Unchristian Thinking about Christian Weddings
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“When people with moderate incomes are brow-beaten into spending like they are rich, they remain poor forever.forever. The same goes for the wedding and reception.” - P&D
10 ways to recognize a sacred cow in your church
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“I want to accomplish two things: (1) further define ‘sacred cow’ so we can recognize them, and (2) lead you to ask if your church has any sacred cows – including ministries you may lead. In a future post, I’ll give attention to how to address these issues. ” - Baptist Press
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Getting Behind the Mask of Traditionalism
With the Old Testament and historical background in place in previous articles, it’s time to examine Mark 7:1–13 in more detail. In other words, it’s time to start comparing our lives to Scripture. God is holy, and he deserves a holy people. Mark 7 makes it clear that in our quest to be holy, the trap of idolatry lies close at hand. Indeed, the Pharisees were the conservatives. They were also idolaters. Are you a conservative? Are you liable to the same rebuke?
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Understanding Pharisaic Fuss About Defilement and Holiness
This brief series of articles arises from the concern that conservative Christianity is in danger of the sin of idolatry. I’ll go a bit further here to say that Christians who do not describe themselves as traditional or conservative are equally in danger of idolatry. Admittedly, I’m dropping these provocative statements to keep you reading, but the danger is real.
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Unmasking the Idolatry of Traditionalism
To many of you reading this blog, the words conservative and traditional are sacred cows. I think of myself as a conservative Christian. If you are a traditional, conservative Christian, you may be committing the sin of idolatry in your pursuit of conservatism. John’s warning against idolatry at the end of his first epistle is not gratuitous. Very few Westerners bow before physical idols. Instead, idolatry in Western civilizations always hides behind a mask. Is your conservative Christianity idolatry?
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SBC seminary prof’s departure to Anglicanism prompts discussion of Baptists & tradition
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“Social media buzzed with reaction when Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary theology professor Matthew Barrett announced his departure from the SBC to become an Anglican. He cited the ‘beauty of Anglicanism’ and claimed its practices better align with ‘how Christians have worshipped across history.’” - Baptist Press
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More Than 20 Years of Baptisms Deemed Invalid Because of One Wrong Word by Phoenix Priest
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“Because he used the words ‘We baptize’ rather than ‘I baptize’ during the rite, thousands of baptisms have been deemed invalid.” - C.Leaders
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“...we still have a lot to learn from the early and medieval church”
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“Some church history and tradition have been forgotten or neglected by many modern Christians…in part, for lack of knowledge of their importance.” Gavin Ortlund, pastor of First Baptist Church of Ojai, California, talks about recovering lost doctrine and practice and his new book Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals. - Ref21
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“What a tangled web we weave when we make our aim in life to be modern rather than to think for ourselves”
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“…on the selfsame day that I first learned of the gender reveal party I also learned why woke folk find it necessary to drive a stake through its heart. Opinion page after opinion page declared the trend ‘weapons-grade reinforcement of oppressive gender norms … and blunt-force refusal of the idea that sex assigned at birth does not necessarily equate with gender identity’ ” - WORLD
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