I once had a professor who informed my class that we ought to think twice about including the belief in the inspiration of the Bible as a core church doctrine when we worked on forming creeds for our latest assignment. At first I thought he was joking, but then when I saw all the enthusiastic nods of students in my class, I realized with unfortunate certainty that not only was he not joking, but many students already agreed with him.[bra_blockquote align=”]A bible without authority proclaims an impotent gospel, mere words without power to make its readers tremble. To take inspiration … Read More
Children in Church (part 1)
Last September our church changed the location of its Sunday gathering. Our new facility, the Old Church in Wilsonville, is a beautiful combination of traditional and modern. Plus, the location met all of the criteria we were looking for in a location (time flexibility, in Wilsonville, and in our price range). However, one issue emerged: There was/is no room for us to do children’s ministry during the service. At that time we begin to think through the concept of having children in the service. The first thing we wanted to know was if there was any biblical support for or … Read More
Defining Church (part 2)
Note: In Defining Church (part 1) I said that the first chapter of the book, The Gift of Church by Jim Samra, “radically altered my view of church” and “began to help me define “church.”” Much of what I say here and in the remainder of this series is owed to that chapter which is entitled “God in Concert.” It is one of the best books I have read on church and I recommend that you read it. While the English word “church” first appeared around 300 AD, one must go back thousands of years earlier when defining church. In fact, … Read More