How can we reduce the “poimacide” rate (read Part 1) in modern church life? In Avoiding Poimacide (Part 2) I suggested two areas churches must seriously and urgently consider to do so. In this installment I offer three more. 3. Markeplace mentality. The church-at-large must confess and repent from a systemic addiction to a marketplace mentality. Instead of a community of other-Kingdom exiles, the church has become a business or brand […]
Previously on Blind Man’s Fancy: Poimacide (Part 1). Surveys show that 90% of pastors will not retire as pastors (see Poimacide (Part 1)). Pastors do get burned out and found out, but most often get run out. Most Western, affluent churches do not have a sterling track record of treating their pastors well for a long time. We must reverse this trend. The church cannot afford to lose any more […]
Sunday evening assemblies have grown rare. If you can find one, there will be a fraction of the Sunday morning attendance. Church members declare Sunday night optional for them. Baptizing their decision in the name of “family time” is more likely football time, movie time, pool time, or get-ready-for-work time. Since Scripture nowhere prescribes a Sunday night service there is no biblical injunction to participate. It’s legalistic to expect folks […]
“. . . and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (Jn 10.3). “Shepherd the flock of God among you” (1 Pt 5.2). Our local paper recently reported on the uptick of home sales in our metropolitan area. It is good to see real estate moving again. Hopefully, there is a corresponding increase in employment and social stability. Memphis needs it. The article charted one of […]
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jn 3.16) I was recently reading a cartooned Scripture memorization pamphlet to my 5-year-old daughter. It was a story written to help her memorize John 3.16. The pamphlet was nicely done and broke the verse down in digestible parts. As we worked on the first […]
“For in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him” (Heb 2.8). All the world sat agape as the future King of England entered the world last week. Given the ubiquitous news coverage, I am surprised there wasn’t an Obstetricam to stream every second of the delivery live on the internet! Who wouldn’t want […]
We all love a good miracle, don’t we? Honestly, I can’t say I’ve ever witnessed a miracle in the biblical sense. I’ve seen God provide in remarkably timely ways. I’ve seen God use the ordinary means of grace in powerful ways. I’ve known God to act in ways that leave me saying, “There are no coincidences.” In those cases, perhaps throw around the word “miracle” for lack of a better […]
“Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put him to death. They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward. . . . But Jesus kept silent” (Mt 26.59-60, 63a). Trayvon and Zimmerman are now household names for most Americans. For many, justice was served. For many others, […]
In Part 1 I suggested an important of the glory of our Trinitarian God is the humility he displays withing the Godhead itself. He puts that humility on display in the church, where members of the Trinitarian community interact with each other in joyful submission. I would like to press into this idea further by considering what this means specifically for pastors. God’s Trinitarian imprint on the church means the pastor’s […]
Why a Trinitarian God? Presumably, if there was a better way for God to be God then he would be that. We trust therefore existing as a Three-in-God is the best form of being of the One True God. A Trinitarian God is the best God for us than a unitarian god or polytheistic godhead. What then does a Trinitarian God uniquely offer that a unitarian god or polytheistic godhead […]