He chose the bachelor life to devote himself more fully to the gospel--but when he died last Wednesday, thousands mourned the loss of their beloved "Uncle John." Although Chaplain to the Queen of England, he lived in simple quarters. He was "one of the 100 most influential people in the world," Time magazine opined, yet he traveled in a small car that was second-hand. Those who knew him best recall his humble spirit and recite his deeds of quiet service. And last Wednesday, July 27, 2011, a few close friends and relatives at his bedside read aloud the words of St. Paul who also fought the good … [Read more...]
Archives for 2012
WHAT ABOUT FREEMASONRY?
A gracEmail subscriber writes, "The Masonic Lodge has as its goal 'to make a good man better.' The Masons I know live Christian lives and insist that the lodge is neither a religion nor a substitute for church. Do you know much about this organization, and if so, what is your opinion of it?" * * * Freemasonry is a world-wide brotherhood which exists for the mutual help and fraternal association of its members, but whose secret character, quasi-religious teaching, blood oaths and mysterious rituals have since the 1700s earned the official condemnation of the Roman Catholic Church and the … [Read more...]
A LOVING CHALLENGE TO THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH (3 of 3)
When I began my scholarly research project on the topic of final punishment in the late 1970's, I assumed that the traditional view of unending conscious torment rested on biblical revelation. As I delved deeply into the actual texts of Scripture, the literature between the Testaments, and the writings of the church fathers and Reformers, I was flabbergasted to discover that my assumption was completely false -- and to uncover the historical origins of unending torment in ancient pagan philosophy. I was so shocked initially at the fruit of this research that I briefly considered boxing up … [Read more...]
A LOVING CHALLENGE TO THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH (2 of 3)
In the late 1970's, I undertook a year-long professional research project on the doctrine of final punishment. Almost immediately, I began to discover that my very fine biblical and theological training had overlooked many startling facts. How many of the following facts of Scripture and church history catch you by surprise? * * * 1. The Old Testament utilizes some 50 Hebrew verbs and 75 figures of speech to describe the ultimate end of the wicked -- and every one sounds exactly like total extinction. 2. The notion of unending conscious torment arose for the first time in anything … [Read more...]
A LOVING CHALLENGE TO THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH (1 of 3)
Are you ready for a challenge to your thinking? If so, read on. (If not, perhaps you will want to read no further.) For 1500 years, most Christians have assumed as true a doctrine which . . . 1. Is nowhere found in the Word of God; 2. Sprang from explicitly pagan presuppositions; 3. Slanders the character of God and the Lord Jesus Christ; 4. Prevailed in Protestantism for political, not biblical, reasons; and 5. Has been rejected by an increasing number of such faithful scholars as W. Graham Scroggie, John R. W. Stott, Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, F. F. Bruce, John W. Wenham, Clark … [Read more...]
WORSHIP WARS WITH SUBSTANCE
If ever we think the church today encounters internal tensions over forms and styles of worship, commonly styled "worship wars," an article in the current issue of Books and Culture, an online subscription magazine from the publishers of Christianity Today, sets matters in perspective. Titled "So Blessed a Liturgy: The Book of Common Prayer," the piece by Wheaton College Professor Alan Jacobs recounts some of the turmoil that accompanied the stormy transition of the Church of England from Roman Catholic doctrine and practice under King Henry VIII to its early reformation under Henry's son … [Read more...]
MIND THE GAP!
In 1992, Sara Faye and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to England. We still chuckle about a recording on the London "Tube" or "Underground" (subway) that admonished at each stop, "Mind the gap!" The voice was telling us to pay attention to the short empty space between the train and the platform, across which we had to step as we exited. "Mind"--a word of many uses. You have a mind that reminds you to mind authorities, to mind your business, and sometime not to mind irritations and slights real or imagined. The proper use of the mind (as well as the body) involves what … [Read more...]
THE ‘MISSIONAL’ VISION: Old Truths in New Clothes (3)
In an "attractional" church, success is usually measured by the number of people in attendance, the size of the offering and (using those calculators) the growth of the institution itself. In a "missional" church, success will not be measured by counting heads or dollars but by faithfulness to God's mission, deepening faith and the development of Christ-like disciples. Obviously these intangible indicators are much harder to assess than those borrowed from the business world. That does not bother missional people, however, because their focus is not on the institutional church to begin with. … [Read more...]
THE ‘MISSIONAL’ VISION: Old Truths in New Clothes (2)
If the church is to have a future in the countries that once composed "Christendom," missional church advocates tell us, we who constitute the church must undergo what the Apostle Paul calls a "renewal of the mind." That means that we must re-imagine the ideal which God calls the church to become. We must rethink the church's character and reformulate its purpose and goals. The word "missional" is crucial to this new understanding in several respects. It reminds us that Christian "mission" is not only something for special people who go overseas to foreign lands. It is the work of every … [Read more...]
THE ‘MISSIONAL’ VISION: Old Truths in New Clothes (1)
Everywhere we turn these days, people are talking about the church of the future -- indeed, whether the church as we have known it in America even has a future. That is a valid concern and the fault is not God's but ours. G.K. Chesterton nailed the problem squarely. "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting," he wrote. "It has been found difficult; and left untried." Christian thinkers through the centuries have attempted to visualize this "ideal" church. Many thinkers today envision the ideal in terms of what they call the "missional church." The church with a future, they … [Read more...]
