Living on the Fringe: Navigating a Culture without a Religious Center
by Ron Davis Is it correct to assert that the United States is no longer a Christian nation? If we’re judging based on census answers, then no, the majority of the U.S. still claims Christianity. The answer is yes, however, if we are concerned with what occupies the center of the nation’s cultural thought and life. A type of postmodern thinking, which holds that individuals are the arbiters of truth for themselves (in particular times...
Christ’s Work in Housework
I knew even from childhood that I wanted to be a mom; a stay-at-home mom; a homeschooling-stay-at-home mom. I knew that was an important job. After all, children are people! I wanted to be there for all the important moments of the little people’s lives, helping to shape them. However, what I never would have said I wanted to “grow up to be” is a homemaker. Now, I know that homemaking tends to come with the territory of childrearing....
Rhetoric: Clarity in Preaching and Teaching
As a teacher and (occasional) preacher, I find fascinating the subject of rhetoric, which simply refers to “how one ought to speak.”[1] In fact, several years ago, I published two other pieces on rhetoric, entitled “Rhetoric: The Christian and Non-verbal Communication” and “Rhetoric to the Glory of God.” In this post, I would like to return to the topic of rhetoric. One of the important means by which a preacher is the most effective...
Balancing Family and Education
I have attended school for about twenty-five years now. I had the average K-12 grade schedule, with no hiccups along the way. I graduated on time from Tecumseh High School back home in southeast Michigan. I then took five-and-a-half years to finish my four-year bachelor’s degree at Welch College (beginning with a semester at a community college back home). During the last two years of my undergraduate education, I worked full-time in...
A Serious Concern for Discipleship
by Eric K. Thomsen In recent decades, the American church has expressed much hand-wringing angst over the challenges it faces. Concerned leaders point to growing numbers of young people who have abandoned their congregations and their faith. They groan over shrinking churches, an increasingly secularized culture, and the gradual compromise of church to culture. While these concerns are valid, perhaps the most pressing theological...
Book Review of The Compelling Community: Where God’s Power Makes a Church Attractive
A constant temptation for us as pastors and church leaders is to do something that we think will make our church more appealing to those in our community. This desire is good, since we should all want to see our churches grow. But we must ask ourselves: At what cost? Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop remind readers of The Compelling Community that the gospel, not our creativity, is ultimately what makes a church attractive. Dever and Dunlop...
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