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No Little People
“With God there are no little people.” So wrote Francis Schaeffer echoing the meaning of Paul’s words in the first three verses of 1 Timothy 5: “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a …Read More
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Should I Stay or Should I Go?
When should an evangelical Christian separate from a church? That question is asked often these days, and it betrays more than one problem in contemporary Christianity. Far too many church members have become church shoppers. The biblical concept of ecclesiology …Read More
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In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity
Philip Schaff, the distinguished nineteenth-century church historian, calls the saying in our title “the watchword of Christian peacemakers” (History of the Christian Church, vol. 7, p. 650). Often attributed to great theologians such as Augustine, it comes from an otherwise …Read More
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That They May Be the One
The Lord Jesus prayed on the night before His death: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are …Read More
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Doing Without the Church?
The seven churches of Asia addressed in the book of Revelation had their problems. One of them looked quite lively but it was actually dead. Another was so lukewarm that the Lord was ready to spit it out of His …Read More
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Family Religion
I recently was privileged to speak at an ancient country church. It was a rural church, the kind with a fine graveyard, an old bell in the steeple, a formal “ladies parlor,” and a nice family in the fellowship hall …Read More
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That They May Be One
No Christian would say he is for division in the church. Divisiveness stands condemned (1 Cor. 1:10). Even the newest believer knows that we are given warnings not to tolerate those who would cause division (Rom. 16:17–18 …Read More
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Building Up The Body
Make no mistake about it, ours is a culture of specialization and niche marketing. From vegetarian or vegan restaurants to the most obscure hobby, entrepreneurs have found a way to tap into every conceivable niche market. And just as the …Read More
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Nurture and Admonition
The young couple stood before our congregation that Sunday morning holding a tiny baby recently adopted into their family. They had come to have the sign of water baptism applied to him, the sign of their faith in God’s …Read More
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True Shepherding
Every morning for several months, my wife and I walked past an injured Canada goose, whose feathers stuck out in several directions. For all those months, several geese dutifully stayed with the injured bird. Likewise, caring for the wounded is …Read More
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A Good Kind of Pluralism
Today’s postmodernists use cultural pluralism as a pretext for relativism, as if the existence of many cultures implied the existence of many truths. Many Americans embrace multiculturalism as if they had no culture of their own. In religion, pluralism …Read More
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The Forgotten Mark
Historically, Protestants have argued that there are certain, essential marks that characterize a true church. The Belgic Confession of 1561 identifies these marks as being three in number. In addition to the “pure preaching of the gospel” and the “pure …Read More
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The Glory of Plodding
It’s sexy among young people — my generation — to talk about ditching institutional religion and starting a revolution of real Christ-followers living in real community without the confines of church. Besides being unbiblical, such notions of churchless Christianity are unrealistic …Read More
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Something Old, Something New
How can confessional Reformed churches provide a safe haven for New Calvinists? A simple answer to this may fail to appreciate the diversity of each new Calvinist’s spiritual pilgrimage, and thus runs the danger of not ministering particular grace …Read More
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Peer Pressure
The talk shows were buzzing recently about a sex education class in a Maryland school that had students chew a stick of gum, then pass it around so that everyone in the class chewed it. This learning activity was …Read More
