Votes Count
Monday, March 22nd, 2010On Sunday there were two very important votes taken. One you’ve heard of and one you probably didn’t. Both were significant to me. I think the way Doug Wilson began his post on the one you’ve heard of kind of summed up my feels about both: As I have already noted, God is still in [...]
Review: The Vine and the Trellis
Thursday, February 4th, 2010A few weeks ago I received and immediately read The Trellis and the Vine by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne. There has been some excitement in the Reformed blogosphere (is it still okay to use that word? ‘Blogosphere’? ’cause I still am) that I thought I should give it a shot. The snapshot answer is [...]
Is the American Church Really in Decline?
Monday, January 25th, 2010The numbers for the American church don’t look good: Every year more than 4,000 churches close their doors compared to just over 1,000 new church starts. Half of all churches in the US did not add any new members to their ranks in the last two years. At the turn of the last century (1900), [...]
Internet Convergances and Stuff
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009Or “A bunch of links that came to me fairly recently that I find interesting.” I think the latter is more accurate. Anyway, here some random links that I’ve found interesting (duh): When you discuss Christian eschatology you’ll eventually come down to Revelation 20. Guaranteed. One reason I’ve become convinced of the Historic Premillennial position [...]
A Little Test
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009I have a question for you. Can you read the above quote and not think “compromise”? It is an important question and it has nothing to do with Mark Driscoll or Matt Chandler, it has more to do with the success of the gospel. Are you optimistic about the progress of the gospel or are [...]
These Two Paragraphs Have Nothing To Do With Each Other
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009Haven’t done one of these in a while so here goes. According to Barna Research, the percent of female pastors in Protestant churches has doubled in the past ten years. This isn’t surprising but I think it does need a bit of unpacking. First, it is an increase in percentage, not necessarily raw numbers. That [...]
What Has Modernism Done to Our Belltowers?
Thursday, September 10th, 2009I heard a story on BBC World on the way to work this morning that has kind of stuck in my head. Partly because it takes place in the part of England in which Lisa and I met and in the town Ben was born in. But there is more to it also. Church bells [...]
The Elder Etherington
Monday, June 15th, 2009Last night the congregation of Lakeland Evangelical Free Church affirmed me as an elder. It is really humbling to me. The group of men who lead our church are godly and wise and I feel like I should just sit silently in their presence and learn. That isn’t what they’ve called me to do but [...]
Ezekiel’s Temple
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009The issue came up in Sunday school last week whether the temple in Ezekiel’s vision in chapters 40-48 is a literal, physical building or a visionary representation of something else. The amount of physical detail given to the temple seems to indicate that it is intended to be a real, physical construction. I believe the [...]
Song of Songs and Grow Up
Thursday, May 14th, 2009There has been some flap lately about preaching the Song of Songs. Some younger pastors, it has been said, have treated the book almost pornographically. Older preachers are calling for restraint and dignity when handling this inspired poem. Well, I don’t know about that. I haven’t listened to those sermons so I’ll just let the [...]
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