It is the best of times. It is the worst of times. Never have Americans been as comfortable in their homes and as afraid in the world. Never have Americans enjoyed freedom of thought and expression and been so corrupt in the imaginations of their hearts. And never have Americans been so tolerant of moral […]
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Author: Rick Shrader
Religious Postmodern Talking Points
In the last few years we have been inundated with information from within political circles that has been crafted by certain individuals but is intended to be heard by the general public. Sometimes this is a “trial balloon” of information, floated in public conversation to evaluate its effect. Often it is a specific piece of […]
Who Hath Despised the Day of Small Thing...
I have been defending the small church. I have not said that a church must be small to be spiritual or that largeness is an evil in itself. But I have said that the small church is the normal church; the one seen most often in the New Testament and throughout church history. I have […]
Who Hath Despised the Day of Small Thing...
When Zechariah was asked that question by the interpreting angel in the fourth chapter of his prophecy (Zech 4:10), the present temple project looked dreadfully small compared to the glory of the former temple. But the prophet as well as the people who worked on the walls were reminded that God’s work is Not by […]
The Historical Supremacy of Christianity
Christianity claims to be both exclusive and inclusive. It is exclusive in that it claims to be the only way to God, and it is inclusive in that it claims it is the only way to God for every individual in the world. Diogenes Allen wrote, “We cannot relinquish the claim that Christ is the […]
A Minister’s Evaluation
With a little time to reflect on my pastoral ministry of eighteen years, I find myself doing constant self-evaluation. I think I am pretty hard on myself, though I cannot accept the common evaluations of many pundits. Theirs seems to be a typical crying of “so many are struggling emotionally in the ministry. . . […]
When Disciples Are Above Their Master
“Paul’s word about being all things to all men and our Lord’s eating with publicans and sinners have been worked overtime to justify unwise sociability.”1 How true! Anyone who is concerned at all about worldliness in the church has had to listen to the proposition that Jesus was accepted and loved by sinners and they […]
Why Did I Write It?
In January and February I wrote a two-part article titled, “Generic Church: The New Formalism.” In it I listed a number of reasons why I am not an advocate of the “contemporary” or “progressive” church movement. I received as many positive responses to that article as I have ever received for an article. I am […]
Generic Church: The New Formalism (part ...
Note: The first half of this article is in the January 2003 issue of Aletheia. Although I give space to expand the introduction, the main points are a continuation of the first three points which appear in the first issue. I have proposed that the description “contemporary church” in the sense of “new,” “fresh” or […]
Generic Church: The New Formalism (part...
Note: I have been intending to write the following article for a few months. It will probably take two issues to finish. It describes my disagreement with the contemporary church movement and what I believe to be unbiblical trends among our conservative churches. I have no antipathy toward individual people or churches. I do have […]