We have noticed in part 1 that (1) the church is a called out group of people who have voluntarily believed, not a kingdom of people who have been conquered against their will, and (2) the Great Commission is to preach the gospel, not convert the nations. We continue in part 2 by emphasizing the […]
You are browsing archives for
Author: Rick Shrader
Growth and the Local Church (part 1)
The church growth movement, in its effort to help the church accomplish the Great Commission, may have actually done more to hinder than to help. What started off as an effort to get as many people under the sound of the gospel as possible, has often ended with churches full of merely professing believers whose […]
Guess What Has Not Changed?
Perhaps the most difficult problem in dealing with a postmodern culture is defining our terms. I doubt that a generation has ever been so flexible with language as this one. One hundred years ago W.H. Griffith Thomas, combating German Rationalism, said, “We cannot in any degree be sure of the thought unless we can be […]
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 […]
You Shall Be Witnesses Unto Me
No more daunting task could have been given the church than to evangelize the whole world. Surely for such a job God would have chosen angels to speak to the world as they first spoke the good news to shepherds and caused such urgency on their part. Or perhaps a multiplication of apostles and prophets […]
Tell It To The Church
When the Lord Jesus Christ announced, I will build my church (Matt. 16:18), it was established as an absolute monarchy with Himself as the sovereign Head. As long as this supreme Monarch was physically present with the disciples, their commission and instructions were held in abeyance, waiting for the enabling Power for operation. With the […]
Elders Worthy of Double Honor
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine (1 Tim. 5:17). Baptists have never thought they were the only believers in the world or the only ones with Bibles. All believers have the obligation to apply the Scriptures to every part […]
Repeat His Mercies In Your Song — Again!
Give to our God immortal praise; Mercy and truth are all His ways; Wonders of grace to God belong, Repeat His mercies in your song. Isaac Watts My purpose for this outline years ago was to offer a conservative vote for conservative church music. Just recently I was criticized anonymously by email for being critical […]
The Right Time, The Right Place, The Rig...
One of the most concise and powerful explanations of the Christmas history is found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians: But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the […]
The Greatest Obstacle to Bible Knowledge
The greatest obstacle to Bible knowledge is not culture, nor education, nor any other thing lacking in our lives, but rather it is something existing in our lives that should not be there. Paul said of the Corinthian church, That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge […]