"How can you feel kindly toward the Episcopalians?" one asks. "Don't you know that the Anglican Church started when King Henry VIII wanted another wife and the Pope wouldn't agree, so KH-8 started his own Church of England?" * * * Most Protestant churches would be greatly enriched by a hearty dose of Anglican eucharistic liturgy (the Communion service) -- and few Protestants have a better statement of Reformation principles at their disposal than those reflected in the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Catechism found in the Book of Common Prayer. Nor do I know of any church which regularly reads … [Read more...]
A GOOD WORD ABOUT ANGLICAN CHRISTIANITY (1)
"How can you feel kindly toward the Episcopalians?" one asks. "Don't you know that the Anglican Church started when King Henry VIII wanted another wife and the Pope wouldn't agree, so KH-8 started his own Church of England?" * * * Although I was born and reared in the Churches of Christ, where God now has me placed for service, I find Anglicanism very appealing. Not because of the popular caricature stated above, but in spite of it. The truth is that Henry did "kick out" the Pope -- but the English kings had tried to do that for 500 years before he came along. My roots run deep into … [Read more...]
A GOOD WORD ABOUT ADVENT CHRISTIANS
"I understand that you are an elder and preacher in the Churches of Christ, but you have mentioned the Advent Christian Churches several times. I have never heard of that group. Would you please tell us something about them?" * * * I first met the Advent Christians after the 1982 publication of my book titled The Fire That Consumes, a painstakingly-thorough investigation of the biblical doctrine of final punishment. My conclusion there that the wicked will be destroyed both body and soul in the Second Death (hell) happened to confirm what Advent Christians have taught for 125+ years, and … [Read more...]
CONVERTED TO THE CHURCH?
A gracEmail subscriber heard someone say, "I don't think you can be converted to Jesus without being converted to his church," by which the speaker mean the particular religious movement of which he was a part. The subscriber wants to know if the statement is true. * * * It is true that everyone who belongs to Jesus is also a part of his ekklesia or church (literally, congregation or assembly). This Greek word which Jesus uses in Matthew 16:18 is the same word used throughout the Greek Old Testament for the gathered people of God. Today, God's congregation finds its identity through the … [Read more...]
THE CHURCH OF THE FUTURE
The Christian church in America is rapidly changing in form, style and culture. A gracEmail subscriber asks what the future might hold for the church during this 21st century. * * * God's kingdom will endure but church structures that do not serve his purposes will gradually disappear (Heb. 12:26-28). I believe we will see a new Church emerge alongside the old -- indeed, it already is in process of being born. The renewed Church of Jesus Christ will consistently worship God as alive and sovereign, proclaim Jesus as Savior, and serve by the Spirit of the Risen Christ as its … [Read more...]
THE FULLNESS OF THE CHURCH
It is easy to become nearsighted in our vision of the Church, focused only on our own congregation or denomination, or the Church in our own country or in the present year or decade or century. God has been at work in his worldwide Church throughout Christian history, I am persuaded, including parts from which we might imagine we have nothing good to learn. The Church in its fullness will incorporate contributions from believers in all times and places, and we can begin even now to appreciate and to share in the diversity of that rich heritage. All Christians can profit, for example, from … [Read more...]
THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL
"What should we think of the different Christian denominations and movements or families? Is one of them 'right' and the others 'wrong?'" * * * Christ's universal church has lived through many centuries, utilizing different cultures, forms and styles in pursuit of its mission and goals. The church also consists of sinful humans, and its progress has been tainted with human weakness and sin. Church history includes the admirable and the abominable, but the head of the Church does not forsake his own, and the Church continues despite its adversaries and its afflictions. In time, I believe, … [Read more...]
‘TRUE CHURCH’ COMPETITION
A Texas sister writes that her church fellowship claims to be the "New Testament church," founded on the Day of Pentecost about A.D. 33. That church went into "apostasy," she is told, but was "restored" in the early 19th century. "But what about the many centuries between?" she asks. "Can anyone show an unbroken line of people or churches linking Pentecost to the present?" * * * Some today do claim to be the only "true church" by pointing to such an unbroken chain as you suggest. That argument has long been used by the Roman Catholic Church as well as by the family of Eastern Orthodox … [Read more...]
EXPLORING ROOMS
Big old houses have always fascinated me. I am excited to explore rooms and to discover unique nooks and crannies. A few years ago, Sara Faye and I toured the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. We spent a full day exploring the Biltmore House which, built by George Vanderbilt in the 1890s, contains 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces and is the largest house in the United States (http://www.biltmore.com ). It is fascinating, isn't it, that Paul refers to Christ's people around the world as a living building, a holy temple, a dwelling-place for God by his Spirit (Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Tim. 3:15). The … [Read more...]
THE WHOLENESS OF TRUTH
As a child, I naively thought that the particular subgroup of the non-instrument Churches of Christ into which I was born had discovered "the truth" and that all other Christian groups were either ignorant or dishonest because they differed from us. By the grace of God, when I became a man, I put away those childish ideas. I gradually realized that almost all the hymns we sang were written by Christians from other denominations, as were nearly all the biblical commentaries our preachers studied in preparing their lessons. That didn't mesh with the notion that of all God's people, we were … [Read more...]
