When I speak of the “early church,” I am referring in particular to the church in Acts in relationship to the mission and prayer. Jesus, God incarnate, had died, was raised, and ascended into heaven. What now? Where do we go from here? Now that their leader has left the scene, what’s going to happen [...]
Archive for the 'Ecclesiology' Category
Missional Prayer: Early Church
December 11, 2008Kostenberger on the Church’s Mission in the 21st Century
October 8, 2008Andreas Kostenberger, on his blog (which is also available in Spanish!), recently shared twelve theses for the church’s mission in the 21st century. Often when we hear of the church’s mission, it is couched in a pragmatic discussion, focusing on methodology to the neglect of theological reflection. Kostenberger’s excellent theses, I believe, should serve as [...]
Bruce Ashford on Church Planting Movements
August 26, 2008Bruce Ashford is the Director of the Center for Great Commission Studies and associate professor of philosophy and intercultural studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also on the team of the best SBC blog, Between the Times, and has written some very helpful articles on a theologically-driven missiology as well as contours of [...]
Joe Thorn on Gospel-Centered Assimilation
August 13, 2008When I first saw the sketches on Joe’s Twitter, I knew that this would be good. Joe has developed a gospel-centered assimilation that is excellent. Back in March, Joe unveiled the ministry paradigm for Redeemer (where he pastors) focusing on three arenas–the table (home), the pulpit (church), and the square (city). Building on this paradigm, [...]
NFC II: Andy Davis on “Dangers in Reforming a Church”
June 24, 2008About Andy Davis:
Dr. Davis was born in Boston, Massachusetts where he later earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in 1984. He then began his career as a Mechanical Engineer with Eaton-Nova Corporation in Beverly, Massachusetts. He was married to Christine Lee Rogers on Mar 14, 1988, and they have two sons and [...]
Addendum: Three Case Studies
May 7, 2008On the topic of health and growth of churches in the SBC, I want to give you three report cards from three very different churches (no, I will not tell you which church they are). What I want you to do is simply take a look for yourselves and let me know what you [...]
Blue Collar Theology 27: IX Marks e-Journal
May 5, 2008One of the most valuable online resources dealing with contemporary issues in a topic manner is the IX Marks e-Journal. Every two months, IX Marks Ministries comes out with a great series of articles addressing a particular issue and includes very helpful book reviews on current popular works as well. In their [...]
New Books in April
April 12, 2008I’ve been really slacking with my “book alerts” this year, so I thought I’d point you to some posts by JT on recent releases in April that I am really jazzed about. Here are his posts on the books:
* Christ and Culture Revisited (by D.A. Carson)
* The Courage to Be Protestant (by David Wells)
* In [...]
Check Out “The PIT”
April 8, 2008I have often written about the disconnect between seminary and the local church. One of the major setbacks, for instance, are ministers will little experience in preaching and teaching and will soon enter their first ministerial context. I recall in preaching class earlier this semester a time when the professor asked for a [...]
FCON 2008: Renewing and Planting Local Churches
April 8, 2008I know, I know. There’s a lot of great conferences out there these days. Probably too many. I will be going to two next week (one I am hosting myself). But I have to say that I do not believe there is one I am more excited about than the 2008 [...]
Blue Collar Theology 23: A New Kind of Accountability
March 24, 2008One of our modern-day, evangelical methods for holiness and purity in the church has been what are called “accountability groups.” An accountability group takes many forms–two, three, or eight people–who meet regularly. Some groups have a list of questions to go through, while other groups sit over coffee and let words be shared as they [...]
“Ministerially Speaking”
March 18, 2008“Though official statements still affirm the doctrine of regenerate church membership, statistics indicate a different reality for the great majority of Baptist churches in North America.”
- John S. Hammett, Professor of Systematic Theology, SEBTS
Introduction
A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in class when my professor was discussing characteristics of biblical leadership, and during [...]
Check Out Joe Thorn’s Ministry Paradigm
March 15, 2008Earlier this week my friend Joe Thorn shared a new ministry paradigm which he has called “The Table, the Pulpit, and the Square.” Here is his basic description:
The Table - a domestic ministry: The table represents the Christian home, and more specifically the home as the center for hospitality. This is the most accessible, customizable, [...]
Resources on Church Discipline and Regenerate Church Membership
February 20, 2008Below are some resources I pulled from my shelves and online. It is by no means meant to be exhaustive, but given that I will be blogging on church discipline as a part of the 2008 True Church Conference, I thought I’d put some resources online. Feel free to add others if you think of [...]
Planting Church
December 17, 2008Church Growth, Church Planting, Church Leadership, Church ____________ (fill in the blank)
In all of these titles, there is a common word which fits them in the same arena: church. Yet the church in all these titles is descriptive or attributive. Church is penultimate. Growth is ultimate. Planting is ultimate. Leadership is ultimate.
I don’t swim in [...]
Categories: Church Planting, Ecclesiology, Personal Commentary
Tags: Church Planting, Ecclesiology
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