The gospel is the hope for the world. Its only hope. The church is God’s program for missions, evangelism, and discipleship. Real change comes from the new birth, which comes by the power of the Spirit and the hearing of the word. How will the word be heard unless it’s preached? How will the born …
Category Archives: Ecclesiology
What I Learned in My First Pastorate
A few years ago Towers invited me to reflect on what I learned in my first pastorate at Baptist Church of the Redeemer. I now post what I wrote then in this space. —- A small group of nobodies in a big room seemed really unimpressive, but I confess vanity and pride. To be honest, …
How to Blow Up a Church in Three Easy Steps
Here are three very easy things you can do if you want to dishonor God, cause a lot of heartache, and probably shorten your tenure as the pastor of a church: 1. Be proud. Who would go into a church and be proud? All of us in some way or another. But it might not …
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Can A Presbyterian Join a Baptist Church?
How does one’s stance on baptism affect membership decisions? If a person is a convinced paedobaptist (i.e., one who holds to infant baptism) and declines to be baptized (i.e., immersed) as a believer, should that prohibit him or her from being a member of the church? My attempt to answer these questions is on The …
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How Often Should a Church Take the Lord’s Supper?
How often should a church take the Lord’s supper? Let’s cut straight to the chase: I think the New Testament indicates that the early church took the Lord’s supper every Lord’s day, that is, every Sunday. My key piece of evidence for this is in Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week, when …
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9Marks Regional Workshop in Wheeling, WV
If you’re in the area, or if you’re looking to get away for some refreshing time in the word with some co-laborers in the Gospel, it would be a joy to see you April 8–9, 2011 at the 9Marks Regional Workship in Wheeling, West Virginia, at First Baptist Church of Wheeling. Details on the Location, …
John A. Broadus on the Duty of Teaching Baptist Distinctives
The most recent issue of the Towers publication from SBTS reproduces a condensation of a pamphlet John Broadus wrote on “The Duty of Teaching Baptist Distinctives.” If the link doesn’t go straight to the article on the PDF, it’s on the lower third of page 5 (Towers, January 3, 2011). I’ve copied and pasted it …
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The Lord’s Supper in Paul
Thomas R. Schreiner and Matthew R. Crawford have done us a great service in editing The Lord’s Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ until He Comes, which has just appeared from Broadman and Holman. I’m honored to have contributed to this project, and I’m grateful that Broadman and Holman has kindly granted me permission to post …
Praise God for True Religion at Kenwood (James 1:27)
I remember hearing John Hannah say at DTS: There are two things that you need to learn at seminary. First, the Bible is God’s word. Second, the Bible is the tool God uses to conform his people to the image of the Lord Jesus. To see God’s word at work in the hearts and lives …
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1 Peter 5:1-11, Shepherd, Submit, Stand
It was my privilege to preach at the installation of Ryan Bishop as the Pastor of Graham Bible Church in Graham, TX this past Sunday. The apostle Peter, the rock, follows Christ by humbling himself to serve others, identifying himself as a fellow-elder as he exhorts elders to model Christ-like self-sacrificing shepherding (1 Pet 5:1-4). …
The Office at Redeemer
This is pure joy. Even if you don’t know these people, you’ll appreciate this humor. Travis Cardwell writes: Here it is. . . the video that introduced our Family Camp this year—an exclusive look at the elders ironing out the final details of our retreat. Big thanks to Jason Allison for his wonderful work on …
See You in Bowling Green?
I’d love to see you in Bowling Green if you’re in the area. You can register here. Schedule August 13, 2010 5:30pm – 6:30pm Check-In 7:00pm – 10:00pm Session 1 – A Theological Vision—Churches that Display God’s Glory Session 2 – Preaching & Biblical Theology Q&A August 14, 2010 8:00am – 9:00am Continental breakfast (provided) …
Trevin Wax on the GCR in a Nutshell
Curious about what’s happening in the Southern Baptist Convention, especially with the Great Commission Resurgence? I’m thinking especially of those of you who might be coming to SBTS from non-SBC backgrounds–and that includes those of you thinking about coming to SBTS but your hesitations about the SBC are in the way. You really should read Trevin …
Sermons on Titus
The past four weeks at Kenwood we were in Paul’s letter to Titus. Here are the sermons: April 18, 2010, Titus 1:1-4 Truth Produces Godliness April 25, 2010, Titus 1:5-16 Elders in Response to False Teachers May 2, 2010, Titus 2:1-15 Behavior that Commends the Gospel May 9, Titus 3:1-15 Behavior Based on the Gospel …
Interview with Jonathan Leeman on The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love
My friend Jonathan Leeman is the director of communications for 9Marks and edits their eJournal. It has been a blessing to know him for lo these many years now, and I’m excited about the appearance of his first book, The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and …
Tim Keller on the Multi-Site Model
I appreciate this from Tim Keller: 1. First, we sent our services out into different locations so that people could worship closer to where they lived. People can become more deeply involved in the community and can more easily bring friends if they attend services in their neighborhood. This was an ‘anti-mega-church’ move, since huge …
Justin Taylor Diavlogs with Russell Moore on Adopted for Life
I’m fans of both Justin Taylor and Russell D. Moore, and this is really cool. These guys must be on Macs or something. They have recorded a conversation on Dr. Moore’s new book Adopted for Life. Aside from the coolness factor of this video, I can’t speak highly enough of this remarkable book. Theological precision. …
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Franchising the Church or Fulfilling the Great Commission: A Forum on Multiple-Campus Churches
I’m glad to see some discussion of the multi-site-church movement. SBTS recently held a public conversation between Gregg Allison, Chad Brand, and Jimmy Scroggins on this issue. Here is the link for the audio on the conversation: Franchising the Church or Fulfilling the Great Commission: A Forum on Multiple-Campus Churches I think this is a …
Interview with Thabiti on Being a Healthy Church Member (particularly as a seminarian)
Thabiti Anyabwile was kind enough to interact with me on topics related to his new book, What Is A Healthy Church Member? Our exchange is below. Enjoy! [JMH = me; TMA = Thabiti M. Anyabwile] ——— JMH: Dear Thabiti, Thanks for your service to us, brother. If I may, I’d like to ask you for …
Denton Bible Holding the Line
I am glad to see that Denton Bible Church is standing strong on the complementarian point of view by hosting an important series of messages on Women in Ministry. If you’re in the Dallas area, I would encourage you to attend the events described below in the letter from Tom Nelson of Denton Bible. May …