Thanks!

One In Jesus had 16,500 hits in December, which was a good month — but the site had 39,640 hits in March — up nearly 250%. Oh, wow!

Humility

How to Argue Like a Christian: The Last-Verse-Read Argument

Perhaps the biggest failing of believers of all kinds is our persistent use of the last-verse-read argument.

For example, in the Churches of Christ, we deny once saved, always saved (the perserverance of the saints), as we are Arminian in theology. And so in our Sunday school classes we read the once saved, always saved verses first. We then read the yes-you-can-fall-away verses last. We tell our students that the yes-you-can-fall-away verses explain the once-saved-always-saved verses. The class goes home feeling affirmed in their beliefs.

Across the street a Baptist Sunday school teacher reads the yes-you-can-fall-away verses first. He then reads the once-saved-always-saved verses last, telling his class that the last-read verses explain the first-read verses. His class goes home feeling affirmed in their beliefs.

The Future of the Progressive Churches of Christ: Shrinking Congregations, Part 4 (Community)

Alan Rouse noted in an earlier comment that congregations won’t lose members if the congregation is a genuine community. I agree. Community is a critically important part of the Kingdom. I’d just want to emphasize that the way we do community matters — a lot. And we often do it wrong. Let me explain.

Let’s go back to 1963 when Martin Luther King Jr. had just led a march in Birmingham, Alabama calling for racial equality, only to find himself arrested and in jail. He was severely disappointed that the Birmingham churches had largely refused to assist him, despite the clear teachings of scripture in support of the equality of men regardless of race.

He wrote —

There was a time when the church was very powerful — in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.

Dealing with Tough Financial Times: Money, Morale & Momentum, Part 5

Here are Driscoll’s final 5 suggestions for maintaining morale and momentum in lean economic times —

5. Budgeting

Eat what you kill and have a monthly and quarterly budget that you watch so you do not get too far behind. If you do, and you then lay people off, their severance will cost you for months, which will put you even further behind financially than if you had the financial data to make cuts earlier. The days of an annual budget are gone. Things are changing so quickly that ministry leaders need to carefully track income and spending weekly, comb over monthly reports, and not make budgets in anything other than pencil beyond a quarter in advance. Changes to the budget need to be made quickly; otherwise poor reporting and slow responding will sink the ministry financially.

The Future of the Progressive Churches of Christ: Shrinking Congregations, Part 3 (Preaching Hebrews)

So what does yesterday’s post have to do with shrinking congregations? Well, not as much as my conservative friends might think, but it does matter a lot. Churches that forget to get around to teaching the boundaries of grace will soon have the problems the writer of Hebrews warned against.

Indeed, I think our preaching should mirror Hebrews, with powerful lessons on confidence and assurance interleaved between lessons against the dangers of falling away. We don’t need to make our members afraid so much as aware — we have confidence, yes, but a confidence that can be thrown away. And while I don’t believe we should build our theology on fear, fear has a place for the immature.

You see, if we don’t do this, in a generation or two, we’ll  have lost our members — not to the Baptists and Methodists, but to Satan.

Dealing with Tough Financial Times: Money, Morale & Momentum, Part 4

Driscoll continues the series with 9 suggestions for keeping staff morale up and church momentum going in lean times. Here are the first four —

1. Morale

The big dissatisfiers of staff are pay (including benefits) and policy, so the goal is to keep pay high and policy low, as is reasonable.

The Future of the Progressive Churches of Christ: Shrinking Congregations, Part 2 (Boundaries)

My Tuesday conversation with Greg Tidwell and Phil Sanders was illuminating in lots of ways. It certainly confirmed the rightness of the decision to meet. I had asked that we find a time to meet face to face before beginning the online dialogue. I just think you communicate better with people you know — and it’s hard to be mean to someone you’ve met (and there are times I really have to wrestle with the temptation to be mean.)

And I learned a lot about how they see the progressives. You see, they are genuinely concerned that the progressive movement is headed away from repentance and faith in Jesus. One asked whether we (me and Todd Deaver) believed that the fact a given sin is not a salvation issue makes the sin permissible? We said no.

