Category Archives: Ecclesiology

What Constitutes Worthy Worship?

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There is a great deal of confusion today about what constitutes appropriate worship, whether we are talking about personal or corporate worship of God. Some expect worship to make them feel good and therefore want church services by which they feel affirmed and satisfied. Others link worship with entertainment, and church services are planned accordingly. These views mistakenly assume that worship is intended to enhance the personal pleasure of the worshipper. This is not true. What does the Bible have to say about appropriate worship?

The Gift of Teaching and Local Church Ministry

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New Testament References: The gift of teaching is one of the continuing spiritual gifts given to the church. Three New Testament books specifically mention this gift. • 1 Romans 12:7—”He that teacheth, [let him teach].” • 1 Corinthians 12:28—””And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers.” • Ephesians 4:11—””And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” Some people link the latter two gifts and understand them to be the gift of pastor-teacher.

A Call for Relevance

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The need for relevance is a problem faced by most Christian workers today. However, this struggle is not new to our time. Even the Apostle Paul dealt with it. Historically, it has been the more liberal theologians who made relevance a key concern in the ministry. They cared more for people and their needs than for the Truth of God’s Word. Now it has become a significant factor in conservative theology. One of the more recent evidences of this change has been the ascension of relational theology and the decline of transactional theology.

Family-Based Youth Ministry

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Perhaps no other area of Christian ministry thrives more on trends and fads than youth ministry. It is fascinating to peruse recent youth ministry periodicals and publications and to observe what new innovations youth ministers are trying. Some fads exhibit pure creativity; others push the envelope; a few are even disturbing; but most fade off the scene of youth ministry as soon as they appear. Youth ministers certainly have an inclination to stay on the “cutting edge” of youth culture. However, there is one trend infiltrating the ranks of youth ministry that is more than just a passing fancy; it is called family-based youth ministry.1 Over the past decade a flurry of articles and books have appeared promoting this new way of doing youth ministry.

Functional Churches

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The local church is the only visible expression of the universal church, the body of Christ. As such, a living body must function consistently and well. In practical ways, though, how can the leaders of the local assembly bring Biblical body function into being? One fact remains startlingly clear. Christians do not grow in isolation. There needs to be a commonality with each other. Further, New Testament Christians were not given the choice as to whether or not they wished to function.

Resources For Preaching

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Those who have listened to preaching for at least a generation are likely to observe that it is not what it was. On the basis of both anecdote and memory, it is on balance neither as interesting nor as compelling as it was within living memory. Furthermore, the results are not the same. First-time adult decisions for salvation used to be relatively common in many churches every Sunday. Now such decisions have to be programmed, usually after inducing people to make decisions in their own homes and then persuading them to come to church to go forward.

Waving the Flag, Part II

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What is happening today is not new, and it is not isolated to only a few rare incidents. Let us note and learn from some examples from the past. Andover Seminary. Andover was started in 1807–1808 because a Unitarian had been appointed as professor of theology at Harvard. Every attempt was made to safeguard the new school’s orthodoxy. Yet within 75 years, the school’s faculty was promoting views way out of line with traditional orthodoxy, and during its 100th anniversary year—1908—it became identified with and moved back to the Harvard campus!

Waving the Flag, Part I

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It is instructive to study the history of institutions to see how they have broadened and moved away from the original vision of their founders. Such a study is important because this process is taking place in many organizations whose heritage is one thing but present reality is another. Many view this broadening as progress, but others who cherish the founding ideals with their parameters, are saddened. The founding statements of institutions such as Harvard (which speak of Christ as the foundation for learning and one reason for the institution’s founding being a “dreading an illiterate ministry”—that is, a fear that they would not have educationally qualified pastors to guide them—) when compared with the institutions today, demonstrate only too well just how far the broadening can go.

Motivation for Service in the Local Church

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One of the key questions facing the leadership of a local church is: How does one motivate the believers for service in the church? At the outset, church leaders face problems. They recognize that only fifteen to twenty percent of the believers in a local church are actually serving the Lord in productive ways. It is futile to place the blame on the believers without first analyzing why these believers do not serve, and second, providing creative ways for them to do so.

Ministry in the Local Church

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The scriptural teaching concerning the mission of the body of Christ is most clearly given in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in chapter 4. Mention has been made of this text often. Ephesians 4:11–12 reads: “And he [i.e., Christ] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” A direct rendering of the Greek of 4:12 reads: “For the equipping of the saints for the work of service-ministry for the building up of the body of Christ.”