One In Jesus

The 20th Century Churches of Christ have staunchly opposed the ecumenical movement, largely because they saw the other denominations as lost and saw no hope of converting the others to their way of thinking.

In those days, the unity efforts largely were handled by negotiations among bishops and patriarchs and other high officials of the various denominations — with minimal success due to non-negotiable differences regarding the sacraments and church organization.

However, today, the real ecumenical movement is taking place in the pews, as church members reject the thinking of their leaders and insist on respecting baptisms and honoring faith in Jesus across denominational lines, with no concern for the ancient doctrines that have long separated denominations. Continue reading →

We are continuing to consider the great slogans of the Restoration Movement.

No creed but Christ;
no creedbook but the Bible.

In the 19th Century, many denominations had written creeds that were used to define who could be a member and who could take communion.

Thomas Campbell had originally been a Presbyterian preacher in Ireland, where he fathered Alexander. He moved to western Pennsylvania for his health (I have no idea why that made any sense), leaving Alexander behind with his mother to complete his schooling. Continue reading →

I attended David Lipscomb College (now Lipscomb University) and managed to take a Bible class every day for the entire time and learn nothing about the Restoration Movement. That class was reserved for Bible majors and offered opposite key major courses for all others.

Later on, when I began to teach adult Bible classes at church, I decided to do a study of the Restoration Movement. I was fortunate that my church had excellent resources for Restoration Movement studies, by the standards of the day. Continue reading →

I’m not going to attempt a complete theology of the Spirit (pneumatology, technically), nor will I endeavor to suss out just what the Spirit does and doesn’t do today. I just want to offer the barest of introductions to a healthy understanding.

First, Jesus explained the working of the Spirit in enigmatic terms —

(Joh 3:8 ESV)  8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

— which parallels —

(Isa 40:13 ESV) 13 Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Continue reading →

It’s easy to criticize some of the errors of the more conservative Churches of Christ. And the very natural, very human tendency is to lump all Church of Christ teachings together and reject them all.

And so, I think it’s important to occasionally step back and ask just what there is that needs preserving, indeed, that is precious not only to those of us who grew up in the Churches but to Christendom in general. Continue reading →