This Little Church Had None
(November 2008 – Volume 14, Issue 12) Ever since my college days I have enjoyed the study of philosophy. It is fascinating to delve into the reasoning of thinkers like Plato, Descartes or Kant and study how they piece life together. However, I have always deliberated on these philosophies from a biblical vantage point. That is, […]
Willow Creek’s Big Adventure
(December 2007 – Volume 13, Issue 12) It has been a tough year for the Willow Creek Community Church, the flagship congregation of the “seeker-sensitive” movement. Most know that Willow Creek has set the pace for 30 years in its redesign of the local church. More recently Rick Warren, and his Saddleback Community Church, have stolen […]
Will the Real Church Please Stand Up?
(June 2004 – Volume 10, Issue 6) Tinker Bell was dying. Her little light had all but flickered out and Peter Pan stood helplessly by. What could be done to save Tinker Bell? Peter had no medicine and there was no doctor in the house. But Tinker had an idea: she thought she could get well […]
The Market-Driven Church – Part 4
(September 2000 – Volume 6, Issue 9) Counterfeit money is recognized by those who know how to identify the real thing. Before we examine the gospel message found in the new paradigm churches, it would be best to examine the gospel message found in the Bible. The gospel message in a nutshell is this: Harry (to […]
The Market-Driven Church – Part 3
(August 2000 – Volume 6, Issue 8) We Are Driven Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Orange County, California, has written the definitive book promoting the market-driven concept of evangelism and church growth. The Purpose-Driven Church, which admittedly has a considerable amount of practical and helpful advice, nevertheless is laced with a felt-need […]
The Market-Driven Church – Part 2
(July 2000 – Volume 6, Issue 7) David Wells bemoans concerning the new paradigm church, “Much of it…is replete with tricks, gadgets, gimmicks, and marketing ploys as it shamelessly adapts itself to our emptied-out, blinded, postmodern world. … There is too little about it that bespeaks the holiness of God. And without the vision for any […]
The Market-Driven Church – Part 1
(June 2000 – Volume 6, Issue 6) At the first tee, with great optimism and hope, I take a mighty cut at my Top Flight #2. I eagerly look up, fully expecting to watch that little white ball soar 250 yards straight up the fairway, only to find that I have hooked it into the woods […]
The Kingdom of Emergent Theology – Part 3
(November 2007 – Volume 13, Issue 11) In our last two papers we have examined the emerging church’s distortion of the kingdom and its impact on the gospel. In this paper we will explore what Scripture teaches about the kingdom of God. A Biblical Understanding of the Kingdom Acts 1:3 informs us that during the 40 […]
The Kingdom of Emergent Theology – Part 2
(October 2007 – Volume 13, Issue 10) Having seen in our last paper the emerging church distortion of the kingdom of God, we move on this time to discuss its effect on the gospel. The Effect on the Gospel It is not surprising with this understanding of the kingdom of God that David Gushee in a […]
The Kingdom of Emergent Theology – Part 1
(September 2007 – Volume 13, Issue 9) It has been claimed that Sigmund Freud enjoyed telling his followers a story of a pastor who visited an atheist insurance agent who was on his death bed. The family had asked the pastor to share the gospel with their dying loved one as they waited in another room. […]