Subscribe to RSS feeds
Categories
Index (4,154)
Adult Bible Classes (703)
1 Corinthians (109)
- 1 John (19)
- 1 Kings (1)
- 1 Samuel (12)
- 2 Samuel (11)
- Acts (46)
- Amazing Grace (69)
- Apologetics (52)
- Blue Parakeet (29)
- Creation 2.0 (36)
- Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan (51)
- Galatians (35)
- John (140)
- Luke (2)
- Psalms (1)
- Revelation (16)
- Sermon on the Mount (42)
- The Story (36)
- Bible Study Resources (39)
- Blogging (7)
- Book Reviews (349)
- Church Refugees (11)
- Covenant: God's Purpose, God's Plan (7)
- Gordon Wenham’s Story as Torah: Reading the Old Testament Narrative Ethically (7)
- Honor & Shame, by Roland Muller (3)
- How God Became King (3)
- John Nugent’s Endangered Gospel (9)
- Kingdom Conspiracy by Scot McKnight (21)
- Misreading Scriptures with Western Eyes (14)
- Muscle & Shovel, by Michael Shank (32)
- N. T. Wright's After You Believe (5)
- N. T. Wright's The Day the Revolution Began (108)
- Naked Gospel, The (5)
- NT Wright's Surprised by Scripture (1)
- Paul and the Faithfulness of God (22)
- Sitting at the Feet of the Rabbi Jesus (3)
- The Advantage, by Patrick Lencioni (24)
- The Case for the Psalms, by N. T. Wright (4)
- The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant, by Michael J. Gorman (7)
- To Change the World (17)
- Vines: God and the Gay Christian (6)
- Christian Disciplines (27)
- Christian Evidences/Apologetics (62)
- Archaeology (7)
- Scientific Creationism (17)
- Church & Politics (50)
- Church Finances and Business (44)
- Taxes (13)
- Church of Christ Doctrinal Issues (647)
- Age of Accountability (17)
- Assembly 2.0 (13)
- Christmas (7)
- Church of Christ Deism (16)
- Congregational Autonomy and Mergers (22)
- Denominationalism (2)
- Discipline (6)
- Divorce and Remarriage (72)
- Ecclesiology (24)
- Church 2.0 (22)
- Communion (2)
- Deacons (5)
- Fork in the Road (115)
- Instrumental Music (129)
- Real Restoration (52)
- Real Worship (32)
- Renewing Our Worship (52)
- Role of Women (91)
- Sacramentalism (12)
- What Must be Preserved of the Churches of Christ? (25)
- Church Plants and Foreign Missions (56)
- Church Trends (67)
- Churches of Christ (246)
- Commenting (13)
- Communion Meditations (42)
- Counseling (1)
- Evangelism (1)
- Grace (206)
- Amazing Grace (103)
- Facing Our Failure (3)
- Faith That Works (24)
- GraceConversation.com (15)
- Hermeneutics (207)
- Holy Spirit and Providence (124)
- Jewish Roots of Christianity (6)
- Leadership (491)
- Adult Bible Classes (9)
- Church Growth (104)
- Direct Hit (6)
- Megachurches (16)
- Replanting a Church (28)
- What's Wrong with How We Do Church (12)
- Church Ministries (29)
- Small Groups (7)
- Spiritual Formation (7)
- Church Refugees (11)
- Deacons (12)
- Elders (129)
- Advice to a New Elder (42)
- Bad Elders (9)
- Good to Great (3)
- I Sold My Soul on eBay (7)
- Leading a Small Church (3)
- Leading Change (31)
- Litigation Between Brothers (2)
- Ministers (31)
- Multi-generational/Orange Ministry (15)
- Multisite Churches (1)
- Organizing Your Church (7)
- Overseeing the Moderate Church (7)
- Preacher Searches (10)
- Preaching (4)
- Racial Diversity in Church (10)
- Sexual Ethics (17)
- Teams (2)
- The Advantage, by Patrick Lencioni (24)
- The Pain of Disappointment (15)
- Vision (1)
- Worship/Assembly Planning (8)
- Missional Christianity (129)
- Everything Must Change (4)
- Ministry Ideas (21)
- Radical (8)
- Resident Aliens (8)
- Simply Missional (11)
- New Wineskins Magazine (26)
- Parenting (2)
- Race (1)
- Restoration Movement (55)
- Sacraments (210)
- Baptism (180)
- Lord's Supper (34)
- Sexuality (119)
- Technology (1)
- Textual studies (591)
- 1 Corinthians (108)
- 1 John (19)
- 1 Kings (1)
- 1 Samuel (13)
- 1 Thessalonians (30)
- 2 Samuel (12)
- 2 Thessalonians (18)
- Acts (46)
- Colossians (13)
- Ephesians (18)
- Galatians (40)
- Hebrews (1)
- Luke (10)
- Philemon (2)
- Revelation (62)
- Romans (163)
- Sermon on the Mount (42)
- Theology (585)
- Afterlife, The (117)
- Atonement (54)
