Some final thoughts—for now. First, some who read this series might respond that I rely too heavily on the Book of Acts and that today’s church should not be based on the model of the churches in Acts. In one sense they are correct—some of what we see in Acts reflects culture and historical specifics [...]
Archive for the ‘*Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church’ Category
Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church–Wrap-up
Posted in *Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church on May 27, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church, Part 5
Posted in *Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church, Uncategorized on May 21, 2008 | 4 Comments »
The final observation is this: A biblically consistent church is more identified by and with the Person and work of Jesus Christ, rather than the personality and work of its pastor. I know this may seem extreme, but consider our current situation in Western evangelicalism. Stop and think of a prominent church—any church—now, can you separate [...]
Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church, Part 4c
Posted in *Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church on May 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In the last blog, I finished with the following question: “So, despite the fact that this was not the pattern or strategy of the church in the New Testament, is there anything “wrong” or inconsistent with using the Sunday morning corporate gathering as the primary means of reaching the community with the Gospel?”
The problem with that [...]
Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church, Part 4b
Posted in *Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church on May 9, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Continuing with the observation that a biblically consistent church focuses more time, energy, and financial resources on taking the Gospel out into the community and training its members to “go” than on getting the lost to “come” to a worship service to hear the Gospel.
As I mentioned in the last blog, there is a dominant [...]
Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church, Part 4a
Posted in *Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church on May 8, 2008 | 4 Comments »
The next observation is that a biblically consistent church focuses more time, energy, and financial resources on taking the Gospel out into the community and training its members to “go” than on getting the lost to “come” to a worship service to hear the Gospel.
Over the last 100 years, the notion has become popular [...]
Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church, Part 3
Posted in *Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church on May 1, 2008 | 2 Comments »
The third observation is that a biblically consistent church is absolutely committed to the singular objective of making disciples.
Many churches function as if the primary objective is to attract the lost to the Sunday morning service or to get people baptized. Problem is, that was not the Lord’s primary command.
Many of us memorized the “Great [...]
Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church, Part 2
Posted in *Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church on April 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The second observation is that a biblically consistent church is motivated—it is absolutely driven—first and foremost by the radical, life-changing reality and impact of the gospel.
At first glance, this may seem ridiculously obvious, but stop and consider what seems to motivate many of our churches.
Some churches seem to be driven by a desire to grow, some [...]
Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church, Part 1
Posted in *Observations on a Biblically Consistent Church on April 15, 2008 | 1 Comment »
As I search the New Testament for characteristics of a Bible-based church, several points jump out.
First, it is focused on the overarching purpose of glorifying God. The clearest support for this is in Ephesians 1: 3-14 where we find the emphasis three times in conjunction with our salvation: we were chosen in eternity past by God [...]
