When Free Will Baptists Went Liberal (Part I)
The 1911 merger between the Free Baptists[1] and the Northern Baptist Convention marked the former’s near extinction as a distinct religious body. However, this merger was symptomatic of a deeper theological shift among some Free Baptist leaders that had begun years before. In 1911, the Free Baptists merged all of their assets, missions organizations, and educational institutions with the Northern Baptist Convention’s. Many Free...
Taking Your Christian Worldview to the Movies: Analyzing Form (Part II/III)
In last week’s article, we reviewed several theological foundations for taking your Christian worldview to the movies. We turn now to how we should use the Christian worldview in our analysis of a film’s form. Going to the Movies Going to the theater is a serious business. First things first: Get there early. The hustle and bustle of trying, at the last minute, to purchase your ticket, drink, and popcorn is just no fun, not to mention...
Taking Your Christian Worldview to the Movies: Theological Foundations (Part I/III)
To me, movies are like football games, Oscar season like the playoffs, and the Oscars like the Super Bowl. Now, this doesn’t mean that I always agree with a film’s message or those involved in its production, just as the Christian football fan doesn’t always support what occurs in the game. Nonetheless, we can still enjoy the movies. To support this claim, I’ll consider theological foundations in this article. In next week’s, I’ll...
Is Art Really about Self-expression?
My wife Megan and I were on a date in an establishment that provides three-hour painting sessions with general instruction. From across the room, I heard the teacher reassuring a student, “Art isn’t about rules. It’s about being free and expressing yourself.” As I struggled to paint a realistic forest on my canvas, I thought about how cavalierly the instructor had just rejected and accepted whole philosophical systems without a...
Blueprints for Applied Theology
Timothy McVeigh committed one of the worst acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. history in the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. This violent act killed 168 people and wounded several hundred. McVeigh was convicted and was executed by lethal injection in 2001. Many saw this execution as a “completion of justice,” while others protested because they opposed the death penalty in principle.[1] This event raised questions...
Preaching and Teaching Mark: Opportunities and Challenges
We made it: Nineteen months and fifty-three sermons later, our congregation completed a Sunday morning series on the Gospel of Mark. As I said in an earlier post, we regularly study through entire books of the Bible as part of the pulpit ministry. We don’t always do this, but we often do. And seldom do we proceed through an extended study without several planned breaks (usually due to holidays, guest speakers, or other series). This...
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