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Evangelical
January 18, 2022

January 18, 2022 By

Evangelical Christianity dominated much of the American Church over the last 50+ years. Statistics vary as to how many American Christians identify as evangelicals but it is a significant number. Evangelical Christianity is neither a religion nor a denomination. Instead, it is a faith movement that has grown in importance in the United States over the last five decades. What makes someone an evangelical? Most people fail to realize that self-identified evangelicals reside on both sides of the political aisle…. Read more

January 14, 2022

January 14, 2022 By

Monday: Read Mark 10:1-31 The theme of discipleship dominates this section. Jesus and the disciples are heading for Jerusalem where He will die. Jesus is going to become more and more explicit with them explaining what “take up your cross and follow Me” means (8:34). In this passage, Mark tells three encounters that illustrate for us Jesus’ understanding of discipleship with respect to marriage (1-12), children (13-16), and possessions (17-31). Discipleship is not only proper behavior in marriage relations, with… Read more

January 11, 2022

January 11, 2022 By

In my last post, I asked why can’t we just leave the church? I noted that one cannot leave because the Church is the body of Christ. In other words, you can’t leave the church because you are the Church. Now, this could be taken in several ways: one I agree with and one I do not agree with—well, I kinda don’t agree with it. I’ll begin with the latter. First, those who think that a person can’t be a… Read more

January 7, 2022

January 7, 2022 By

A devotional guide to the Gospel of Mark[1] Week 2 Monday: Read Mark 6:33-56; 8:1-10 The reason for skipping over Mark 7, which you will read tomorrow, is that you may read the two feeding stories at the same time. As you read, make note of the comparisons. What things happen in both? What are the differences? A careful reading of the feeding stories notes that there are several allusions to Moses’ leadership among the Israelites. Moses divided the people… Read more

January 4, 2022

January 4, 2022 By

Some of you hate the church. Some of you love the church and believe that yours is the best! Some of you have been hurt by the church. Some of you have done the hurting. For many, the church represents intolerance, hatred, and judgmentalism. It is likely quite accurate to say that most of those outside the church will have nothing to do with it. Some of those who are now outside the church used to be in it! But… Read more

December 31, 2021

December 31, 2021 By

  Day 1: Read Mark 1 There is little question that Mark was the first Gospel written—hence the reason for beginning our study with Mark. It is very likely that both Matthew and Luke not only wrote after Mark but that they knew of Mark and used Mark as one of their sources (using written sources was common at the time; note Luke 1:1-4). Mark was written to people who knew the stories of Jesus. However, they probably did not… Read more

December 23, 2021

December 23, 2021 By

As I said in my last post, I am convinced that before we can address the plethora of issues that plague the contemporary western evangelical church we must begin with a proper understanding of the church and the people of God. To reiterate: my conclusion is that the Church is the visible body of Christ in the world today and that this is what Paul is referring to in 1 Cor 11:17-34. As I discussed at length in my last… Read more

December 21, 2021

December 21, 2021 By

One of the problems with the church today is that we have little to no theology of the church. And the theology of the church that we do have is often incomplete and sometimes just plain mistaken. I don’t believe that we can discuss the multitude of issues that surround contemporary western evangelicalism unless with start with a proper understanding of just what the church is! To state my conclusion at the outset[1]: The Church is the visible body of… Read more

December 17, 2021

December 17, 2021 By

Today’s post is a special edition designed to let you know what is coming in 2022. We want to challenge you to study through the NT with us in 2022 (we may take longer than a year). Many people vow to “read the Bible in a year”–they even publish special Bibles to help you do so–yet, most fail. Well, we want to help change that. First, we are only going to take on the New Testament. (we will do the… Read more

December 14, 2021

December 14, 2021 By

I ended the last post on the Bible, Injustice, and Race by noting that many White, evangelical churches have been complicit in the racism in the US. An example of Christian complicity with regards to racism in the US is seen in the historical context that gave rise to Martin Luther King Jr’s famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail.[1] In his letter, King defends his actions of protest against the injustices in Birmingham on the basis of the famed line… Read more

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