Category Archives: church

importance of a building

Resurgence is continuing its series on Pitfalls in church planting. the latest installment reminds folks to not underestimate the importance of a permanent building. Most churches double in size the weekend they move from being mobile to a more permanent … Continue reading

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word association

Thom S. Rainer, President and CEO of Lifeway, did an experiment on Twitter regarding what people think of when they hear “southern baptist.” The admittedly unscientific results are not encouraging. here are the first few responses. Go to the link … Continue reading

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why doctrine?

via challies, here is John MacArthur talking about the importance of a sound doctrinal foundation prior to learning specific applications of scripture. Of course, practical application is vital. I don’t want to minimize its importance. But if there is a … Continue reading

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tyranny?

why use such a strong word when judges make up law and choose to favor one group over another rather than allow democratic processes to work? Keith Pavlischek at First Things quotes Nathan Diament who calls this struggle over competing … Continue reading

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dodson on everyday missionality

Eight everyday ways to be missional by Jonathan Dodson. I really like 3, 4, and 5, but they are all good. 3. Be a Regular. Instead of hopping all over the city for gas, groceries, haircuts, eating out, and coffee, … Continue reading

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consumerism

Vitamin Z is continuing to post quotes from Skye Jethani’s book The Divine Commodity. This one was especially good: “Given the extent to which American Christianity has adopted the methodology of consumerism by appealing to and rewarding desires, we shouldn’t … Continue reading

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small reminder

from Jesse Phillips “Love the Lord with all your heart, mind and strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In fact, it seems that no other admonition is repeated more in the New Testament than to love and be loving … Continue reading

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what he said

here is Mark Driscoll talking about holding truth tightly while being relevant to the culture. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WuKIxQszJw&hl=en&fs=1] Bumped up from last July, because it is still relevant. here is the page where you can download the entire message that the above … Continue reading

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data points

here are two data points on the slide we are going down. first, courtesy of Andy McCarthy, is Matthew Franck’s discussion of the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing homosexual marriage in Iowa. here is the opening, but go read it … Continue reading

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that Newsweek cover story

Newsweek has a cover story on “the End of Christian America.” here is an optimistic bit from the article: Let’s be clear: while the percentage of Christians may be shrinking, rumors of the death of Christianity are greatly exaggerated. Being … Continue reading

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original sin, part 2

about a month ago, I posted on Original Sin. Specifically, one of the leaders of the emerging church had decided that he didn’t believe this doctrine and Kevin DeYoung called him out on it with scripture. yesterday, I received this … Continue reading

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more wolf shooting

Some of you may recall Mark Driscoll’s talk at last year’s Desiring God national conference. I reviewed it briefly here and linked to it. In the talk, Mark made the point that wolves are false teachers who prey upon the … Continue reading

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wise as serpents, harmless as doves

Jesus sent his twelve disciples out by two’s in Matthew 10 to proclaim the imminence of the Kingdom of Heaven. As part of his charge to them, Jesus told them in verse 16 that he was sending them out like … Continue reading

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Fireproof

I love the way Doug Wilson writes. You cannot read him when you are half asleep or you will be completely lost. He has written a blurb review of Fireproof, the Christian marriage movie from last year. But it was … Continue reading

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pitfalls in planting

over at the Resurgence Blog (where Mark Driscoll has just posted about complementarianism) Barry Keldie is doing a series about pitfalls to be careful of when planting a church. The first two of the series have been posted. the first … Continue reading

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Dr. Mohler's take

Bryan posted a link to this article in his comment to my recent church planting post. And I wanted to make sure everybody saw both Bryan’s comment and the article. Al Mohler is discussing Fred Barnes’ article in the Wall … Continue reading

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DVR alert

A debate between Mark Driscoll and Annie Lobert against Deepak Chopra and Carlton Pearson on Satan will be on ABC’s Nightline at 11:30 p.m. ET tonight. Preview at the link. Here are 8 things that Jamie Munson of Mars Hill … Continue reading

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more on church planting

Courtesy of Vitamin Z, here are two more takes on church planting. First we have Fred Barnes’ account of being a part of a church plant from the beginning after 25 years in the “mother” church that birthed the new … Continue reading

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veggie tales

Veggie tales and the idol of “impact.” After the financial collapse of Phil‘s company Big Idea Entertainment, makers of Veggie Tales, Phil explained the belief system that had driven him to make the motion picture that caused it all: “God … Continue reading

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complementarianism

Complementarianism. Isn’t that a great word? It represents one of the most hated Biblical doctrines in our modern world. Mark Driscoll was reviled for believing in this doctrine long before he was taken to task for being too vulgar. Complementarianism … Continue reading

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Religiosity

I am often amazed at the difference between people’s perception of Jesus and the real Jesus revealed in the Bible. One of the reasons I enjoy Mark Driscoll is that he absolutely nails this distinction between popular conceptions of Jesus … Continue reading

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Parenting research

Lifeway has new research regarding the parenting and the role of faith. It is not encouraging. Just wow. The vast majority of parents hope their children grow up to live good lives, but for many, parental success does not include … Continue reading

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Why plant churches

Why should we plant more churches? aren’t there enough of them already? Don’t existing churches have room for at least a few more folks? why plant new ones when there are so many of every flavor already around? Mike McDaniel … Continue reading

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church

Mike Leuken wonders about our default approach to thinking about our church. “I am dissatisfied” was identified as a barrier to spiritual growth. Of those surveyed, 17 percent expressed some degree of dissatisfaction with their church; over half of these … Continue reading

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Psalm 51

We went to the Austin Stone yesterday. Jeff Mangum, the former pastor at Vista Community Church, was speaking at all services and we wanted to hear him again. As a surprise, Todd Agnew was there to lead the music. It … Continue reading

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