The Importance of Reading Scripture Out Loud
It is a fascinating fact of intellectual history that, in antiquity, reading was not the silent, solitary endeavor we assume today, but rather an event of the spoken word—aural, communal, […]
A Place To Belong: Church as the Catalyst for True Religion
“God sets the lonely in families.” —Psalm 68:6a, NIV In 2013, The New York Times ran an article about a former Methodist minister looking for a fulfilling life after giving […]
Revitalized Churches Embrace Spiritual Parenting
When my son was young, I hadn’t yet learned to be the father I wanted to be. I was wrapped up in all of “my” things, and my tunnel vision […]
The Unintended Consequences of the Modern Church
It’s a good season to reexamine the effectiveness of the modern church. Our commitment, as RENEW.org leaders, is to continually go back to Scripture, to restore and prioritize what it […]
Church Is Boring? 3 Times It Actually Is
When someone says or thinks that church is boring, what is it exactly that they are bored by? Here are three times a church gathering actually is boring—to us and, […]
Sing to the Lord a New Song? Reflections on Psalm 98
Four times we are told in Scripture to “sing to the LORD a new song” (Psalm 96:1; 98:1; 149:1; Isaiah 42:10). Every song ever sung was new at some point. […]
What Is the Lord’s Supper? Exploring Unity, Renewal, and Remembrance
What is the Lord’s Supper? On a Thursday night, Jesus was celebrating a Passover meal with his disciples when he shocked them by explaining how the wine and unleavened bread […]
6 Ways to Teach Your Church Through Altar Calls
Close to a century ago, C.H. Dodd in his since-controversial The Apostolic Preaching and Its Developments argued for a distinction in the New Testament between the kerygma, the preaching of […]
