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Church Life and the Book of Acts

January 26, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Andy Chambers

From Raphael's workshop, "Healing of the Lame Man," a cartoon for a tapestry that depicts Peter healing the lame man (Acts 3).

From Raphael’s workshop, “Healing of the Lame Man,” a cartoon for a tapestry that depicts Peter healing the lame man (Acts 3).

The early chapters of Acts paint a portrait of church life so compelling that countless Christians have turned to them for guidance as to what their churches could be. I believe Luke wanted to provoke such a response from readers.

Throughout Acts as Luke describes the beginnings of the Christian movement, he does not simply show the gospel spreading from city to city. He shows gospel preaching resulting in local churches, beginning in Jerusalem. Sometimes we hear only of the church’s original meeting place in a particular city, like Lydia’s home in Philippi (Acts 16:40). Other times we hear that the gospel has spread across entire cities. Teaching and preaching in Acts occurred “in various homes” in Jerusalem, “from house to house,” and even in a rented “lecture hall” in Ephesus (5:42; 19:9; 20:20). Yet everywhere a church was planted Acts tells readers something about life in the newly formed community of believers.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Pastoral, The Church

Answering 10 Critiques of Elder-Led Congregationalism

January 19, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

Dont Fire Your Church Members excerpt jonathan leemanby Jonathan Leeman

In this post excerpted from Don’t Fire Your Church Members I seek to answer 10 common critiques of elder-led congregationalism.

(1) Congregationalism leads to isolation and fragmentation between churches. It harms the unity that Jesus intended for his church (e.g., John 17:11, 21–23; Eph 4:1–6).

First, Christians should indeed be united in their obedience to Christ’s rule, but there is nothing in any of the biblical-unity texts to suggest that Jesus or the New Testament authors had institutional authority in mind. Maybe they did, but one has to impose that assumption on the unity texts. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Pastoral, The Church

The Importance of Church Polity

January 14, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Jonathan Leeman

Dont Fire Your Church Members excerpt jonathan leemanMost evangelical Christians today, if pressed, will acknowledge that autonomous individualism is not the way of biblical Christianity. The vast majority would presumably acknowledge that Christians need some type of fellowship or community.

Yet most evangelical Christians, I suspect, are also indifferent toward the topic of church government or polity. And this suggests we might be more individualistic than we realize.

Individualism, that sociologist’s cuss word, is not rooted in being anti-community. Everyone loves the idea of community (except, maybe, the hermit). Rather, it roots in being anti-authority: I will gladly hang out with you, so long as you don’t tell me who I have to be or what I have to do.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Pastoral, The Church

Jonathan Leeman Doesn’t Want You to Fire Your Church Members

January 12, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

book cover for don't fire your church membersChurch membership is not just a status, it’s an office. Members don’t need leaders to fire them from the responsibilities given to them by Jesus, they need leaders to train them. When pastors do, the church grows in holiness and love, discipleship and mission. Not only that, the complacency and nominalism that characterizes so much Christianity is put on notice.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Pastoral, The Church, Theology

B&H Books Featured in Preaching Today’s 2016 Book Awards

January 7, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

Image processed by CodeCarvings Piczard ### FREE Community Edition ### on 2015-12-23 11:43:08Z | http://piczard.com | http://codecarvings.com

Three B&H titles were recently featured in Preaching Today’s 2016 Book Awards.

Thomas R. Schreiner, Commentary on Hebrews  (Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation)

BTFCP_CommentaryOnHebrews_CVR_R2.indd

Learn more: Excerpt | Excerpt | Interview

“We, at Preaching Today, are really excited about this new commentary series from B&H! This is one we would highly recommend keeping your eye out for as each new volume become available. Here are some of the highlights that we really appreciate in this series. The series as a whole seeks to put each book’s themes in the context of the entire canon, hence the title Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation. This alone would make it the top of our list, but the content is academic and weighty, while being understandable and readable. We have finally found a commentary that is easy to read and understand! We really like the outline of each section as well—Context, Exegesis, and Bridge. Very straightforward way to treat each section, in this case the book of Hebrews. The “Bridge” section is extremely valuable to pastors who are preaching through entire books of the Bible, as it helps set up what has just been exegeted and what will be discussed in the next sermon.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: B&H News, Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation, Pastoral

Spurgeon’s Message to the Pastor: Take Care of Your Family

October 22, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Ray Rhodes, Jr.

spurgeon-123Friday afternoons at the Pastor’s College brimmed with excitement as students anticipated Charles Spurgeon’s weekly lectures. Spurgeon dearly loved the college, referring to it as “my life’s work.”1 He was the most popular preacher in England and thousands pressed to hear him. However, his weekly lectures to a comparatively small number of students were nearer to his heart than when he was addressing massive crowds.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Church History, Pastoral, Spurgeon Tagged With: Charles Spurgeon

A Caution to Christian Leaders on Public Discussions of a Presidential Candidate

October 13, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Adam Harwood

Dear Christian Leaders,

Portrait-Harwood-2Please be careful when discussing presidential candidates publicly.

I am not suggesting that you should disengage from politics. Advocate for religious liberty for all people. Urge believers to be good citizens who participate in the political process and vote according to their conscience. Advocate for biblical values, regardless of which candidates or parties support those values. This includes speaking publicly against immoral policies and supporting morally justified policies.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cultural Engagement, Pastoral, The Church

7 Qualities of Expository Preaching

August 3, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

iStock_000000934342_SmallIn his book 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching, Wayne McDill lists 7 qualities of expository preaching.  These helpful guideposts are great reminders and provide good insights for honing your preaching craft.          [Read more…]

Filed Under: Pastoral, Preaching

Genres Are Situational: An Excerpt from Steven W. Smith’s Recapturing the Voice of God

May 27, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

RecapturingTheVoiceOfGodThe following is an excerpt from Steven W. Smith’s recently released volume, Recapturing the Voice of God: Shaping Sermons Like Scripture. In Chapter 3 on “Preaching and the Genre of Scripture,” Smith discusses three critical features of genre: 1) genres are limited; 2) genres are situational; and 3) genres are moving. The excerpt below addresses the second point, that genres are situational.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Hermeneutics, Pastoral, Preaching

Recapturing the Voice of God: An Interview with Steven W. Smith

May 22, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

RecapturingTheVoiceOfGodIn the video interview below recorded at the 2014 Annual ETS Conference in San Diego, CA, author Steven W. Smith discusses his recently released volume Recapturing the Voice of God: Shaping Sermons Like Scripture.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Hermeneutics, Pastoral, Preaching

Preaching That Is Influenced by the “Voice of God”: An Excerpt from Steven Smith’s Recapturing the Voice of God

May 19, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

RecapturingTheVoiceOfGodThe following is an excerpt from Steven W. Smith’s recently released volume, Recapturing the Voice of God: Shaping Sermons Like Scripture. In his Introduction Smith discusses how the rationale for the book hangs on two axioms: 1) Preaching is re-presenting the Word of God; and 2) The structure of a text influences its meaning. From these two axioms he concludes: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hermeneutics, Pastoral, Preaching

Augustine and Pastoral Ministry

April 14, 2015 by bhacademic 1 Comment

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe following is a guest post by Coleman Ford. He is co-founder of the Center for Ancient Christian Studies and serves in the Professional Doctoral Studies department at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Church History, Pastoral

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