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 didn’t allow me to always see other things that should have been important. I was focused on growing a student ministry, growing as a leader, […]
The Family You Know You Need
Serenity often overruns the clock (and everything else) during my morning coffee. My deck provides the perfect spectator seat to the herd of deer that frequently visit the back field. I became captivated by a tender fawn, fumbling to climb the bank from the creek to catch up to its mother. In that moment, it […]
Church History Debates: Should We Venerate Icons?
A hallmark of Old Testament Judaism was its strict opposition to idolatry, and hence to religious images that could lead to image worship. The earliest Christians seemed to follow their Jewish predecessors with an uneasiness to such things. Their rejection of image-worship contributed to their caricature in the broader society as “atheists.” At some point […]
What Is Unity in the Bible? (It’s Far More Important Than I Thought.)
And the first prize for most unifying religion goes to… Easy answer, right? Obviously, the answer is supposed to be Christianity, isn’t it? And yet the church isn’t always very unified—at all. At last count, there are over 45,000 Christian denominations globally. Narrow it down to just one denomination, and chances are that even that […]
Feeling Alone in Ministry?
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. […]
Review of Justin Brierley’s ‘The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God’
Is Christian faith dying in the Western world? Have the “new atheists” succeeded in souring Christianity for thinking people? There are actually some fascinating signs of a resurgence of interest in Christianity. John Whittaker reviews Justin Brierley’s The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity […]
Summary of Psalms: Understanding the Basics of Psalms in the Bible
The Hebrew title for the book of Psalms is tehilim, roughly translated as “praises.” In some ways, this is an unusual title, as the largest single category of Psalms are laments. It is from the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint that we get the term “psalmos” or song. The term […]
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 teaches. We face a challenge because in the last fifty years, as church leaders have sought more effectiveness in our churches, we have come to […]
