Phillis Wheatley: A Culturally Confident Believer (Part I/II)
by Frank Thornsbury The early-American poetess Phillis Wheatley lived over two hundred years ago, from 1753 to 1784, yet her life and literature speak to some of the most difficult questions of Christian cultural engagement today. How could this be? C.S. Lewis once wrote that through literature we can gain a window into someone else’s view of the world.[1] My aim is to help you see the world as Wheatley saw it and as she portrayed it...
Job 31 and Countercultural Integrity
by Gowdy Cannon There are not many chapters like Job 31 in our Bible. This beaten down and defensive man with nothing left, backed into a theological corner about God’s justice, spends forty verses defending his integrity. I suppose this is understandable, considering what Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar had driven him to with their simplistic view on suffering and God; yet it still smacks of pride. We know that Job did not consider...
Relational Discipleship
by Aaron Pierce Unsurprisingly, discipleship is a buzzword that has increasingly arisen in church conversations over the last decade. This trend is positive since many pastors of the twentieth century unfortunately relegated discipleship to the backburner. But with this new re-emphasis has appeared a vast array of materials, curriculums, and opinions on the nature and practice of discipleship in the local church. One particular...
Free Will Baptists on the Frontier
by Eric K. Thomsen In late July 1822, David Marks, a Freewill Baptist evangelist from the Randall movement in New England, found himself several months into a mission trip within the rapidly expanding western frontier. After spending five days preaching near Portsmouth, Ohio, Marks planned to cross the Ohio River to preach in Kentucky. When the time came, the river ferry was absent. Unwilling to miss his preaching appointment, Marks...
Unity Movements among Free Will Baptists of the South Near the Turn of the Century: A Little Known Story
by Robert E. Picirilli During the late 1800s and early 1900s, several unity movements emerged among Free Will Baptists in the South. Two of these have just recently come to light and are briefly described in this article for the first time. Robert Vaughn and I have written the story in full detail for publication later.[1] Some historians suggest that such movements were the fruit of the Second Great Awakening. One such was the merger...
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