When Luke records in Acts 2:47 that "the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved," the "number" in view was not an ambiguous reference. The fulfilling of the Great Commission means adding to the church, the body of Christ, the great number of saints, the people of God whom […]
Wherever tensions flare up in the world between nations, it is usually the embassies of both nations that feel the brunt. For example, the U.S. embassy in any part of the world is actually considered U.S. territory: an island in a foreign country. There citizens under threat find shelter and from it diplomats receive and […]
There prevails within visible Christendom today a remarkable indifference toward the public ministry. Some congregations intentionally go years without a called pastor, simply because they find it cheaper to line up weekly pulpit supply. Fewer and fewer Christian parents encourage their sons to consider entering the ministry, a fact reflected in the declining rates of […]
In Scripture all of God's people are presented as priests, living stones being built into a holy sanctuary. Yet not all of the covenant people are ministers. All are sheep, but not all are shepherds under the Great Shepherd (as Paul especially argues in 1 Cor. 11 and 12). There are different gifts and different […]
Even the least traveled among us understands that there are such things as cultural "no-nos" that one would be wise to avoid. Wearing a Los Angeles Lakers jersey in South Boston would be one example (albeit a commendable and heroic one to be sure). In the world of American evangelicalism, one of the most offensive […]
Have you ever heard someone say that they don't need to go to church on Sunday because they are going to have "porch church"? That's when you manage to wake up on Sunday morning but only shuffle in your slippers to the couch or rocking chair on the porch to stream a sermon on the […]
What is the theological equivalent for the conundrum about the tree that falls in the woods without a hearer? What happens when a theological bomb is detonated but no one seems to notice? Is it still a bomb? Is it still destructive? Re-Thinking Missions, a book published in 1932 just when it seemed the fundamentalist […]
While vacationing in Hawaii for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, my husband and I worshipped with a local church. The pastor biblically unpacked Acts 7, the story of Stephen. When the pastor described the stoning of Stephen, there was a collective gasp in the room. It was an electrifying moment when we realized that many in […]
Catechism Training Hearts, Teaching Minds: Family Devotions Based on the Shorter Catechism by Starr Meade (P&R Publishing, 2000). Family devotions based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism.Catechism for Young Children (Christian Education and Publications; www.cepbookstore.com). Excellent start for very young children.Firm in the Faith: A Fifty-Two-Week Study Based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism by Dennis D. […]
“It is obvious that the story of the empty tomb cannot be fitted into our contemporary worldview, or indeed into any worldview except one of which it is the starting point.” (1) This is one truth that British theologian and missionary Lesslie Newbigin (1909-98) emphasized in many ways. The statement might well be called the […]
In his book SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World, Douglas Estes gets defensive about an accusation that no one seems to be leveling. I, for one, was only peripherally aware of the "virtual world" before picking up Estes' book. As a member of the clergy, I didn't really know that there were virtual […]
Dr. Clowney (1917-2005), the former president of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and founding president of Westminster Seminary in California, was a major figure in the growth of Reformed theology in the second half of the twentieth century. He was the author of numerous books, including The Church (IVP). This White Horse Inn interview was […]
Firmly ensconced within the genre indicative of the "Complete Idiot's Guide" series, Lutheranism 101 is the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's version of a quick, usable, comprehensive, and concise primer. With contributions from nearly forty different LCMS theologians, pastors, and authors, the range of this succinct guide spans the full scope of Lutheran theological convictions, liturgical commitments, […]
As I am new church planter in Minneapolis, Daniel Hyde's Welcome to a Reformed Church is the first book I reach for on my shelf. Many of our visitors are new to Reformed theology, and Welcome to a Reformed Church is a tool we will use for discipleship in Bible studies and new members classes. […]
In the twenty-first century, as globalization continues to draw people of different religions into closer and closer proximity, it is good to be reminded that for much of our history, Christians were engaged in intense and fruitful dialogue’whether by choice or necessity’with adherents of other religions. Indeed, the apostle Peter enjoined the nascent first-century church […]
