In the last few months, I have been reading about the first Ecumenical Councils of the church in the 4th and 5th Centuries. It was at these councils that the nature of Jesus was clearly defined for all of Christendom. Many of the misunderstandings about Jesus that survive today were addressed by these councils.
The enemy’s best tool
Church leaders have the opportunity to deprive our great enemy of his best and most effective tool. What is that tool? It is us when we are more concerned about our own glory and reputation than we are of God’s glory and reputation.
Who builds the church?
When I am tempted to be overwhelmed by the problems in the church, I need to remind myself that it is not up to men to build the church. Jesus told us that he, himself, is the one who builds his church (Matthew 16:18).
How well do you shepherd your flock?
All of the items in the list above are related to the second great command to love my neighbor. A list like this is helpful because it reminds me that to love my neighbor, I have to get to know him and know what is going on in his life.
Social justice and the church
I find that writing is the best way for me to work toward clarification on an issue. So in this post I will share some thoughts, admittedly incomplete thoughts, on the relationship of the church to the need for social justice in our society. The Bible has a lot to say about social justice. Even […]
External versus Internal Focus
I’ve been involved in some discussions recently regarding the focus of the church. Should our focus be toward the outside to bring new people in or should our focus be on building people up that are already in the church? I struggle to see how these two can be separated without doing damage to what […]
