The Gospel of John Series Relocated

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Jay F Guin

Until a few minutes ago, I had a huge table in the right column listing all the articles in the Gospel of John series, completed a few weeks ago. I kept it there to make it easy for teachers in my church to find the materials, because we’ve been covering those notes during the last 5 months.

The series is now over at my church, and that massive table was slowing load times for everyone. Therefore, I’ve moved the lessons to the links at the top of the page under “CBS Bible Classes.” Click that link and you’ll be immediately taken to a choice of three Bible class series. One of those will be the Gospel of John series.

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The Preacher Search: Lessons for Churches Searching for Preachers, Part 2

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Jay F Guin

6. Don’t go too fast. People grow very attached to the pulpit minister. They see him as a pastor, counselor, spiritual leader, guru, father figure, best friend … all sorts of ways. Having him leave their lives will be traumatic for many. It takes time to mourn the loss and to be ready to give the new guy a fair shake.

Don’t go too fast. Remember, the elders have likely known about the minister’s departure longer than the congregation. They’ve had more time to get used to the idea. The church will have had less time to acclimate to the change. Continue reading →

Posted in Preacher Searches, Uncategorized | 15 Comments

The Preacher Search: Lessons for Churches Searching for Preachers, Part 1

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Jay F Guin

We finished a 15-month preacher search late last year. I’ve learned several lessons I thought I should pass along.

Many of these I learned the hard way. This was not my first preacher search, by any means, but the Churches of Christ are changing, and every search brings new lessons.

And so, some of these I learned a long time ago. Others, I should have learned a long time ago, but didn’t. And a few are brand new, just because times change and so you have to learn as you go.

Continue reading →

Posted in Ministers, Preacher Searches, Uncategorized | 58 Comments

In Search for My Missing Comments

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Jay F Guin

Well, my webhosting service has confirmed that the backup from the day before they began to repair my comment system is hopelessly corrupted. All comments from about November of last year until a few days ago are lost.

So here’s the plan — Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

ElderLink in Atlanta — An Idea for Supporting Our Elders

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Jay F Guin

(So I did a search for images for “ElderLink.” And look at what I found!

For those of you who don’t play Zelda — or have kids who do (my situation) — the picture is a sculpture of Link, the hero of the videogame Zelda, imagined as much older — ElderLink. Really.

I’m thinking of getting T-shirts made.)

So my fellow elders, two of our ministers, and I attended ElderLink in Atlanta a few weeks ago. The program is jointly sponsored by ACU and Lipscomb University. (Thank you!)

It’s always a worthwhile trip. It’s good to spend some time with my fellow elders and ministers away from church. Continue reading →

Posted in Elders | 8 Comments

Jesus and Paul on the Hermeneutics of Sexuality: Masturbation

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Jay F Guin

Since we’ve spent that last several days on the subject of sex, and since we just addressed one of those questions I’d hoped I’d never get, here’s the other question I’d hoped I’d never get —

Is masturbation a sin?

I do get emails. [For some reason, I couldn’t find a suitable picture to lead this post.] Continue reading →

Posted in Homosexuality, Sexuality, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

The Message of Ezekiel, by Christopher J. H. Wright

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Jay F Guin

So I was called to New York on business. And I like to read on the plane. I just can’t make myself watch movies in an airplane for some reason. And it’s just too uncomfortable to sleep.

It was short notice, and so I picked up what would surely be the most unreadable book I’ve recently received — a commentary on Ezekiel.

Worse than that, the commentary is 368 pages long and doesn’t include the text of Ezekiel. I found myself wandering the newsstands at the airport looking for something more readable. After all, this was supposed to be a reference book — not a book to be read cover to cover like a novel. Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Comments up and operating, but …

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Jay F Guin

The commenting software is working again. You should be able to post new comments with no problems.

Unfortunately, the last 6 months of comments are in limbo. The webhosting service is hoping to retrieve them tonight.

The comment database was pretty badly corrupted due to a plugin installed to protect against malware. Well, we got no malware … just a plugin that corrupted the comment database.

I’ll post something as soon as I know whether we can recover the last several weeks of comments. And, yes, I’m pretty upset because we had an incredible conversation going on that we were just completing.

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Comments still broken

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Jay F Guin

[10:28 CT 5/15/13] Comments are still broken. Not lost, but the link between the massive comments database and the webpage is corrupted.

As it turns out, the problem stems from software installed to protect the site from hackers. Ironic …

The site will likely be fixed many hours before I can post a new notice. But if the “Recent Comments” widget on the right side lists the recent comments, it should work fine.

 

[Yesterday]The comments system in WordPress (the base blogging software I use) is down.

Sucuri.net confirms that there’s no virus or other malware. The problem is with the software itself.

The webhost is working on the problem. The comments should be fixed soon.

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Jesus and Paul on the Hermeneutics of Sexuality: Grace and Gay Christians

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Jay F Guin

Okay. I lied. The series isn’t over — except it is. This is a new series (See the new picture?)

We had been pursuing the question of whether homosexual sex is a sin — and thanks to many thoughtful readers — Gary most especially — I’ve think we’ve covered the topic very thoroughly, whether you agree with me, Gary, or no one.

But a reader asked me a question I was hoping I wouldn’t have to answer, because it’s much harder to me than what we’ve been talking about. You see, I get emails —

Can we have fellowship with a practicing homosexual who believes he is in the right with God? In other words, is it a Romans 14 issue? Continue reading →

Posted in Homosexuality, Sexuality, Uncategorized | 1 Comment