Category Archives: Uncategorized

My Concern with Youth Ministry

I’m deeply concerned about the state of youth ministry nowadays. As adult ministry is maturing from providing “goods and services” to the membership and instead being “missional,” I’m not seeing a comparable maturation of our youth ministries. Continue reading

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Meditation: Abraham’s Communion

Over 4,000 years ago, more than 2,000 years before Jesus, Abraham fought a war to rescue Lot. Abraham recovered not only Lot and his family, but all the goods and food of Sodom and Gomorrah, two very wealthy cities. Melchizedek, … Continue reading

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Meditation: The Extraordinary Ordinary

Unleavened bread. Fruit of the vine. These made up an ordinary, common meal in the First Century. But they became extraordinary because they were touched by Jesus. Just so, we were once ordinary and common, but we’ve also been touched … Continue reading

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Going “Beyond What Is Written”

This is the last post on the instrumental music controversy. There are a couple more arguments made on the subject to be considered–Is it sin to take an action in the worship assembly that’s not authorized by a command, inference, … Continue reading

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On Communion Meditations

I’m planning on posting some thoughts on the Lord’s Supper, suitable for use as communion meditations. But first, a few thoughts on how to do the communion better. The Lord’s Supper has always been important to the Churches of Christ. … Continue reading

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The “Gospel Advocate” Creed, Part 2

The February 2007 issue of the Gospel Advocate includes an editorial by the owner and editor, Neil Anderson, commenting the decision by the Richland Hills Church of Christ to add an instrumental service. They will continue to offer two a … Continue reading

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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

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Expressio Unius

I’m a lawyer. Worse yet, I’m a bond lawyer and tax lawyer. This means I have to read and interpret complex, tedious, mind-numbing regulations and statutes. I read and write 80-page, single-spaced document. I argue over commas, for crying out … Continue reading

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A Very Important Movie

Amazing Grace, the movie, is the story of how William Wilberforce became a Christian and then worked to ban the English slave trade–quite literally changing the world as the British navy refused to allow slave trading by any nation. The … Continue reading

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The Question of Silence

A short lesson on silence, childrearing, and the instrument. The Question of Silence

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