Pilgrim Platform

Halfway Covenant

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 (1649), which stated: The doors of Christ’s churches on earth...

Church Growth

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. — John 17:22 The phrase “Give glory to God” (Jos 7:19, Jer 13:16) is a Hebrew idiom meaning, “Confess your sins.” The words of the Jews to the blind man, “Give God the...

Church Growth 2

“Church Growth” has become the byword for evangelism everywhere today. The Church Growth model is almost universally applied, regardless of theology or denomination. All church activity is measured in Church Growth categories. The Church Growth model for evangelism involves the application of secular business practices to the church. We see an emphasis upon the...

Friend of Foe? The most successful advocate of Arminianism in America was not Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609), but Charles Finney (1792-1875). Because The Works of Arminius (Baker Book House, reprinted 1996) are highly intellectual and academic — bordering on the arcane, few people have (or will) read them. Arminius, a young boy when Calvin died,...

Feminine Mystique

I grew up and was educated during the blossom of the feminine spirit. My years in seminary witnessed a vicious attack on everything masculine — including pronouns! Ordinary sentence structure was convoluted beyond common sense and the basic rules of English grammar collapsed in the wake. The gender of one’s pronouns trumped the value...

Fallicies

of Contemporary Churches Have you noticed some things about churches that seem to be out of sync with the Bible? Send us a description. We’re compiling a list. Christmas is not a biblical “holy day.” I intentionally misspelled the word to illustrate the point that holidays are actually holy days. “In Scandinavia, the great...

Emergence

Fads have become the engines that drive culture in the 21st Century. Corporations chase fads in order to profit from them in various ways. Corporations also create fads as a means of marketing their products. The ideal marketing program is the establishment of a cult following such as Harley Davidson has done in the...

Definitions

What do we do when the meaning of something is disputed? “…if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3). Our world is currently in the midst of revolution, a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving. The news is filled with stories about how different things are...

Congregationalism

A Brief History of Congregationalism ©1998 Phillip A. Ross Renewal is often the rekindling of a former glory, and the former success of Congregationalism was indeed great. Yet, history does not travel backwards. The majority of contemporary Congregational church members are not from Congregational backgrounds. Even so, most Congregationalists themselves do not know about...

What Is A Church

The church is not a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. The IRS does not define a church, God does. The church is the people of God. The church exists in and through Jesus Christ, and so is a distinctive New Testament reality. At the same time it is continuous with Israel, the seed of Abraham and...

What Is A Christian?

What makes a person Christian? It sounds like a simple question, but it has been complicated by sin and history. Jesus’ first sermon set the standard — “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Clearly, Christians are repentant people. Repentance is the primary response to the gospel and includes the...

Part 2 If you have not read Part 1, please do so first. It sounds like a simple question, but it has been complicated by sin and history. The first and most inclusive definition of a Christian is a person who has confessed Jesus Christ as Lord (John 11:25-27 — Do not neglect reading...

Statement of Faith

This statement of faith is an effort to summarize and capsulize our understanding of the essential principles that Scripture teaches. So, it is more a function of the biblical narrative than of prooftexting. All such statements at some level will be inadequate to their mission. Thank God that salvation is not a matter of...

Trinitarian Baptism

Calvinism & Arminianism

Calvinism and Arminianism have offered rival biblical and theological interpretations for millennia. Both cannot be faithful to Scripture because they are mutually exclusive. It is our understanding that Calvinism trumps Arminianism in every measure as the more faithful interpretation of Scripture. The following chart sets out the fundamental differences. Arminianism Calvinism Free-Will or Human...

Agape

The Greek word agape is usually translated as love in the new translations of the Bible, but the old King James version, as well as the Modern King James Version, translates it as charity. Three-fourths of the time that the word love is used in the Bible, it is the Greek agape (or the...

Christianity in China

Official Chinese surveys now show that nearly one in three Chinese describe themselves as religious, an astonishing figure for an officially atheist country, where religion was banned until three decades ago.

God’s Promises

"...because God's promises pertain to those who agree to live in obedience to God's will and to those who do not, it pertains to everyone alive."

Apostolic Baptism – Introduction

If the church is going to get beyond the baptism wars, the whole issue must be reframed. The best minds have gone round and round about credo (believer’s) baptism versus paedo (infant) baptism to the point that we must remember that insanity is defined as doing the same and hoping for a different result....

Infant Baptism Reloaded

Why baptize babies? Of course, we all know that there is one category for church members (saved) and one category for others (lost). Understand that this categorization is based on God’s membership roles, and we don’t have access to them (other than local church elders exercising fruit inspection). Being a member of God’s church...

Gulf Crisis & God's Judgment

Perhaps the Lord has decided to treat us according to Romans 1, as if He is saying, Okay. Since you are lusting for oil and money I will give you up “in the lusts of (your) hearts to impurity” (Romans 1:24). In our lust for oil and money, we are now drowning in oil...

Foreword to Colossians — Christos Singularis

The Apostle, Paul, wrote letters to seven churches in the Roman World. He discussed a wide range of issues, including theology, personal relations, family relations, being a church, living the Christian life and recognizing and avoiding heresy. He has made such a mark on Christianity that it is hard to conceive what Christendom would...

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Halfway Covenant

Church Growth

Church Growth 2

Charles Finney

Feminine Mystique

Fallicies

Emergence

Definitions

Congregationalism

What Is A Church

What Is A Christian?

What Is A Christian – Part 2

Statement of Faith

Trinitarian Baptism

Calvinism & Arminianism

Agape

Christianity in China

God’s Promises

Apostolic Baptism – Introduction

Infant Baptism Reloaded

Gulf Crisis & God's Judgment

Foreword to Colossians — Christos Singularis

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Infant Baptism Reloaded

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