Webber (at the time of writing, 1998) is President of the Institute for Worship Studies and Professor of Theology at Wheaton College. It is becoming less and less surprising that outspoken praise for ecumenicity and criticism of traditional Fundamentalism as well as Evangelicalism (even of Reformation theology) should come from Wheaton. Webber’s thesis is that […]
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Tag: Progressivism / Conservatism
Local Church Methodology
Every time I read advocates of contemporary worship, I can see why many have said things like, “Every time a new book is published, read an old one.”1 The old truth that you are what you read becomes true in those who spend their time reading about the contemporary church scene. You can only digest […]
The Battle for Christian Music
This 1992 book has been the topic of discussion among conservatives and progressives alike for the last decade. After having read a number of good books on the music controversy (many of which I have reviewed and recommended), I found a new reading of Fisher’s book to be very rewarding. Fisher answers many questions that […]
This Little Church Went To Market
This is the second book I’ve read (and reviewed) by Gary Gilley. In This Little Church, Gilley evaluates the contemporary church movement primarily from his own background and familiarity with psychology. He finds the methodology and motivation of the contemporary church almost identical if not primarily borrowed from the world of psychology. Our society is […]
The Biblical Faith of Baptists, Vols 4 &
These are the last two of five volumes which are the printed messages at the Fundamental Baptist Congresses. My original purpose for reading these five volumes was to compare them to “The Fundamentals” preached and written a generation before (in the early 1900s). I was curious to see the similarities and the progression of thinking […]
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 […]
Rethinking the Successful Church
This is another in the line of “why I have a big church but am not caught in the success syndrome” books. Rima says some insightful things about the “manic” obsession with church growth and recounts how he decided to redirect his own thinking. His answer, and the sub-title of the book, is: “Finding serenity […]
Thinking Inside The Box
G .K. Chesterton wrote, “The mind that finds its way to wild places is the poet’s; but the mind that never finds its way back is the lunatic’s.”1 It seems we have no shortage of “visionaries” and “original thinkers,” but fewer and fewer of them seem to be able to find their way back home! […]
Why Won’t Those Older Chistians Change?
In the current debate over change, we seldom have the patience or the interest to listen to our elders. It has become tragic to hear of a generation of Christians who have come to the Lord out of their sinful past, given their money over their life-time to their church, raised their kids in their […]