Category Archives: Church Plants and Foreign Missions

Toward a better model Now, rather than looking for good reasons to plant a church, let’s instead ask whether there might be a better model for church planting. Suppose a young minister feels called to reach out to the local … Continue reading →

I need to make another point or two regarding the comment quoted in the last post — I have no desire to come under Baptist, Methodist, or any other “ist” teachings. We may all agree by faith that Jesus is … Continue reading →

Well, my wife’s Facebook account was hacked the other day. And then Wednesday, my account was hacked. The attacker used the same password to hack into my Google Reader account (surely so he could read all the good theology I … Continue reading →

Monty wrote a comment that I greatly appreciate, because I’m sure he speaks for many readers in what he says. He raises questions that deserve an answer. Isn’t baptism for remission of sins the greatest divide between members of churches of Christ … Continue reading →

Restoration Movement principles The Restoration Movement was founded to teach a rejection of denominational division by refusing to consider denominational differences to be barriers to fellowship. Alexander Campbell wrote, The principle which was inscribed upon our banners when we withdrew … Continue reading →

Bad reasons to plant Let’s eliminate some bad reasons to plant a church: * I need to move to a new town for personal reasons. [Could there be a more self-centered motivation?] * There’s a culture within the city that … Continue reading →

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together — On innumerable occasions a whole Christian community has been shattered because it has lived on the basis of a wishful image. Certainly serious Christians who are put in a community for the first time … Continue reading →

Toward a Conclusion It all fits together. But for those with a restorationist/patternist bent, the idea that there was but one church in a given city during New Testament times is a disturbing conclusion, because the Churches of Christ operate … Continue reading →

[This is edited from an article posted a long time ago. It’s the foundation for the series, and its publication likely predates the involvement of many readers.] Congregational autonomy as we practice it is not found in the scriptures. It … Continue reading →

Let’s take a fairly concrete example. Here in Tuscaloosa we have several hundred congregations of various stripes. There’s a congregation for every imaginable taste. We even have one large Baptist Church that has three Sunday morning services: organ music, symphony … Continue reading →