diversity, ecclesiology, spiritual gifts, theology
Romans 12:6-8 describes eight gifts: prophecy, serving, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and mercy. 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 lists nine manifestations of the Spirit: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of...
ecclesiology, spiritual gifts, theology
He had no military training, and no skill with the elite weapons of war, but when he saw a battle that needed to be won he didn’t hesitate to engage. Against all odds, and armed only with the knowledge of how God had strengthened him before, a sling and a few small...
ecclesiology, Jesus, teachings of, spiritual gifts, theology
With over 40,000 members, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas is the largest church in the United States. For better or for worse, Lakewood and its leader Joel Osteen are profoundly influential. One significant area of influence is in the realm of spiritual gifts. A...
ecclesiology, spiritual gifts, theology
The great Inigo Montoya once famously said, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” That line is apropos for many occasions, but it especially fits how we often understand spiritual gifts. Instead of recognizing spiritual gifts as...
ecclesiology, ethics, grace, gratitude, philosophy, politics, theology, worldview
“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that people started out inherently good, but through conventions of society they became ensnared (and thus, were in chains). In his view, people are free at first, but enslaved in the...
ecclesiology, ethics, philosophy, politics, worldview
Beginning on March 1, 1692, Sarah Good, of Salem, Massachusetts, was examined on charges of witchcraft. Witnesses would later testify that she had engaged in witchcraft, ridden on brooms and poles, appeared as an apparition and tormented children, and otherwise...
ecclesiology, economics, ethics, Jesus, teachings of, politics, social justice
“Nothing is easier than to give Christian asceticism a socialist tinge. Has not Christianity declaimed against private property, against marriage, against the State? Has it not preached in place of these, charity and poverty, celibacy and mortification of the flesh,...
conscience, ecclesiology, ethics, excerpts
The Bible describes with clarity many responsibilities of believers in the contexts of government and society. Still in some areas believers are not given specific instructions, and instead must rely on applying general Biblical principles to contemporary challenges....
ecclesiology, exegesis/exposition, hermeneutics, spiritual gifts
As I was writing this article, in another room Lovely Bride quizzed Youngest Daughter on her spelling words (including the word “duck”). Meanwhile Oldest Daughter studied at her desk and was just about to get up from her desk and walk to the room where the following...
ecclesiology, epistemology, ethics, philosophy, theology
The insistence that all things are essential (for the purpose of God’s glory) should not be mistaken for an insistence that the believer is responsible for the agreement or disagreement of others. When Paul mandates in 1 Corinthians 1:10 that believers should agree...
