Today’s Quote (9/14/08)

Don Whitney, Simplify Your Spiritual Life: The easiest and most direct way to experience [the] blessings of koinonia [fellowship] is just to talk with another believer about the things of God. This includes anything related to knowing God, Christian living, understanding the Bible, and applying it to particular issues such as work or family or […]

Today’s Quote (9/13/08)

Jerry Bridges, Trusting God: The Christian life is not meant to be lived privately in isolation from other believers. It is to be lived as members of the Body of Christ. God wants to use our times of adversity to deepen our relationship with other members of the Body — to create a greater sense […]

Today’s Quote (9/12/08)

William Ham: There are many things which a person can do alone, but being a Christian is not one of them. As the Christian life is, above all things, a state of union with Christ, and of union of his followers with one another, love of the brethren is inseparable from love of God. Resentment […]

Today’s Quote (9/11/08)

David Hegg, in Reforming Pastoral Ministry: Those who take pride in their independence and self-sufficiency will not come to prize a fellowship of interdependence until the myth of their independence is reformed according to the truth of Christ. The fruit of true fellowship demonstrated through mutual dependence among believers, comes only as we acknowledge our […]

Today’s Quote (9/10/08)

David Hegg, in Reforming Pastoral Ministry: Fellowship among believers is the fruit of fellowship with Christ. To produce the first, you must fertilize the second. What elevates true fellowship far above what the world would call friendship and belonging is simply this: Our relationship with fellow believers is a demonstration of our union with Christ, […]

Today’s Quote (9/9/09)

David Hegg, in Reforming Pastoral Ministry: Fellowship is a mutual participation in a common life that gives rise to shared enjoyment and responsibility.…The relationship that exists between believers is one of shared life, not merely the sharing of the things that fill our lives. To be sure, this relationship of interdependence, of interlocking lives, necessarily […]

A woman in the White House but not in the pulpit?

Apparently, the selection of Sarah Palin by John McCain has triggered a number of questions and accusations against evangelicals. The debate is essentially over this question: “Evangelicals are willing to have a woman serve in the White House, but not as the pastor of a church? Isn’t that just a little inconsistent?” In light of […]

Women in the pulpit

This morning I listened to the Jackie Roese’s (pronounced “Reese”) sermon, “Fight for the Heart of Our King” at Irving Bible Church this weekend. This was the much-discussed event in which a woman was allowed to preach at this church which has long been opposed to such an event. [Aside: I also found on the […]

Rick Warren and the Presidential candidates

On August 16, Rick Warren and Saddleback Church hosted a pair of one-hour interviews with each of the Presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama. If you missed it, you can still see the video, or read a transcript. Additionally, the answers of each question by the candidates have been placed side-by-side for an easy […]

What’s wrong with the (American) church?, Pt. 2

This morning I posted my comments on “What’s wrong with the (American) church?” My comments were posted before I saw the morning newspaper and before I was greeted by this headline as I prepared my breakfast: “Woman’s turn in pulpit at Irving Bible Church brings buzz, beefs.” When I saw the headline, I stared in […]

What’s wrong with the (American) church?

What’s wrong with the American church? For all the good that God has seen fit to do through us, as I look at the landscape of churches around me, I tend to be more sad than glad. I guess I’m not the only one. In a recent blog post, John Piper interacts with an article […]

The Decline of Evangelicalism

Yesterday, Christine Wicker wrote an interesting piece published in the Dallas Morning News entitled, “The Great Evangelical Decline. The basic theme of the piece is that evangelicals are not as prominent in America as published reports indicated (i.e., there aren’t really as many believers in America as most people suppose). That’s something I’ve been suggesting […]

Sunday Leftovers (3/18/07)

While Scripture has a high view of Scripture, the goal of acquiring knowledge of Scripture, meditating on Scripture and listening to sermons is not the mere accumulation of more knowledge. The goal of Biblical instruction is not just more knowledge. Rather, true Biblical instruction and knowledge will culminate in people and in a church that […]

Church is important (imagine that)

From Mark Dever (The Deliberate Church): While our individual walks are crucial, we are impoverished in our personal pursuit of God if we do not avial ourselves of the help that is avaiable through mutually edifying relationships in our covenant church family (Eph. 4:15-16; Heb. 10:24-25). …the corporate life of the congregation should be central […]