Author Archives: Jay F Guin

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.

Church Refugees: Judgmentalism

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Jay F Guin

Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith, by sociologists Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope, addresses the needs of a class of Christians sometimes called the “Dones” — as in “done with church but not … Continue reading →

Posted in Church Refugees, Church Refugees, Uncategorized | 16 Comments

Church Refugees: Community

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Jay F Guin

Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith, by sociologists Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope, addresses the needs of a class of Christians sometimes called the “Dones” — as in “done with church but not … Continue reading →

Posted in Church Refugees, Church Refugees, Uncategorized | 38 Comments

Church Refugees: Introduction

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Jay F Guin

Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith, by sociologists Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope, addresses the needs of a class of Christians sometimes called the “Dones” — as in “done with church but not … Continue reading →

Posted in Church Refugees, Church Refugees, Uncategorized | 37 Comments

Who Should See the Church’s Contribution Records?

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Jay F Guin

All churches have to make a decision about the confidentiality of contributions. The IRS requires churches to track who gives how much so they can issue a receipt, but otherwise the law is pretty much silent on the question. So … Continue reading →

Posted in Church Finances and Business, Uncategorized | 19 Comments

Thom Rainer on Letting the Church Know the Preacher’s Salary

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Jay F Guin

Thom Rainer has provided a preview of some of the salary information gathered by the Leadership Network from a survey of 1,251 churches with 500 or more members. A fuller report will come out shortly. Rainer only deals with a few of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Church Finances and Business, Uncategorized | 21 Comments

CT on Clerical Hours and Wages

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Jay F Guin

The chart to the left is from 2001. (I have no idea why there is such a difference between Christian and Jewish clergy.) Much more recently, Christianity Today has summarized survey results from 2013, published earlier this year. These sorts … Continue reading →

Posted in Church Finances and Business, Uncategorized | 20 Comments

Leadership: CT Surveys Church Governing Boards

Posted on August 27, 2016 by Jay F Guin

Christianity Today recently survey 500 governing boards of US churches. The results are fascinating. These governing boards would, in the Churches of Christ, be the elders or the elders together with the preacher. The survey says that the most effective boards … Continue reading →

Posted in Church Finances and Business, Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Gordon Wenham’s Story as Torah: Reading the Old Testament Narrative Ethically, Part 7 (Clean, unclean, and violence)

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Jay F Guin

Clean and unclean To the modern reader, one of the more puzzling elements of the Torah is the teaching on clean vs. unclean foods and people. There is no obvious reason why salmon should be clean and crabmeat unclean. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Gordon Wenham’s Story as Torah: Reading the Old Testament Narrative Ethically, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Gordon Wenham’s Story as Torah: Reading the Old Testament Narrative Ethically, Part 6 (God as hero)

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Jay F Guin

God as hero Wenham concludes, The motivation to act in certain ways because that is how God acts is thus found in a wide variety of legal collections within the Pentateuch, and it therefore seems likely that it is assumed … Continue reading →

Posted in Gordon Wenham’s Story as Torah: Reading the Old Testament Narrative Ethically, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Gordon Wenham’s Story as Torah: Reading the Old Testament Narrative Ethically, Part 5

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Jay F Guin

Reading the narratives like Torah Wenham then asks whether we should read the narratives the same way: as pointing to an ideal beyond what the narrative itself describes. Sometimes it just might be the point that the hero of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Gordon Wenham’s Story as Torah: Reading the Old Testament Narrative Ethically, Uncategorized | 6 Comments