Issue
No Church, No Problem?
Vol. 17, No. 4 • Jul/Aug 2008
An indication of the depth of our spiritual blindness is our inability to see efforts to rid the world of the institutional church as one of Satan’s most significant and oldest acts. If the church is both organization and organism, and if the church has existed since the Garden Temple of Genesis 2, then the […]
All Articles (15)
A Common Obituary
An indication of the depth of our spiritual blindness is our inability to see efforts to rid the world of the institutional church as one of Satan’s most significant and oldest acts. If the church is both organization and organism, and if the church has existed since the Garden Temple of Genesis 2, then the […]
Individualism’s Not the Problem–Community’s Not the Solution
Individualism is the problem. Community is the solution. That’s what they are saying. First the philosophers, sociologists, political theorists, psychologists, and theologians were saying it. Now I hear pastors, church leaders, and impressionable young seminarians saying it. Individualism is what bedevils culture and church both; community is what will save them. Last Thanksgiving I was […]
In Season: Jacob’s “Ladder” and the Condescension of God in Genesis 28:10-22
Two years ago I preached a message entitled “Christmas at Bethel.” I recall the furrowed brows this title elicited in the weeks leading up to the sermon when people inquired about my approaching sermon topic. Imagine how they would have responded to the title “Christmas at Luz”! My purpose here is to share some of […]
No Church, No Problem?
How many times have you heard that the church is not a place but a people? Across the board, from more traditional to more experimental approaches to ministry, the dominant perspective seems to be that we gather on the Lord’s Day primarily in order to do something for God and each other rather than first […]
“A Man for Our Season” by Robert Kolb and Charles L. Arand
In this book, Kolb and Arand offer the reader some thoughts on how the riches of the Lutheran tradition might be used in contemporary church life. Both men are well qualified for the task: Kolb is well known for a number of outstanding monographs on Martin Luther; and Arand has worked on the background to […]
In Search of the Spirit
“EMBRACE Your Inner Pentecostal.” In a recent article in Christianity Today, Chris Armstrong of Bethel Seminary (Minneapolis) and senior editor of Christian History & Biography seeks to show that “Holy Spirit religion is quietly infiltrating the church, revitalizing us all.” Through the influence of Pentecostalism, he suggests, Christians across all denominational boundaries are in search […]
The Church
Explore All
The Right (and Wrong) Ways to Be Protestant
What are Protestant denominations actually like, and why are the stereotypes of each so popular?
10 Overlooked Bible Characters Who Shaped Redemptive History
“Faith is an unclean hand that lays hold of the righteous robes of Jesus.” Adriel Sanchez and Producers Aaron Simon and Arianna Quiroz explore the stories of the characters you may not have heard of in Sunday school and explain how these overlooked figures’ stories can encourage the church today.
How Should Protestants Read the Church Fathers?
“Moreover, they unjustly set the ancient fathers against us (I mean the ancient writers of a better age of the church) as if in them they had supporters of their own impiety. If the contest were to be determined by patristic authority, the tide of victory — to put it very modestly — would turn […]
Did Constantine Change the Day of Worship?
Did Constantine change the church’s day of worship from Saturday to Sunday? Pastor Adriel Sanchez addresses this theory that has long been stated online, demonstrating that the Christian practice has been to gather for worship on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, since the first century.
