Two years after the Council of Nicaea in the year 325, Macrina the Younger was born. She—as Coleman Michael Ford has pointed out— lived between two worlds. One world was the age of Christian persecution by the likes of emperor Diocletian and others. For many Christians in the three centuries before Macrina’s birth, persecution leading […]
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Meditation: Worship as Remembering Our Place
“The captain has turned off the seat belt sign.” My wife and children are at home, but I am not. The conference has been long, the flight has been delayed, it is late, and I am longing to see the lights of Louisville. Sparkling crystals of light unfurl beneath me, not evenly scattered across the […]
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Writing: If You Want to Remember It, Write It By Hand
Words and writing matter. In the opening chapter of the Scriptures, God speaks, and a cosmos bursts into being (Genesis 1:3). When he constitutes Israel as his people, God speaks and writes, and a covenant is born (Exodus 31:18). John described the incarnation of God in Christ by declaring, “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14).
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Apologetics: How Can the Bible be Inerrant if Copyists Made Mistakes?
How can the Bible be inerrant if there are variations among the manuscripts and even between different accounts of the same events? That’s the question we’ll explore together in this post. How Can We Have the Word of God If Some of the Words Are Different? I slumped in an unpadded pew, half-listening to the morning […]
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Family Ministry: When and Why Did Weekly Children’s Classes Begin in Churches? (Part Three)
This research into the history of age-organized catechetical classes in the church is based on an academic paper that I presented to the practical theology section of the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 16, 2017. This post is the third in a three-part series. Click here for […]
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Family Ministry: When and Why Did Weekly Children’s Classes Begin in Churches? (Part Two)
This research into the history of age-organized ministries in the church is based on an academic paper that I presented to the practical theology section of the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 16, 2017. This post is the second in a three-part series. Click here for Part […]
[Read More...]Family Ministry: When and Why Did Weekly Children’s Classes Begin in Churches? (Part One)
When did age-organized ministries for children begin? If you thought children’s classes didn’t begin until the introduction of Sunday School, you have a lot to learn!
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Apologetics: New Heresies Are Rarely New
At least once or twice every year—usually around Christmas and Easter—popular magazines and blogs seem to go out of their way to locate some shocking fact that supposedly debunks what Christians believe about Jesus. In most cases, these supposedly-shocking data are recycled from one of the many failed quests for the historical Jesus that have ebbed and […]
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Church History: Martin Luther and the Ninety-Five Theses
On October 31, 1517, a monk and professor named Martin Luther sent a document entitled Disputatio Pro Declaratione Virtutis Indulgentiarum to the archbishop of Mainz. This Disputatio consisted of ninety-five theses for theological debate. Perhaps on October 31 or more probably a week or two later, Luther hammered the theses to the door of All Saints’ Church […]
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Sermon: The Cycle That Only A Cross Could End
“If only I could see God do something amazing, then it would be easier to follow him.” Has that thought ever occurred to you? It’s certainly crossed my mind from time to time! And yet, what we learn throughout the Scriptures is that, even when people did see God do something amazing, faithfulness wasn’t any […]
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History: How We Got the Bible in Six Minutes or Less
I need your help! Here’s the challenge: I’m working on a video that summarizes the history of the Bible in six minutes. Below, I’ve posted the script so far—and I’d be interested to know what you think needs to be included and what might be left out. The narration for the video is already six […]
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Leadership: Why Are Leaders Needed if All God’s People Are Priests?
“Everyone in the entire community is holy, and the LORD is among them!” That’s what a band of rebels from the tribes of Reuben and Levi declared when they revolted against Moses and Aaron before going on to demand, “Why then do you exalt yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?” (Numbers 16:3). The rebels were consumed […]
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Church History: Leadership Wisdom from Ignatius of Loyola
Íñigo López de Loyola—better known to us as Ignatius of Loyola*—passed from this life on July 31, 1556. He was a Spanish priest and a leader in the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation. Roman Catholics have celebrated July 31 as his feast day since the seventeenth century. As a Protestant, I may not celebrate the feast day of […]
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Church History: Rome Burned But Nero Never Fiddled
This week, in the year AD 64, a fire began in the city of Rome that changed the course of history. The fire raged six days before being brought under control. When the smoke cleared on July 23, seven of Rome’s fourteen districts had been partly destroyed and three districts were completely obliterated. Then came […]
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Church History: Macrina and the Supreme Authority of Scripture
Two years after the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, Macrina the Younger was born. She—as Coleman Michael Ford has pointed out— lived between two worlds. One world was the age of Christian persecution by the likes of emperor Diocletian and others. For many Christians in the three centuries before Macrina’s birth, persecution leading to […]
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Apologetics: How the Obscenity of the Crucifixion Supports the Truth of the Gospel
With few exceptions, even the most skeptical scholars admit that Jesus was crucified—and with good reason. Not only the authors of the New Testament but also later Christian writers, the Roman historian Tacitus, and quite likely the Jewish historian Josephus mention the crucifixion of Jesus. And it’s highly unlikely that first-century Christians would have fabricated […]
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Family Ministry: DiscipleGuide Church Leaders Cruise
Interested in apologetics and family ministry? If so, then you’re likely to be interested in this upcoming conference. God willing, I will be part of an experience in January 2018 that will bring together apologetics and family ministry in a way that will equip you and your church’s staff for far more effective future ministry.
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Leadership: What Does It Mean to Be Christ’s Body?
In a grove of trees south of the city of Corinth stood the Asklepion, an ancient temple dedicated to the god of healing (pictured above). Every year, thousands of women and men made pilgrimages to this temple to seek relief for their bodies. Worshipers who believed that they received healing in this place left behind […]
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Church History: The True Story of Joan of Arc
On May 30, 1431, Jeanne D’Arc—more commonly known to us as “Joan of Arc”—was tied to a pillar in the village of Rouen and burned to death. Nearly everyone has heard of Joan’s unjust execution—but who was this young woman, really? According to a recent survey, one out of every eight Americans thought that Joan […]
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Family Ministry: The Discipline of Generational Diversity (Part 2)
This post on intergenerational diversity in the church is the second part of a two-part series. Click here for the first post in the series. A Model for Movement toward the Discipline of Generational Diversity If you look at your church and glimpse a lack of intergenerational ministry, it may seem at first as if […]
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