A call to a new Reformation in the teaching and life of Jesus' followers
No, that word “inclusive” does not mean what you (probably) think it means…not this time, anyway. The following has nothing to do with the gender of language, gender of leaders, sexual preference of anybody, or any of the other popular uses of the term. I have been thinking, lately, of how exclusive the choice of “worship” focus, language, and music often are. As with so … Continue reading Towards more inclusive “worship”
On her blog, Rachel Held Evans has just issued a challenge to Christian men, to respond to John Piper’s recent pontifications on God’s having given Christianity “a masculine feel.” I suppose it will come as no surprise to most of my readers that I take neither a conventional “egalitarian” nor “complementarian” approach to the issue. Rachel is absolutely right to call Piper out on this. … Continue reading Of Gender and Leadership
I’ve hinted at various times throughout this blog that I’ve got issues with authority. I’ve been far more direct about this in my comments on others’ blogs…particularly my friends Carson T. Clark and Kurt Willems. I’ve always been going to get around to a serious ecclesiology post on church leadership, and I may yet. This is not that post. Once again, I have witnessed an … Continue reading It shall not be so among you!
Those who’ve read my blog for any length of time know that I dispute the usual Evangelical/Fundamentalist doctrines of Biblical inspiration. What may have not been so clear, except by extrapolation, is what I do (and do not) propose this means when it comes to the authority-basis for Christian belief and practice. I begin with the premise (unprovable—that’s why it’s a premise—but I believe it’s … Continue reading Some of what I believe today – Biblical interpretation
A number of recent discussions I’ve had with Kurt Willems and Carson T. Clark have revolved in one way or another around questions of ecclesiology and sacraments. Today I’m taking a look at one of the most universally-acknowledged sacraments across Christendom: The Lord’s Supper, otherwise known in some circles as “the Eucharist” and in others simply as “Communion.” Churches vary widely in just how they … Continue reading In Remembrance Of Me
My good friend Kurt Willems just launched a funny post over at The Pangea Blog about reasons “You Might be an Evangelical Reject if…” I got a good giggle out of the post and many of its follow-on comments, because I certainly have found myself in the “Evangelical Reject” camp with some regularity category myself. But the post got me to thinking…what kind of church … Continue reading The Church Virtual?
Over at Nick’s Catholic Blog, Nick and I have gotten on a rabbit trail from a post he did about imputation of righteousness. The particular trail started when he commented about the possibility of the re-unification of the church, and I responded with the idea that while I’m all for believers to work, play, and worship in unity of spirit and behavior, I’m not so … Continue reading The Authority of the Catholic Church – A friendly debate
Due to an unfortunate trolling incident I have–at least for now–enabled moderation on this blog. I hope at some point to be able to relax the controls again; I wish Blogspot allowed for the kind of control WordPress has, that users can be approved to bypass moderation settings, but if they have that setting I haven’t found it yet. However, I want to stress that … Continue reading An apology and explanation
I’ve alluded to this several times in other posts, but I think I need to throw it out as a subject in its own right. An awful lot of “doctrines” that are considered by church authorities as standards for faith, even standards for who is orthodox or heterodox, stand on what I submit are fairly tenuous grounds. I’ve been thinking about this a good deal … Continue reading Standards of Truth/Doctrine/Dogma