Musical Thought in the Early Church
On a youth group outing recently, several of our teenagers and I began discussing one of our favorite topics—music. I told them that my musical preferences had changed over the past year in favor of hymns, folk songs, and classical music. When one young man asked why I was making such changes I explained that it was due to some of my recent reading. A New Song for an Old World: Musical Thought in the Early Church has been particularly...
Change Versus Tradition: Must We Choose?
“We’ve never done it that way before.” All of us have heard this expression before. Whether at home, work, or church, this sentiment characterizes many, while irking others. It often functions as a conversation-stopper. After all, if past precedent is the final arbiter of all future decisions, progress ceases. But because unique situations do arise in the course of life, it is often unclear as to how the past informs the present....
Rethinking Christian Liberty: How Much Freedom Do We Really Have?
Nowadays, it seems as if Christians are free to do as they please. One need only read the Barna Group’s various studies to understand that many professing Christians are living contrary to what their faith protests. Secular media has also taken notice of these trends. Recently, CNN made note of a study done by Relevant magazine, which stated that single Christians are almost just as sexually active as single non-Christians [1]. Even...
Reclaiming the Spirit
Jesus stated the following concerning the Holy Spirit: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever… [T]he Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (Jn. 14:16, 26). Jesus’ words notwithstanding, many of us know little about the Holy Spirit. If Baptists talk about Him at all, it is...
Why the Book Is Almost Always Better Than the Movie
Originality is not a virtue often found in Hollywood. This claim is counter-intuitive, of course. Yearly we are ushered into a cinematic world of 3-D creatures, romances with unlikely characters, and thrillers with unexpected killers. The annual profits are staggering when one considers the billions invested in production and earned in ticket sales. Surely the film industry is a place where we can encounter cultural and aesthetic...
From Eden to Eden
A man created from dust, and a woman created from that same man’s rib: surely we’re more intelligent than to actually believe in this, right? Prior to the nineteenth century, rarely did Christians deny the historicity of this Genesis account. However, it has become quite common to do so in modern Christianity, as many professing believers doubt this seemingly unbelievable account of creation. Some have done so for literary reasons,...
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