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Ordination: I was ordained to the Gospel ministry by a Southern Baptist congregation in 1980, but you won’t hear me have a lot to say about ordination. I believe in it, but in a minimalist kind of way. I don’t believe in titles. (Not calling someone Father or Reverend seems like a can’t-miss teaching of […]

This may be one of those posts that ought to appear over at JSS, because it has a lot to do with what Jesus was doing when he was on earth and how it continues today.
BTW, I’m not criticizing the defenders of institutions. I love mine and defend it all the time, but I have […]

IM reader Tom sent me some responses to the Riff on “The Slow Death of Congregational Singing.” I thought his comments were well worth posting here for your reading and discussion.
Thanks Tom.
Michael,
I don’t read your work as much as I used to, but I caught and appreciated your excellent post on congregational singing. I […]

NOTE: Please read the article I’m “riffing” on if you want to comment.

I’m sure other people have written about this, but The Briefing has one of the best articles you’ll find on what’s happening to congregational singing: The Slow Death of Congregational Singing. If you’ve been on Mars, it’s vanishing.
In its place we have a […]

Done. Thanks.
Wikipedia has a very complete Carlin entry.
Comedians and those who knew the man discuss Carlin’s life and contribution.
When I heard that George Carlin had died, one of the first thoughts I had was how he had, in his own way, lived a life devoted to the “word,” i.e. the comedic word, and the truth, […]

One of the most popular methods used in Christian preaching and teaching today is taking a topic or text and presenting it as a list of principles.
I would like to briefly examine some of the “good” and “not so good” aspects of the practice of turning texts or topics into principles as the primary methodology […]

Somewhere between Mark Driscoll, David Fitch, Bill Kinnon and Jared Wilson there’s a discussion about the validity of missional/emerging church claims to know what they are doing/talking about….which I’m not part of, but one of them asks for my thoughts. Big mistake (OK….it was Kinnon.)
First, my own missional cred.
My community has professing converts. About […]

UPDATE: Here’s a suggestion by Ray Ortland that fits with this post.
If the truth about Christianity turned out to be very different from what we’d been taught as young Christians by people we look up to as mentors and authorities, would we stand up and tell the truth? Would we make the turn and go […]

Only Scriptural Baptist churches can make a legitimate claim to an unbroken succession back to the time of Christ and the apostles. Christ only built one kind of church and that church is described in detail in the New Testament. The only churches meeting the requirements of that description today are true Baptist churches. Baptist […]

This post is my opinion, and your opinion is welcome in the comments if you can talk about The Shack instead of talking about what a jerk I am. I WELCOME differing opinions in regard to the book. Reading it and making up your own mind is what we should all do.
Well, well, well….it’s the […]

A friend of mine recently said, “It sure seems that you’ve gone through a lot of phases during your time as a blogger.”
I’m sure it seems that way, but most of that is an illusion of the blogging life. The people around me wouldn’t have any major change in my beliefs to report since I […]

I’ve been in a verse-by-verse study of I and II Timothy this year with several other men on our staff. We had an interesting discussion on this passage and its application in various contexts.
II Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people […]

At the Asbury Bloggers Society meeting last night, we had a wide ranging discussion on various aspects of blogging and ministerial formation at the seminary level. One of my suggestions was that a blogger develop a list of “teaching” blogs that exhibit and demonstrate excellence. Use these blogs to ask yourself questions about your own […]

Read the original (written back when I was a Calvinist): On Christless Preaching.
Recently I was traveling to a conference with a friend, and I listened to a sermon. Preached by a Christian, a Baptist, a minister at a church, a graduate of a Christian school training ministers to serve and communicate Jesus.
This preacher gave a […]

UPDATE: Here’s a post that has a perfect feel for the idea of heaven that I grew up around- and that still surrounds me here in the mountains. (PHC= Pentecostal Holiness Church.)
The message of many evangelistically focused conservative Christians is about heaven: How to get there. What will heaven be like. Why heaven is our […]