Category Archives: Index

Renewing Our Worship: Better A Cappella Music

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Under the guidance of our present worship minister, our worship services have gotten pretty good. I know this is true because — * No one is complaining much about the worship, * The numbers are up, and * Some people … Continue reading →

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Fixing Small Groups

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Jay F Guin

I ran across this article and just had to share it. One of the nation’s fastest growing churches couldn’t get small groups right until they tried something radical — mission. I describe how we do this at my church in … Continue reading →

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Renewing Our Worship: The Lord’s Supper

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Jay F Guin

The Lord’s Supper has always been important to the Churches of Christ. We take communion weekly. It’s so important to us that we often offer communion on Sunday nights for those unable to take it that morning, and we often … Continue reading →

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Renewing Our Worship: Getting the Details Right

Posted on February 8, 2009 by Jay F Guin

In most churches, worship is where a potential convert first encounters the church as community. It’s a public event — advertised as such. And it obviously is intended to communicate who we are as a people. Well, it’s obvious to … Continue reading →

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Renewing Our Worship: Getting Organized

Posted on February 7, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Maybe this is too obvious. I apologize if it is. But doing worship well requires organizing the right way. And I think the reason we so often do worship badly is, in part, because we so often organize badly. Let … Continue reading →

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Penn on Evangelism

Posted on February 7, 2009 by Jay F Guin

This video is not a joke. In fact, it’s a serious as the fires of hell. Penn, of the Penn & Teller magic act, is famous for being an atheist and for criticizing religion — and being quite outspoken on … Continue reading →

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Renewing Our Worship: Change

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Jay F Guin

First, a joke — Q. How many Church of Christ members does it take to change a lightbulb? A. Change???!! If you graph the distribution of humans on just about any criteria, you get a bell curve. It’s true for … Continue reading →

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Renewing Our Worship: Frontier Revivalism and the Invitation

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Jay F Guin

I think it’s important as we consider our worship practices that we understand where they come from. Much of what we do has a clear, historical origin: the frontier revivalism of the early 19th Century. Following the American Revolution, religion … Continue reading →

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Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: The Gates of Hell

Posted on February 4, 2009 by Jay F Guin

The lesson is taught at Caesarea Philippi, a city that was notorious for its evil. The Jordan River begins with three springs at the foot of Mt. Hermon in the city. In 2 BC, Herod Philip became tetrarch of this … Continue reading →

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Renewing Our Worship: Authority

Posted on February 3, 2009 by Jay F Guin

We have this false doctrine, this peculiar notion, that everything we do in church requires authority. We inherited this doctrine, known as the Regulative Principle, from (of all people) John Calvin. It’s amazing, you know, that we can be as … Continue reading →

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