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…
Tag: Christianity
Interpretation
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…
Orthodoxy
Below is a graphic depiction of how various models of church leadership are related and how they can err.
Christian Marriage
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…
Informality
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…
Knowing God
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…
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…
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…
Charles Finney
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,…
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…