My readers may be interested in the article: Must Christian life involve religion? by Shirley Lancaster. “We need to rediscover spirituality as an interior journey and this will involve new institutional forms.” I have commented extensively on it.
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In the recent headlines are the 10 Medical Aid Workers in Afghanistan who were killed by Taliban insurgents. According to the director of IAM, Dirk Frans, the Taliban murdered ten people execution-style for their Christianity. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed claimed responsibility for the attack,...
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The definition of terms always determines the shape and conclusion of an argument, case, statement, or policy, assuming that it unfolds logically. Thus, the definition of marriage is the central concern in the debate about so-called gay marriage. However, as soon as the issue...
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The name of C.I. Scofield is not usually associated with liberalism, yet Scofield’s roots lie at the heart of the post 1865 Congregationalism where Charles Finney made his home. Finney’s Congregationalism promoted a doctrine of polar opposites, as previously indicated (See Charles Finney). Fruit...
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Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. —Jeremiah 31:19 “We hence learn how blind the Papists are,...
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The Reforming Synod of 1679-80 attempted to address the spiritual downgrade that occurred in the churches following the Half-Way Covenant debacle. Pastors and people began to believe that they were undergoing divine judgment as a result of the increasing faithlessness in the churches. “The...
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Principles of Biblical Interpretation Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics The “Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy” was produced at an international Summit Conference of evangelical leaders, held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago in the fall of 1978. This congress was sponsored by the...
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The Practice of Christianity in the Local Church The practice of Christianity apart from a proper theological foundation, firmly rooted in the Word of God written, builds on uncertain ground. The success of Christ’s Church depends upon the clear, explicit articulation of the historic...
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written in 1994 One of the early casualties of the war with Iraq is the idea that perception is reality, or that perception shapes reality. This idea has been popular in a variety of circles. It was early in April, before Baghdad fell, that...
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Paedobaptism & Paedocommunion What follows is a discussion on the Reformed Congregationalist List about padeobaptism (infant baptism) and credobaptism (believers’ baptism), which brought up paedocommunion during the month of October, 2003. The following is a reconstruction of that conversation with corrections of spelling, etc....
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Below is a graphic depiction of how various models of church leadership are related and how they can err.
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The restoration of the English King, Charles II, in 1660 brought back into power all those spiritual influences which the Puritans had stood against prior to the English Civil War. Episcopacy (rule of the church by the clergy), compulsory liturgy, and uniformity in worship...
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Thinking About Marriage… The first thing that you should notice is that the above word is marriage and not wedding. The deepest concern of the church is for your marriage. Sure, you should have a nice wedding, but more important is the stability and...
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The concern here is not the noun issues, but the verb. The action of issuing suggests going, coming, or flowing out. Synonyms are egress and emergence. Think of issuing orders. Think of one’s children as one’s issue. To get at the root meaning of...
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Informal Christianity What it isn’t… It is not a church, but is the personal, internal, subjective faith that identifies church members as belonging to Jesus Christ. It is not formless, but conforms to the biblical reality described in Scripture. Its discipline is not strict...
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Knowing God It takes one to know one. I can identify another regenerate person because I know what God’s Holy Spirit has done to me. I know how He has changed me, so I can recognize similar changes in other people. But if a...
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The story of the Bible is the story of God’s work in the world. It is His (God’s) story, that is the fundamental and original understanding of history. It is only in the post-Enlightenment, modern, secular, humanistic world that God has been written out...
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Half-Asked Questions, Half Assessed Answers Classical Congregationalism had barely been hatched when its demise began. Expectations for church membership had always been strict among Congregational churches, in keeping with Christ’s demands upon the faithful. The high-water mark had been set by the Cambridge Declaration...
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