Are We Sacramentalists? Sex, Children, and Such

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Jay F Guin

BaptismIn the previous posts, I tried to give a taste of the sacramental nature of the Spirit — how human actions, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit — cause spiritual things to happen here on earth.

But there are other examples. For example, I’ve earlier mentioned how marriage is a sacrament, as marriage is a covenant with God and brings a bit of heaven to earth, as we restore men and women toward Eden.

But there’s more. You see, sex not only brings a bit of God’s joy to married men and women, it brings babies. And babies have souls. You see, a very human action creates one more soul with the potential to spend eternity in heaven. Sex thus is especially sacramental — and therefore is an act of worship (except when performed in rebellion to God’s design). Continue reading →

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Churches of Christ in Decline? Setting a Short-Term Vision

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Okay, I’ve warned you against just buying the hot new evangelical book and making it the short-term vision. It doesn’t work. Well, actually, sometimes it does. But not always.

Back when the church growth movement was in full swing, those methods actually worked for a while. Now, they’re about worn out and — more importantly — we’re beginning to see theological problems with them. Many church growth methods led to consumerist churches, catering to “felt needs” rather than recruiting people to join in God’s mission.

Therefore, we need to spend a little time in theological reflection. It’s not that hard. We just have to get back to elementary principles — and away from the books. Continue reading →

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Buried Talents: The Women after Pentecost

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Pentecost

Jesus’ inclusion of women among his disciples begins a pattern that is reflected in the conduct of His apostles. Women disciples were with the apostles at the very beginning:

(Acts 1:12-14) Then [the apostles] returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Continue reading →

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Are We Sacramentalists? The Creation

Posted on April 27, 2008 by Jay F Guin

t_upper-yosemite-falls-yosemite-national-park-california.jpgIn a previous post, we considered the verses that teach that God acts on us, through his Spirit, as we study the Bible. This makes Bible study — or listening to the word taught or preached — sacramental, as a human activity results in God’s activity in a real and immediate way right here on Planet Earth.

But the promise Paul speaks of in 1 Cor 2 is deeper and wider than Bible study. The Spirit helps us “understand what God has freely given us.” Well, God has given us more than the Bible. He has, for example, given us the Creation itself. Continue reading →

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Churches of Christ in Decline: Silos, Politics and Turf Wars

Posted on April 27, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Silos, Politics and Turf Wars is a business management book by Patrick Lencioni. I’m a huge fan of his The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, which should be required reading for every elder and minister in the Churches. I’m such a big fan of 5 Dysfunctions that I bought Silos several months ago, figuring it would be just as good.

And it is good, but I had trouble making the application to churches. So I never wrote a review. I just put it on my shelf, hoping one day the time I’d spent reading it would pay off. And then I was thinking about the decline in the Churches of Christ. And then it kind of all came together. Continue reading →

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Churches of Christ in Decline? Data Points

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Alan Rouse, in a post on his blog, brought together several pieces of data that bear on the decline of conservative denominations, such as the Southern Baptists and Churches of Christ. I’d like to add a few more.

First, the Christian Chronicle interviewed Scott Thumma, a church-growth researcher, whose worked I’ve written about before. In that interview he said an amazingly depressing thing:

Nearly all church growth is the result of a circulation of the saints. Very little significant church growth occurs as a result of converting the unsaved, except for the conversion of ones’ offspring.

If he’s right, then it’s hardly surprising that the conservative denominations have stopped growing. Continue reading →

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100,000 Hits!

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Rats! I was planning on watching the hit counter hit 100,000 and got distracted. Oh, well.

Thanks to everyone for clicking over here. And thanks especially to those who comment. It makes things much more interesting.

PS — Don’t forget to look me up at Pepperdine. 3:15 on Wednesday. KSC 130. This is in the Keck Science building and is easily gotten to from the top of the stairs — in fact, attending this class could avoid climbing LOTS of steps because it’s on the first floor. I should add that the entrace from the other side is via the Appleby Center.

PPS — I’m flying out tomorrow and on vacation Monday and Tuesday. You’ll be able to find me at the bobsled ride in Disneyland. Ahh … I love roller coasters. My wife is a Disney addict. I mean, to stay married, I have to get her to a Disney theme park at least once a year. We’ve just returned from DisneyWorld, so this is a double dose. I’m counting on major brownie points!

PPPS — I don’t know when I’ll be able to log back in. If there’s wireless on campus, I’ll try to post during the day. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that. So don’t take offense if I don’t respond to your comments for a while.

PPPPS — Did you notice the map at the bottom of the left column? I found that little doodad over on Bobby Valentine’s Stoned Campbell blog. Pretty cool. It’s been up only a couple of days, and already I’ve had viewers from all continents other than Antarctica! (But then, Antarctica isn’t on the map, so maybe a few scientists are logging in. Who knows?) And I look to be pretty popular in Great Britain for some reason. Really amazing technology.

Jay

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Buried Talents: The Women of the Gospels and Acts

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Jay F Guin

The Gospel Prophetesses

Before the birth of Jesus, three prophetesses were inspired by God to speak and to instruct men. The first is Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1:42-45). Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also inspired to praise God in response to learning that God had selected her to bear the Messiah (Luke 1:46-55).

Anna the prophetess also prophesied about Jesus, and did so in the temple courts, the most public place of worship in all Israel (Luke 2:36-37). Moreover, she testified about Jesus in the temple courts “to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). Anna was not only prophesying, she was teaching. Her words were the teaching of men in public. The words of all three prophetesses are preserved in scriptures as inspired speech.

Now, some would argue that prophetic utterance is an exception because the words come from God. But that argument only works if you start with the assumption that women was flawed, gullible creatures. If your argument in ontological — that women simply have a different place in the created order — then why would God choose women for this purpose? Why not have the speeches made by the women’s husbands? Continue reading →

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Straight Talk About Premarital Sex

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Excellent article from Janice Crouse reporting the results of the latest research on premarital sex.

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Churches of Christ in Decline? “Good News and Bad News” (revised)

Posted on April 25, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Dr. Flavil Yeakley, long the unofficial chief statistician of the Churches of Christ, has just published a booklet called “Good News and Bad News: A Realistic Assessment of the Churches of Christ in the United States 2008.” It can be bought from the Gospel Advocate Bookstore for $3.75.

Having just reported that the Southern Baptist Churches are in decline, it seems only fair that we take a look at the Churches of Christ. Continue reading →

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