A couple of years ago, a Christian man desired to make a compelling TV series based on the Gospels. His desire, as I understand it, was to write and produce a show that Christians would want to watch: clean, wholesome, and with good story telling. Fast forward to 2020 and that show is a reality.
Read MoreI became aware of the importance of having a Biblical worldview when George Barna came out with a study that showed how many people would identify themselves as “Born Again Believers.”
Read MoreFunerals are difficult occasions. There are so many emotions, difficult questions to answer, and plans to make. Although tough, funerals, memorials, and gravesides allow pastors to see a whole host of people at different levels and understandings of faith. We get to see longtime believers and how they grieve, and we get to help them grieve.
Read MoreLast year a prominent nationally known pastor advocated that Christians needed to unhitch themselves from the Old Testament. This set off a firestorm of debate online. His motivation for calling for such action was due to his passion to reach the lost for Jesus Christ and he sees the Old Testament as a hindrance to this objective. He argued that what people need to know, without getting into all the messy details of the Old Testament, is simply that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
Read MoreEditor: At the request of Eastern Regional Superintendent Greg Twitchell, ACV is sharing the resources featured below and will be publishing three forthcoming articles authored by Advent Christians.
Read MoreLaw 3: “To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction: or the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to contrary parts.” (Principia p. 83).
Law 3 (simplified): For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction in relation to different parts.
Read MoreSome characterize God’s mission in the Old Testament as only one of gathering and see God’s mission in the New Testament as only one of scattering. But there are elements of both mass and acceleration in God’s plan for His people and the nations of the world in both testaments that need to be seen.
Read MoreWhen we speak of the church as a spiritual “force” we mean to borrow from the physical world in hopes of deducing principles and perspective for the modern church[…]some churches, like the boulder, have been sitting around for a long time to the chagrin of their pastors and leaders, yet, if the Spirit can add the velocity needed, that same church could become a powerhouse for the Gospel.
Read MoreThere is something intriguing about the notion that the smallest elements of matter that make up all of life are, possibly, vibrating strings, as it would seem to imply theologically that God is then the great maestro conducting the symphony of the universe – and He cannot end without the music of existence ending too. In short, creation testifies to an active God who did not just “set it and forget it,” but who created, sustains, and holds it altogether by the active power of His will (Heb. 1:1-2:8).
Read More“Oh, you’re a Christian? Why do you hate gays? Why do you want to stop people from love?”
“Oh, you’re a Christian? Why do you hate science and reason?”
“Oh, you’re a Christian? How did Noah fit all those Dinosaurs on the Ark?”
Read MoreIn A Devil of A Dilemma: Part 1, we examined Revelation 20:10 honestly and cogently, but many were not impressed or satisfied with what we termed a sort of “modified conditional immortality view.” In truth, that is not a particularly good name since there is nothing actually modified about it per se, it merely states the main assertion of conditional immortality in plain language and follows it to its logical conclusion.
Read More“You do not know what tomorrow will bring.” As if these words in James 4:14 aren’t unsettling enough, the verse goes on to remind us of the uncertainty of our existence: “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” In other words, tomorrow…life could be drastically changed forever.
Read More“In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity,”[1] but what are the essentials? While both R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur can share a pulpit to give their differing positions on baptism (infant vs. believers baptism respectively), and speak at the same conferences, the fact remains that if R.C. Sproul were faithfully attending MacArthur’s church he still would not meet the requirements for membership and therefore could not join. While the general concept of baptism is necessary in order to be unified with the essentials o
Read MoreThe passionate, zealous, spirit of the Second Advent movement is still sought today by many in the Advent Christian denomination who pant with drought stricken desperation for the same radical demonstrations of faith as our early brethren. David Platt’s challenging call in Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream, and John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life capture the essence of this spirit many seek while avoiding the pitfalls of fanaticism and abuse.
Read MoreThe Advent season calls us to consider the promise of Jesus to come again. When asked about the time of his return, Jesus gave us all kinds of signs that we could observe in the interim between his two advents. He said there would be wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes and all kinds of things like that would happen but that we were not to get perturbed or anxious about any of them because the end was not yet. He also said the gospel will be preached to all people groups before the end would come. That is something that it would seem could possibly be completed at the rate is happening now within this generation especially with the advent of the internet. There was, however, one particular sign that he associated with his second advent and with which he gave a very strong admonition...
Read MoreEdward Fudge’s life story has been summarized, written up in detail and even made into a movie already, so the only thing that I want to say about him is what he has meant to us as Advent Christians.
Read MoreSo, all the book reviews I read are either summary and analysis types which can get too involved or interview the author types which can meander too much, but it occurred to me that it would be nice to have a Q&A review that gets to the meat and potatoes of an author’s premise and gives a taste of their core assertions. Then again, it is me writing this so it may be both too involved and too meandering! Note: Dr. Vanhoozer’s personal responses are in the last two questions if you are interested (basically the ones I could not confidently figure out on my own).
Read MoreWhen I was invited to write this paper, there was a discussion about the possibility of coming to “one mind” about any issue in the AC churches. Is this possible? We all know that if three Advent Christians have a debate, the outcome is four opinions--at least!
Read MoreWithin the context of the Reformation each sola affirms something and denies something else. The final authority of the church is sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone) rather than tradition.[1] Salvation comes sola fide (by faith alone) rather than by a combination of faith and good works,[2] as well as sola gratia (by grace alone) which excludes any and all human effort or cooperation, in solus Christus (Christ alone) as the only mediator of that grace rather than penance, sacraments, the Priests, the heavenly Saints, or Mary, all to and for soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone) rather than man.
Read MoreThe world is supposed to end on Saturday. That’s at least according to some crackpot astronomers/Biblical scholars. I do not want to give them the time of day in this space, but you can find fitting responses here and elsewhere. As Advent Christians, we are no strangers to foolhardy Biblical calculations and date-setting. After the excesses of William Miller and the subsequent “Great Disappointment”, Advent Christians know better than anyone else the futility of trying to pin down the time of Christ’s return, of which he himself said, "But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” [Mark 13:32 ESV]
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