Bible and Mission

The Church: The Essence of Worship: Part IV Introduction Two misguided human pursuits are the aspiration to self-rule apart from God and devotion to something other than God.  In the ink of these two alternatives, human history is written. Over against this story, however, is the story of God in human history, creating and providing an alternative that culminates in the work of Jesus Christ. The experiment of the Western Enlightenment, leading from a deistic rationalism to an atheistic existentialism, is characterised by human aspirations to self-rule, life apart from God. Evangelism in the West has often involved responding to the claim that there is no God.  Whereas the practical implications of such a debate used to focus around such issues as praying in public schools or on the sports fields, increasingly the issues of an a-theistic culture have to do with moral freedom. In non-Western cultures, the issue is not whether God exists but who or what demands our d...

Issues Facing Missions Today: 46. (Some) Values for American, Evangelical Voters Dear Evangelical Voters in Iowa: You represent the rest of us Evangelicals in the news these days as the American nation watches how you will vote in the upcoming party elections for president of the United States.  We can appreciate your opposition to Democratic candidates, who advocate killing the unborn and oppose Biblical marriage in the name of freedom.  Yet support for one Republican candidate over another is also a difficult challenge for any Evangelical.  One leading candidate who claims to be a Christian seems rather obviously to be doing so only to win votes.  He certainly has little understanding of Christian values, even arguing the other night on the O’Reilly Factor that Christians teach ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  Some other candidates are more closely connected to the Church, and yet we should cringe when hearing some of their views.  C...

Introduction Should we baptize babies of a believing parent or only baptize believing adults?  How do we use the Bible appropriately to answer this question?  Frankly, does the Bible answer this question?   This essay is meant as an Evangelical discussion on the issue of baptism, and certain assumptions are made from the start: baptism does not save us, and Scripture is God’s Word and authoritative in our convictions and practices as believers.  Also, sincere, Evangelical Christians hold to different practices—differences of perspective should not divide the Evangelical movement. Some Exegetical Issues First , the New Testament links baptism to participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it is our faith in the person and work of Christ that saves us .  Two key passages are from Paul: Romans 6:3-5   Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  4 T...

Issues Facing Missions Today: 45. The Misnomer ‘Homophobia’ and its Theological Implications In his opening speech at the Lambeth gathering of Anglican Archbishops this week (11-15 January, 2016), the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, allegedly stated, [1] We can also paint a gloomy picture of the moral and spiritual state of Anglicanism. In all Provinces there are forms of corruption, none of us is without sin. There is litigation, the use of civil courts for church matters in some places. Sexual morality divides us over same sex issues, where we are seen as either compromising or homophobic.  Indeed, the newly invented term, ‘homophobia,’ has become a standard term in Western society in reference to persons opposed, for whatever reason, to homosexuality.  It is a profoundly inappropriate term, behind which lie numerous errors with serious consequences.  The term is not only a linguistic game played by those wishing to put their own viewpoints forward ...