shepherding God's people by the ordinary means of grace
“When the church fails to [speak the gospel], it fails to say the thing that it alone is capable of saying.” Fleming Rutledge’s book Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ aims to put death back at the center of the Christian faith. Not death in general, but the death of Christ. According to Rutledge, any…
The solas are not isolated doctrines; they are theological insights into the ontology, epistemology, and teleology of the gospel. Kevin Vanhoozer, Biblical Authority after Babel, 28 You may be familiar with the “five solas” of the Reformation–the “alone” affirmations, if you will. They are sometimes described as the rallying cry of Protestants in their fight…
If we, as a denomination, are going to move forward then it is necessary that we have the integrity to name what we believe and to stop hiding behind ambiguous language. If you’re a universalist then be one, openly. If you believe in definite redemption–say so. Trust cannot exist where there is always some suspicion that we’re not telling the truth or that we’re playing games with our theology to suite the crowd we’re in front of.
No visible Church has any right to say, “We are the only true Church. We are the men, and truth shall die with us.” No visible Church should ever dare to say, “We shall stand forever. The gates of hell will not overcome us.” This is that Church to which belong the Lord’s precious promises…
The nation’s largest churches are now churches that meet across several sites. Some criticize the practice. Is there merit in their objections?