Four Years & Counting
A Message from the Helwys Society Forum On February 28, 2010, the Helwys Society Forum posted its first article. Over four years, we’ve learned a lot—especially from you our readers. In the past year, we’ve responded to our growing readership by increasing the frequency of our posts, updating our website design, and adding a new feature called “reflections.” If you’ve not explored this yet, we invite you to do so here. It may be found...
The Enduring Vision of Carl F. H. Henry
Carl F. H. Henry was once described as “the thinking man’s Billy Graham” [1]. The evangelist Billy Graham is known throughout the world, but Henry’s name isn’t nearly as familiar. There have been many who have influenced the American church in a variety of ways. Some, like Graham, have done so from stadium platforms, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and pleading with all who would listen. Others, like Henry, have left their...
Marshall McLuhan: Making Sense of Media
Soon televisions will be saturated with ads and “logically irreconcilable one-liners,” to quote Carl Henry. Many jaded voters will switch the station, but still endure the rhetoric until the post-election aftermath dissipates. Though our attitude toward politics often consists of disdain and distrust, perhaps we overlook the fact that our feelings aren’t based on direct experience, but on indirect, mediated information. Consider a...
J. Gresham Machen: Christianity & Liberalism
“Christianity is a way of life—not a religion.” This is the mantra of many Christians today. Some prefer a tame, non-doctrinaire Jesus—one who is more akin to a teenage boyfriend than a suffering servant or a conquering king. Maybe this is overstated, but it certainly rings true that there is a modern tendency to sentimentalize Christianity by acting as if it has been resurrected from an ancient time capsule and is of no import to...
Donald McGavran and the Church Growth Movement
by Matthew McAffee and Barry Raper One of the major developments in the church of the twentieth century has been the rise of the modern church growth movement. The key figure of this movement was Donald McGavran, considered by most authorities to be its founding father. The inception of this movement has been tied directly to McGavran’s seminal work, The Bridges of God (1955) [1]. This work arose out of his experiences on the mission...
Living Today in Light of Tomorrow: Isaiah’s Theology of Redemption and Renewal
“What’s troubling you right now?” Ask nearly anyone this question, and invariably they’ll tell you about their difficulties—family problems, financial hardships, work issues, and a whole host of others. In fact, some are so eager to share their woes that they’ll volunteer them, even without your asking (think of that stranger on the airplane who wouldn’t stop talking). “If only this,” and, “If only that,” they’ll say, as if things...
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