This review was originally published in the Fall, 2009, Midwestern Journal of Theology. Why Johnny Can’t Preach. By T. David Gordon. New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2009, 108 pp., $9.99 on Amazon. Dr. Gordon was diagnosed with stage III cancer. Uncertain of how long he had left to live, he wrote what he thought could be …
Category Archives: Church
We can love loving God more than we actually love God
Here is an irony: We can love arguing for God while neglecting a love of God. We can love thinking about God more than loving God himself. We can love the emotion of worship at the cost of loving God. We can love perfected theology more than we care for the Creator. We can love …
Suffering Exists Because Worship Doesn’t
Suffering exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not suffering, because God is ultimate, not our pain. When this present evil age is over, and the resurrected in Christ inherit the restored creation, their suffering will end. But worship abides forever. John Piper, in his book, Let the Nations be Glad, says the same thing …
Part 2: Church Discipline vs. Responsibility in Relationships
In Part 1, Church Discipline vs. Responsibility in Relationships, I suggested that churches would do well to trade the language of church discipline for the more accurate and helpful responsibility in relationships. A good friend then responded with an interesting issue, basically saying, “Church Discipline is what it should be called. Remember 1 Corinthians 5 …
Tuesday Night Hebrew — New Class: June 22nd, 2010
Read the Old Testament book of Ruth in Hebrew. No Experience Required. This new class starts June 22nd, 2010. Pastors: Please consider setting aside some time on Tuesday nights to prepare a sermon series on Ruth. This course is for pastors, but it is also for anyone who loves Christ and his Word. This is …
Ten Significant Events in Christian History Since 100 AD
What if you had to pick ten singular events that are most definitive for Church/Christian history? And to keep it interesting, what if Event is taken in the most narrow sense to mean an exact moment (and not an epoch or period)? Ten such events are given here. If you can think of more (or …
Part 1: Church Discipline vs. Responsibility in Relationships
Church Discipline is not a phrase in the Bible. The Bible speaks of discipline in the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 12:6), but there we find that it is God who does it. God disciplines the ones he loves. With that verse in mind, I am proposing that the church does not do what God does. …
Covenantal and Reformed
When Eastside Church of the Cross updates the marquee, I like to give further definition as to the meaning of the message. The new message on the sign identifies us as “Covenantal & Reformed.”
It is profoundly Christ-like to be non-significant
Edward Leach wrote, “THE AGGRESSIVE WORK”, in the June 1869, Sword and Trowel. Speaking of pastors who worked in the small English villages, he wrote this: The difficulties are disheartening. The disappointments are heart-breaking. By so much the more then are the courage, faith, patience, and perseverance praiseworthy.
Costly Worship
If meeting with Christians for regular Biblical worship meant you might possibly get persecuted and killed (not certainly, but possibly), would you join in such worship? If worship meant persecution, would you still gather with God’s people to praise Jesus?
2nd Temple Judaism and the New Perspective
In an effort to help visitors understand the theology of Eastside Church of the Cross, it is helpful to expound upon the meaning of what is written on our church sign (the marquee near the main road). Often, our sign communicates something of our identity which requires elaboration. Today, I want to explain the phrase:
Nativity Statues of Jesus
Christ our King is in enthroned in Heaven. Jesus is God. Though we cannot see him, he reigns. If we make little carved statues of him, is that like making wooden idols? What does the nativity have to do with this commandment from Exodus 20:4: You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or …
Remove the bands, and many churches will empty
Most worship is false precisely because it is relevant.
The Trail of Blood
I was recently given a famous book called The Trail of Blood. For me, it was a book that only belonged to folklore. I heard of it, but I never met one. I knew about it, and I knew people followed it, but I had never seen one. I thought I had to belong to …
How a church can have a modern reformation and be truly emergent
Preach and Enjoy Christ. Really. Every sermon. Stop preaching all the other stuff. And remove any and all leadership that does not see why this ought to be. Done. Will you see success? This is wonderful and liberating success! Anything less is pretend church or invented happiness. And everything less is boring!
Images of God used in Worship
Do the following words have any relationship to using pictures of Jesus in churches? Exodus 20:4-5. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to …
Downloadable Truth… Is it Healthy?
The preaching of Jesus is a chief treasure of all real churches (Acts 5:42; Rom 1:15; Eph 4:11; 1 Cor 1:17; 1 Cor 1:21; 1 Cor 9:18; 1 Cor 15:2; 2 Tim 4:2; Titus 1:3; 1 Peter 1:25; etc.). Jesus wants a Church where he is preached faithfully, and he wants his people gathered to …
The Religious Culture of Personality Cults and Mega-Everything
Carl Trueman makes two points I want to pass along. 1) In certain sectors of American Christianity, the ideal of a church is rooted in a craving for a prolific Mega-Theologian-Author and 2) The desire for mega-leaders, mega-movements, and mega-everything is not innocent, and may be outright devilish.
A Southern Baptist Church with Elder Rule (Part Two)
In Part One I pointed to resources that argue for only one kind of elder in the New Testament. This is in contrast to most Presbyterian and Reformed churches where the Bible is read to indicate that there are two kinds of elders — ruling elders and teaching elders. The ruling elders are often lay-elders …
A Reply to Jeannie Taylor on Changing Church Names
Ethics Daily published published a shorter version of this. I am the pastor of Eastside church of the Cross in Louisburg, Kansas. We were formerly named Louisburg Southern Baptist Church. In a recent article, Brand New Packaging, author Jeannie Babb Taylor ponders the motive behind name changes in the Southern Baptist Convention; she uses our …
New Testament Elders (Part One)
This is part one of a series on this subject. Click here for Part Two Churches have deacons. The position of deacon is an “office” (as it were) in the church. That seems easy enough to see from the New Testament (check out Acts, 1 Timothy and Titus). Churches also have pastors. The office of …
What is a Christian Sermon?
Originally published in the Wed, Oct 10th, 2007 Louisburg Herald. What is a Christian Sermon? I have a challenge for you. The next time you hear a sermon, listen to determine if Jesus is actually explained. Count how often the minister explains Jesus. Pay careful attention, for mentioning Jesus is not the same as explaining …