Richard Ousworth has published a fine piece called What Are They Saying about the Letter to the Hebrews? (.pdf). Much of it is a review of Alan Mitchell’s recent commentary in the Sacra Pagina series. As someone who has published a number of essays on Hebrews, I was interested in this quote about authorship: Let [...]
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New Book: Except for Fornication
1:58 PM This week I completed the editing of what I believe may well become one of the most important and helpful books ever to have been written on the difficult subject of Christian marriage and divorce. The book is entitled Except for Fornication: The Teaching of the Lord Jesus on Divorce and Remarriage. From [...]
Equipping is not Delegating
7:55 AM Equipping is not delegating. Think about it. Pastors who think they are equipping may only be delegating. They enlist the help of other members but only to assist them do their own ministry. They focus their training not on lay ministers but on pastors-in-the-making. (Think pastoral internships.) They regularly express from the pulpit [...]
On Church Offices
8:03 PM Evening, blog peeps! Here are a few takeaways I had today from our discussion of Phil. 1:1-2: 1) The opening salutation is a window into Paul’s view of leadership in the church. Leadership is always shared. Paul’s ministry was a “co-worker” ministry! Note: “Paul and Timothy”; “overseers and deacons.” Clearly, Paul taught and [...]
6:02 AM Off to “regions beyond” (2 Cor. 10:16). Why? I’ve discovered that upward mobility is a downer. I’m haunted by the idea that God can take average everyday people like me and use them for His purposes. There was nothing special about the 70 whom Jesus sent out two by two. And I imagine [...]
On Social Action and the Gospel
12:16 PM Alan Knox, in an outstanding blog post called There was not a needy person among them, reminds us how important mutual care was in the early church. He writes: When a new brother or sister was in need, someone took care of that need from their own property. When someone was hungry, that [...]
A Legacy of the Greatest Generation
From Dave Black Online: 9:18 AMOn this, the 67th anniversary of D-Day (our invasion of Nazi-occupied France), I can’t help but reflect on World War II. My parents’ generation has been called “The Greatest Generation” because they fought the Nazis and mobilized for the Cold War. What we forget is the fiscal burden they placed [...]
Vocation to Ministry?
From Dave Black Online: 10:36 AM I have a question today, a question to which I do not know the answer. When will appeals for vocations to the ministry end? And when, in their place, will the church encourage all of its members to seek God’s will for the area of ministry in which they [...]
Celebrating Communion Weekly
1:58 PM Today in the gathering brother Joel taught about the memorial significance of the Lord’s Supper and suggested that perhaps — just perhaps — our church should observe the Supper on a weekly basis. It’s my opinion that a strong case can be made from the Scriptures for a weekly observance, and indeed a [...]
Life is Too Short to Live for Temporal Dreams
6:44 PM Lloyd Ogilvie, one-time chaplain to the U.S. Senate, once had a serious accident while on study leave in Scotland. One afternoon he was walking on the beach when he fell between some rocks and broke one of his leg bones. Almost fainting with pain, he managed to crawl for several miles until he [...]