And having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water (Heb 10:21-22). It took Sir Robert Anderson, Scotland Yard chief detective, to shed the following light on […]
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Author: Rick Shrader
Godliness and Evangelism
Though many have said the following in similar ways, I like the way C.S. Lewis put it, “Those who want Heaven most have served Earth best. Those who love Man less than God do most for Man.”1 Answering obvious objections to that thought, Leonard Ravenhill wrote, “Someone now warns us lest we become so heavenly […]
Threshold Seperation
The Biblical doctrine of separation is rooted in the very holiness of God and it is expressed in numerous texts in the Word of God. Peter expressed it in his first epistle, As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, […]
Are We Legalists
It was James who wrote the wonderful and inspired oxymoron, So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the perfect law of liberty (Jas 2:12). Douglas Moo wrote of this verse, “God’s gracious acceptance of us does not end our obligation to obey him; it sets it on a new […]
The Holy and the Profane
As long as man lives in this world and in his present condition, there will be the struggle between the holy and the profane. We can no more rid ourselves of it than we can of heaven and hell, of God and men, or of sin and salvation. No sooner had God given the Law […]
The Purpose Driven Problem
President Theodore Roosevelt said, “Wisdom is nine-tenths a matter of being wise in time. Most of us are too often wise after the event.”1 However true this is of all of us, it is still better to be wise late about something than not wise at all. When I first read Rick Warren’s “Purpose” books […]
Seeker Sensitive or Sinner Sensitive? (p...
The last issue I presented what I believe to be the obvious short-comings of the Seeker Sensitive movement. It has been my observation that this movement, though beginning with good intentions, has strayed from the biblical model of evangelism. “Seekers” have become a market place and the gospel a commodity, the price of which has […]
Seeker Sensitive or Sinner Sensitive? (...
Maybe it’s just me but does it seem as if many are saying that no one has been “sensitive” to “seekers” until the end of the twentieth century? One gets the feeling from such writers that until recently most Christian evangelism was overly aggressive, mean-spirited, and did everything possible to turn sinners off to the […]
The Thesis or Antithesis? (part 3)
This is the third article in a series having to do with a comparison between conservative and contemporary churches. Labels are often unfortunate because contemporary churches may also call themselves fundamental or conservative in certain ways. They usually mean that they are conservative in their list of “doctrinal” beliefs although other beliefs about biblical practices […]
The Thesis or Antithesis? (part 2)
I began last month pointing out the increasing differences between the conservative and contemporary churches. I have tried to spend more time describing the conservative resurgence rather than the contemporary departure (but it has been difficult). This will be a continuation of those descriptions. I have titled these things with the words “Thesis” and “Antithesis” […]