To set the scene, I am taking a course in ethics at a prominent Catholic college (I’ll keep some details anonymous to protect the professor). Of my classmates, at least half of the class are Roman Catholic priest or members of a Catholic religious order (e.g. Society of Jesus/Jesuits).
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 MoreEven though we confess that we are saved by grace alone, it is still hard for us to grasp the truth that Almighty God is in Christ graciously disposed toward us all the time.
Read More· I am weak, but He is strong. Camp is exhausting, but God never sleeps.
· Campmeetings are sweet and wonderful and used by the Lord in unique ways, yet are no substitute for local churches through which God is carrying His mission forward in this world….
Read MoreThe American Church is commonly admonished to thank God for the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans, especially the freedom we enjoy…
Read MoreI have become accustomed to the indoctrination. Truly, I have.
Read MoreWhy are leaders always so shocked when they begin a new initiative only to discover there is “equal and opposite reaction”?
Read MoreTwo times in my adult life, I have experienced dramatic change in how I understood and practiced Christian faith. The first occurred in my early twenties with a transition away from a more emotionally based faith…
Read MoreIn articles across the web one finds titles like, “Overcoming Spiritual Inertia in Your Church,” and the like as though all inertia is bad (i.e. not changing is a good thing if “change” means compromise with the world!). Typically, only the first part of Newton is cited. Then the argument is made that the church is a ‘body at rest’ that needs us, pastors/leaders, to get it going and keep it moving. Such is most certainly…
Read MoreIf getting out of the way is of first importance to remove friction and let God’s church burst forth, our main job thereafter becomes about either speeding it up, slowing it down (for good reason), or changing its direction.
Read MoreThe commencement address for the BICS class of 2019, delivered by Steve Brown, president emeritus.
Read MoreAs the plane pierced through the clouds, we got our first look at the Mediterranean. The sun glistened off the sea and islands dotted the endless blue tapestry below us. About twenty minutes after that astonishing experience, we saw the Holy Land. I had a feeling deep down in my stomach, one that I hadn’t felt for a long time. I felt at home.
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 MoreMany holidays bear a name that on the surface clearly communicates the occasion of celebration or remembrance…And then there is “Good Friday.” Of all holidays, none seems a greater misnomer.
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).
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