- Available Light (46)
- Calvinism (107)
- Election (60)
- God Is Not Fair (1)
- Neo-Calvinism (8)
- Perseverance (12)
- Searching for a Third Way (21)
- The Pope, the Salvation of the Jews and Calvinism (16)
- Christology (1)
- Connection of Church with Israel (74)
- Cruciform God (17)
- Gospel, What Is the? (47)
- Inerrancy and the Canon (14)
- Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (6)
- New Perspective (19)
- Pacifism (29)
- Soteriology (103)
- Salvation 2.0 (78)
- The Salvation of the Christians (9)
- The Salvation of the Jews (16)
- Universalism (11)
- Story theory (10)
- Theodicy (How God can allow bad things to happen) (7)
- Truth, What Is? (5)
- What Is Sin? (8)
- Thought Questions (83)
- Youth Ministry (10)
- Uncategorized (5,140)
Category Archives: Church of Christ Doctrinal Issues
Why we should merge churches–overcoming doctrinal differences
As previously noted, there are very real, very practical difficulties in trying to merge congregations. The foremost difficulty is our intolerance of doctrinal differences. It’s instructive to see how we behave depending on the options available in our home town. … Continue reading
Posted in Congregational Autonomy and Mergers, Uncategorized
Tagged All
Comments Off on Why we should merge churches–overcoming doctrinal differences
Why we should merge churches–the doctrinal reasons
I’ve already made one doctrinal point. Larger churches are more effective at ministry to those outside the church–and this is the very essence of Christianity. Read Matthew 25’s account of Judgment Day. Read James’ definition of pure and undefiled religion. … Continue reading
Posted in Congregational Autonomy and Mergers, Uncategorized
Tagged All
Comments Off on Why we should merge churches–the doctrinal reasons
Why we should merge churches–the practical reasons
Well, there are very real difficulties in merging churches. What would motivate us to work through these problems and actually have a merger? First, we address the practical considerations. There are many.
Posted in Congregational Autonomy and Mergers, Uncategorized
Tagged All
Comments Off on Why we should merge churches–the practical reasons
Why we shouldn’t merge churches
The overwhelming majority of Churches of Christ have less than 150 members. Although many of these congregations are the only Church in their community, many communities have several congregations. In my own town, many of our members drive past two … Continue reading
Posted in Congregational Autonomy and Mergers, Uncategorized
Tagged All
Comments Off on Why we shouldn’t merge churches
The Argument against the Instrument Based on History
Ultimately, the argument opposing instrumental music I find most intriguing is built on some very good history. For centuries the early church sang a cappella at a time when numerous musical instruments were available. And the early, uninspired Christian writers wrote extensively on … Continue reading
Posted in Instrumental Music, Uncategorized
Tagged All
Comments Off on The Argument against the Instrument Based on History
Buried Talents: In Search for a New Consensus on the Role of Women
Another book-length essay. I’ve been plugging away on this one for over a decade, based on my class notes from a 17-week class on the subject taught a very long time ago. You can download the entire essay or download … Continue reading
Posted in Role of Women, Uncategorized
Tagged All, Buried Talents, Church of Christ Links, egalitarianism, women in ministry
Comments Off on Buried Talents: In Search for a New Consensus on the Role of Women
If You Do Marry …
I’ve just posted another book-length essay, this one on marriage, divorce, and remarriage. You can download the entire essay or chapter at a time in .pdf format here: But If You Do Marry … I’ve been working on this one … Continue reading
Posted in Divorce and Remarriage, Uncategorized
Tagged All, But If You Do Marry, Church of Christ Links, divorce, doctrine, marriage, remarriage
Comments Off on If You Do Marry …
