It does not befit a layman to dispute or teach publicly, thus claiming for himself authority to teach, but he should yield to the order appointed by the Lord, and to open his ears to those who have received the grace to . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 84: The Indispensability Of Preaching
In evangelical Christianity, to some degree after the so-called First Great Awakening and certainly after the so-called Second Great Awakening, the line between lay witness and the official (done from a particular ecclesiastical office) of preaching became blurred. The Reformed theologians who . . . Continue reading →
Hodge On Every-Member Ministry (Ephesians 4:12)
V. 12. Having mentioned the officers Christ gave his church, the apostle states the end for which this gift was conferred—it was πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων, εἰς ἔργον διακονίας, εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, for the perfecting of the saints, . . . Continue reading →
Jackson, “Unto” And “Toward” In Ephesians 4:11–12, And Every Member Ministry
American evangelical Christianity has both influenced and been influenced by shifts in American culture since before the founding of the Republic. One of the shifts, which has had lasting effects, was the turn toward a more radically democratic turn in politics at . . . Continue reading →
Who is Permitted to Read the Word Publicly to the Congregation in the PCA?
It is somewhat surprising, though, that we often do not consider this question of the public reading of Scripture in the light of a wider understanding of the biblical nature of authority in the church, as set down in the Preliminary Principles . . . Continue reading →