Cynical About the Church? (Or: The Dog Always Died)

I’m sure many of our readers have heard much cynicism directed at the Christian church.  To be sure, the church is not perfect; God is perfect and his word is perfect, but the church is not (yet!).  So we have to deal with cynicism until Jesus comes again.  Dick Keyes talks about this well in …

Racism/Discrimination in the Church!?

  A biblical Christian ethic is one free of all racism and discrimination.  God created man in his own image, so we have no right to play favorites or show partiality (Gen 1.26-27, Deut 16.19).  Furthermore, we are commanded to love our neighbor - even if he speaks a different language, comes from a different country, is disabled in …

Raising Paine in the Church

 In this great book on the fellowship or communion of the saints, Philip Ryken explains one major hindrance to solid fellowship. "Another obstacle to the communion of the saints is the pride of individualism.  This is especially a problem in the American church.  When the French statesman Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) visited the United States in …

Where There is Fellowship, There Is Strength

 William Gurnall (d. 1679) has a great paragraph on the fellowship of the saints in his book, The Christian in Complete Armor. In one section, he discusses what he calls "recovery of declining grace."  In other words, if a Christian is not wielding his armor as he should, or if it is getting rusty, what is he …

Church Membership – Really?

 Many people today have all sorts of memberships.  From monthly Netflix plans to smart phone contracts to fitness clubs to political movements, not many people hesitate to sign the dotted line that binds them to certain membership obligations.  However, when it comes to being a public, professing member of a local church, quite a few people hesitate and …