Read how and why his mind changed here.
Author Archives: JMH
Rob Bell Has Women Elders
A friend of mine sent me the link to this fascinating account of how Mars Hill Bible Church, led by their pastor, Rob Bell, voted to overturn the section of their original constitution that limited the office of elder to men. According to the article, two of their eight elders are women. You can read …
Mark Driscoll
The Lord has used Mark Driscoll in my life over the past few weeks to be more conscious of how many lost and unchurched people there are in this country. According to Barna, between 1991 and 2004 there was a 92% increase in the number of unchurched Americans. If all the unchurched folks in this …
Rob Bell’s Houston Appearance
Here’s an article in the Houston Chronicle about Rob Bell’s “Everything Is Spiritual” tour. The reporter spoke with me about Bell. I don’t know a lot about him, and I didn’t make it to his Houston appearance. I’m glad that people are taking the faith to the kinds of people that Jesus got criticized for …
What Works or What the Bible Says?
In an insightful review of Chris Seay’s Faith of My Fathers, Bruce Keisling analyzes, exposes, and cautions against the pragmatism that can be seen in both the “Revivalistic Baptist” church methods of yesteryear and the “Emerging” methods that might prove to be this generation’s fad. I commend to you this review. May it be another …
Naming the Sin of Liberal Christianity
Wow! This article by Charlotte Allen is so forthright it almost feels like a slap in the face. I can’t believe this piece, called “Liberal Christianity Is Paying for Its Sins,” got published in the Los Angeles Times. I hope that all the evangelical scholars, teachers, and Ph.D. students who are so excited about flirting …
Baptism, Church Membership, and “Together for the Gospel”
Baptism and church membership go together. Baptism symbolizes that a person has been baptized into Christ Jesus, specifically, into his death (Gal 3:27; Rom 6:3). It is faith that unites us to Christ (Gal 3:26; Col 2:12). Baptism is a picture of this union with Christ, as it shows that what has happened to Jesus …
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Why Don’t Baptists Commune with Presbyterians?
In a recent comment a friend of mine raised the issue of whether the requirements for membership in the local church ought to be the same as the requirements for membership in the universal church. I take this to mean: we think that someone is saved if they make a profession of faith and show …
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Great Help for Family Worship
On the post before last, the hymn-writing Pastor Eric Schumacher gave us a link to a helpful family worship book for July through September of 2006. This looks like a great tool, and I’ve printed and intend to use at least parts of it. Enjoy!
What Is Church 3.0?
Check out Mark Driscoll’s blog to find out.
What Is Regeneration?
I’ve posted before about how we’re catechizing our kids, mainly using The Baptist Catechism edited by John Piper. I’m not sure that we’ll learn all the questions, though. For instance, I’m not certain that the question, “May all men make use of Scripture,” with the answer that all men are not only permitted but required …
David Wells on Evangelical Pastors
As he describes one of the chapters of No Place for Truth, David Wells writes, . . .the pastorate has become proffessionalized, . . . the central function of the pastor has changed from that of truth broker to manager of the small enterprises we call churches. To the extent that this tendency has taken …
History, Pastors, and Ministry Philosophy
In his brilliant book, Democratic Religion, Prof. Dr. Greg Wills details the way that Baptists in the South used to do church discipline and gives an account of why things changed. One of the main reasons that discipline declined among Southern Baptists was that they shifted from focusing on Bible and theology to focusing on …
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Baptism, Baptist History, and Church Membership
Both Dr. Mohler and Justin Taylor have posted today on the direction John Piper has led Bethlehem Baptist Church on the issue of Baptism and Church Membership. Mohler mentions that some allege that Calvinism may lead Baptists away from believer’s baptism. Baptist history can help us here. Tom Nettles (The Baptists, 138–42) describes how the …
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How to Share the Gospel with a Muslim
There are, of course, many ways, but Thabiti Anyabwile posted a great letter in the comments section of the last post. You can view it here (scroll down to “Thabiti says”).
The Greatest Danger Facing the Church
Is probably not what most of us expect. We expect some sort of direct challenge from without, something like The Da Vinci Code. But I think the greatest danger that we face is from within, and I think it comes from well meaning pastors. How could well meaning pastors pose the greatest threat to evangelical …
Prayer of the Month
The Lord blessed me with a good idea the other day, and perhaps it will bless you as well. I decided to pick a New Testament prayer and try to pray through it every day of the month. This will probably lead to the memorization of the text, which never hurts, and I hope that …
Theology in the Local Church
I was extremely encouraged to read this news story, which tells of a 4,300 member church that “has 480 people who participate in weekly theological reading groups that study through Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology.” Wow! May the Lord bless us all with so many people willing to engage in serious theological study!
Dallimore on Why He Wrote the Biography of Whitefield
“Yea, this book is written in the desire—perhaps in a measure of inner certainty—that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more bring into being His special instruments of revival, that He will again raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner …
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Are Big Churches Bad?
I get the definite impression that many people who are careful about theology and earnest to obey the commands and examples of the Bible think that bigger churches are bad churches. Several observations are relevant here: First and foremost, let’s remember that the Jerusalem Church had over 3,000 after the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41). …