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 […]
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Author: Rick Shrader
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 […]
We Beheld His Glory
John the Apostle always brings us close to heaven, especially as he reveals to us the glory that was in the Lord Jesus Christ. Both in his gospel and his first epistle he graphical portrays what it was like to behold the Son of God in the flesh. In two short parentheses, he lets us […]
Giving Thanks: For the Church of the Chr...
I look forward to my regular reading of Revelation 1-3 as much as any portion of Scripture. The description of The Lord Jesus Christ in chapter one ought to become familiar to any believer who is waiting for His return—for that is how He will appear when we see Him. And we ought to desire […]
Why Bad Things Happen In God’s World
September 11 will long be the signal date for remembering that tragedy can happen, even in America—one nation under God. The following has been my response, which I shared with my own church the Sunday before 9-11. I find the Christian’s response to the presence of evil a mirror response to the question of atheism: […]
To Him That Overcometh
In 1858 Rev. George Dufield received these words from a minister friend, whispered while dying from a tragic accident, “Let us all stand up for Jesus.”1 For the next Sunday’s sermon, Dufield wrote a poem from those words in memory of his friend titled, “Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus.” The final stanza of the […]
Who Is Controlling Whom?
On our church web site I received an interesting note from a young man named Steve. Steve is an active member of a church that is going through a typical change (which of course is not a “change” at all but rather a conforming) from traditional to contemporary type of worship. Steve is emotionally caught […]
Compromise Is Always A Synthesis
R.C. Sproul wrote concerning the modern evangelical penchant to build bridges with defective theologies that, “The mythical element is the naïve assumption that one can build bridges that move in one direction only.”1 Meaning, that such bridges will bring the error closer to truth but not the truth closer to error. But it is the […]
The Corruption Of Good Manners
I have written often on the subject of manners. I was first introduced to the subject by my mother who impressed upon me the need to continue the course, even after she has gone. Sometimes the lessons were taught at the end of a hickory switch, but more frequently with the ease of comfortable wit […]