Rethinking Worship (1/2)
by Eric K. Thomsen Worship is a common word in church circles. It is hard to attend a service without hearing terms such as praise and worship, worship service, worship leader, or worship team. Yet, despite these frequent references to worship, a wide variety of ideas exist regarding this important subject. Many Christians mistakenly believe worship describes only what the congregation does each week before the sermon—songs, prayer,...
Recommended Books (Winter 2026)
This winter we would like to share some good reads we discovered over the past few months. These selections represent a wide array of topics we think will interest you. Some selections will be great for personal reading, others for family time. Most of all, we think they will broaden your understanding of God’s creation and His work in it because they have had that result in our lives. Please leave us your favorite reads in the...
Lessons in Mentorship
Several years ago, I was asked to co-present on mentorship at the 2022 Free Will Baptist Leadership Conference with Eric K. Thomsen, who was my youth pastor when I was growing up. The idea was to demonstrate the mentor-mentee cycle: someone invested in him, he invested in me, now I invest in others, who will hopefully invest in yet others. We were asked to present again at the 2025 D6 Conference in Washington. This post represents an...
Reaching Teenagers Who Don’t Care: Apologetics for the Indifferent
In previous generations in the United States, the apologetic question may have been framed as one of authority: “who says?” Apologetics in youth ministry, in response, gave attention to the reliability and authority of the Bible. Those in youth ministry focused on topics like inerrancy and textual reliability. In the current generation, the question may be one of relevance: “who cares?” We find ourselves not so much faced with...
Reflecting on Fifteen Years of the Helwys Society Forum
Because 2025, as of this past February, marks fifteen years for the Helwys Society Forum (HSF), we thought it suitable to reflect on our work. In this post, the three longest-tenured contributors offer their reflections: Matthew Steven Bracey, Jesse F. Owens, and Phillip T. Morgan. Matthew Steven Bracey When I reflect on the HSF, I am filled with gratitude. Firstly, I am grateful to the HSF because through it I have learned to think...
Growing Flax: An Expression of Culture Making
Where do clothes come from? This simple question has a simple answer on its face. The main four natural fibers are wool, silk, linen, and cotton. How those fibers become fabric is far more complicated than I previously realized. I have little experience with wool, silk, or cotton. However, I am learning how to work with flax. Flax is a strong, fibrous plant that, when harvested and processed, becomes linen thread. My goal is to follow...
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