The proof of the resurrection is not in rational argument but in the community of the resurrected people. The church is called to be a sign, a witness to the Easter message that Christ has overcome the powers of evil (Eph 3:10). from Ancient-Future Time
If you think being religious, being Christian, being spiritual is getting ready for the next world, you've missed the message of Jesus. Jesus didn't come here to get you ready for the next world; he came into this world to transform you into people through whom he...
One reason that the world finds the New Testament's message of peacemaking and love of enemies incredible is that the church is so massively faithless. On the question of violence, the church is deeply compromised and committed to nationalism, violence, and idolatry....
Jesus' message is shocking not because he extends the boundaries to include outsiders. His message shocks because it doesn't recognize boundaries at all.
What Jesus taught was a radical message of welcome and inclusion and love. I feel certain God loves me just the way I am, and I have a huge sense of calling to communicate that to young people. When I think of myself at 13, sobbing into that carpet, I just want to...
By all appearances, it is a Good Friday world. But by the light of Easter, through the thick darkness covering the nations, we can dimly discern a "Yes, but" kind of message. Yes, fear and self-righteousness, indifference and sentimentality kill; but love never dies,...
Jesus said nothing about endowments, pension funds, canon law, stewardship campaigns, diocesan structures, music programs, or even potluck lunches. He didn’t mention who would own church real estate. He said nothing about altar guilds, and we aren’t even sure where he...
Since Christ is the central figure of the new covenant, he is also the central focus of all authentic Christian worship. Christ is both the one whom we worship and the one through whom we worship, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ is also the one whom we...
Every word or act in worship constitutes a witness about God as well as an offering to God. The manner in which God is worshiped is a message about how God is perceived, how God’s holiness is to be reverenced and approached. from “Spiritual Formation in Corporate...
Why should a church teach hymns? One basic reason is that hymns are a means of communicating the message of the church. Some hymns are paraphrases of Scripture and others are based on specific Scripture verses. Hymns also effectively convey the church’s theology....