Because Truth Matters
by Dave Earley
Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). If anyone can offer insight into that on which an effective spiritual shepherd should concentrate, it is Jesus. So what did Jesus focus on in His ministry? Did He attend board meetings, visit hospitals, or do counseling? So what did He do?
Pray, teach the Word, and lead leaders.
by Franklin M. Segler and Randall Bradley
Christian worship defies definition; worship can only be experienced. For the Christian, theology is an attempt to describe the experience of God’s grace applied in a redemptive relationship. A living experience may be analyzed, but it can never be completely contained in formulas, creeds, and liturgies.
by Joseph Hellerman
Church was unquestionably no afterthought for the early Christians. A comparison of first-century values to the convictions and behaviors characteristic of modern evangelicalism proves quite revealing. Due to the individualistic tendencies of our culture, and the correspondingly loose connection in our thinking between soteriology and ecclesiology, it is not uncommon to encounter persons who claim to be followers of Jesus but who remain unconnected to a local faith community.
by Thomas R. Schreiner
All of the Gospel writers call our attention to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Matt 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19). The day of the resurrection signifies the inauguration of the new creation. Even by stating that it was the first day of the week, the authors assign a special significance to that day. We also see hints elsewhere in the New Testament that the church gathered for worship on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2; cf. Rev 1:10). Such a practice is most naturally linked to Sunday being the day on which the Lord rose from the dead, though no explicit link is made between the two. In any case, worship on Sunday must have come from the earliest days of the Palestinian church, for there was no debate about worshipping on Sunday. The lack of debate is striking when we compare it to the dispute over circumcision in the early church.
In 1857, Charles Spurgeon—the most popular preacher in the Victorian world—promised his readers that he would publish his earliest sermons. For almost 160 years, these sermons have been lost to history. Beginning next January, B&H Academic will start releasing a multi-volume set that includes full-color reproductions, transcriptions, introductions, and editorial annotations. Written for scholars, pastors, and students alike, The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon will add approximately 10% more material to Spurgeon’s body of literature and will be the first critical edition of any of Spurgeon’s works.
by Ed Stetzer
1. To Reach Lost People
Church planting reaches lost people. The first reason is simple. It’s one on which, hopefully, all pastors—both planters and established pastors—can agree. Lost people need Jesus. This is one that hits me personally because I grew up in a non-Christian family. Most of my extended family members are not believers. Recently, however, two of my family members have met Christ through church plants. Their experience is not uncommon.
A few years ago, Christianity Today published “Go and Plant Churches of All Peoples,” an article which said church planting has replaced crusade evangelism as the preferred evangelistic method for evangelicals in North America today. Church planting has experienced so much growth that in some cases it’s harder to find people who want to revitalize churches because so many want to plant. Some of the attraction might be from the entrepreneurial bent in people, but the greatest driving force I see among church planters is that they want to see people won to Jesus.
We would challenge established church pastors to mother a church plant. You’ll see that people will be won to Jesus in the churches you plant and in your church. Some that may be less receptive to your church will be receptive to your plant. That’s why we want to plant churches that plant churches that plant churches.
by Ed Stetzer
I believe in church planting. More to the point for this book, I believe in church planters.
I’ve started several churches and am planting another at the time of this writing, but it’s the fact that I’ve trained planters that gets me most excited.
My first pastoral role was starting a church. My first book was on church planting. I wrote my PhD dissertation on the subject. My first seminary job was teaching church planting.
Some might say I’m obsessed. But I will say I am convinced. I am convinced that church planting is, and will always remain, a key part in the advancement of the kingdom of God.
Planting a church is one of the most exciting adventures you’ll ever embark on. It’s also one of the hardest. It requires initiative, leadership, strategy, systems, and a lot of prayer.
In this second edition of Planting Missional Churches, not only will you find a completely redesigned book with new content in every single chapter, you will also find several new chapters on topics such as church multiplication, residencies, multi-ethnic ministry, multisite, denominations and networks, and spiritual leadership.
So if you’re planting a church, be prepared. Use this book as a guide to build the needed ministry areas so that you can multiply over and over again.
by Paul Gould
Busyness masks our insecurities. We rush. We want the quickest line in the grocery story, instant access to our news and movies, information at our fingertips, and food served hot and fast. We hurry to accomplish things and when we do, we don’t have time to savor the triumph because we’ve got to hurry to prove ourselves again. (I particularly relate to this with respect to academic publishing. By the time an article publishes I’m already researching the next project, needing to demonstrate again my prowess as a philosopher).
This frantic busyness is a sickness. In fact according to cardiologists, those who exhibit a chronic sense of time urgency suffer from “hurry sickness.”[1]
There is a difference between preaching from the Bible and preaching that allows the Bible to drive the substance, structure, and spirit of the sermon.
A text-driven sermon allows the structure of the text to become buoyant, to come to the surface so that the sermon can be built around that structure.
In this way the word of God (the meaning of the text) is presented in a way that is influenced by the voice of God (the genre of the text).
by Robert Smith Jr.
In a conversation with British theologian Alister McGrath, former archbishop of Canterbury Donald Loggan remarked, “The journey from head to heart is one of the longest and most difficult we know.” Sometimes, the doctrinal preacher will begin with the head and move to the heart; other times the direction will be reversed. Regardless of the starting point, the end result must always be the same: the inclusivity of both.
The church is going through a time of severe fracture. Schism is taking place on a scale not seen since the 16th century, and the reasons for this come into clear focus on the issue of homosexuality. The gay Christian movement and revisionist theologians and exegetes have set up an array of arguments, often mutually exclusive, in favor of homosexual practice.
S. Donald Fortson, who serves as professor of church history and practical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, and Rollin G. Grams, who serves as associate professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, address the above arguments on a single point: Can they withstand the evidence of the primary sources?
We recently corresponded with them and posed three questions about this contentious and important discussion.