Dealing with Tough Financial Times: Money, Morale & Momentum, Part 3

Continuing the series based on Mark Driscoll’s suggestions for coping with the recession —

7. Real Estate

This is the time for multi-campus churches to pursue real estate from dying and struggling churches that are facing an uncertain future and would benefit from a partnership that breathes life into them. This is also a good time for any church, if it is able, to pursue purchasing real estate because the market is down and prices are cheaper than they have been in many years.

Amazing Grace: Can the Reader be Restored?

I get emails —

Jay,

I’ve been reading The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace online, and based on what the bible says and your interpretation of what the Hebrews passages say about a christian losing their salvation, I am pretty sure I fit into that category. I was raised in the church of Christ, baptized at eleven years of age (I am 53 now) but never grew or matured as a Christian. I have tried a few times but always end up giving in to temptation. In all these years I’ve committed many sins. I guess this would constitute rebelling against God.

Dealing with Tough Financial Times: Money, Morale & Momentum, Part 2

The next 3 points from Mark Driscoll’s advice on coping with the recession —

4. Fairness

When financial cuts need to be made, don’t subscribe to fairness and make cuts across the board and across all ministries and staff members.

Instead, fund your core ministries and key leaders first and best.

The Future of the Progressive Churches of Christ: Shrinking Congregations, Part 1

It’s been an interesting week. I spent Tuesday meeting with Todd Deaver, Phil Sanders, and Greg Tidwell planning our GraceConversation dialogue. Toward the end of our meeting, Greg described how many Churches of Christ that have added an instrumental service are losing members, rather than growing as they’d hoped. Richland Hills is, of course, a major exception.

Then on Wednesday I attended our weekly elders meeting, and some of my fellow elders were describing how their (conservative) home congregations were dying — losing members, aging, and having no young members join them. There are, of course, exceptions, but around here, there aren’t many.

Dealing with Tough Financial Times: Money, Morale & Momentum, Part 1

My congregation’s giving is under budget. Tuscaloosa is actually much better off than many communities. I imagine there are many churches in near-desperate circumstances. And so I thought I’d share some financial advice from Mark Driscoll, at Seattle’s Mars Hill Church.

Driscoll is an interesting personality. He’s been extremely successful at building a maga-church in one of the most unchurched communities in the country. He is theologically conservative — a neo-Calvinist — and yet methodologically on the cutting edge.

Instrumental Music: A Question About Transitions

In a recent Christian Chronicle article, it was noted that Churches of Christ in the United States had elected to omit 21 congregations that have added an instrumental worship service, but several other congregations with instrumental services had been included by accident.

I figure this means we have at least 25 congregations with an instrumental service, and yet I’ve only heard about Richland Hills and Quail Springs. Richland Hills’ decision became well known, I’m sure, because it’s the largest of our congregations (not to mentioned Dave Miller’s book declaring them damned), and Quail Spring became famous because of the ads run in the Daily Oklahoma declaring them apostate.

Announcing GraceConversation.com

I’m beat. I just drove to Nashville and back today — nearly 4 hours each way — to meet with Todd Deaver, Phil Sanders, and Greg Tidwell to plan an online conversation about grace. It’ll take place at graceconversation.com starting in week or so.

An Email About Grace and Divorce (Help from the Readers Needed)

I get emails. This is from a divorced and remarried couple who are being treated as second-class Christians in their home church.

Hi

We attend a [conservative, non-Church of Christ] church. My husband and I have been married for 27 years. We were both abandoned by our previous spouses. We have felt for years that God brought us together. But when we studied the Bible, its teaching on MDR seemed confusing and harsh. But then we discovered David Instone-Brewer’s book on Divorce and Remarriage in the Church. It explained everything so that Bible is practical, loving and just.

We felt vindicated by God. Not that we were perfect, but we were faithful to our former spouses. So we couldn’t understand why we were treated as second-class citizens in God’s kingdom. Of course, we have now been set free from feeling like second-class citizens in God’s kingdom — but not in His church on earth.

How to Argue Like a Christian: Answering

Now, the second-most common problem I observe in Christian discussion groups is the failure of one side to finish the conversation.

For me, the common pattern is: a conservative Christian announces that progressives have no well-defined theology of when someone falls away — accusing us of universalism or some such. I respond with a well-defined theology of when someone falls away. The conservative disappears from the site.

Here’s how Christians ought to argue. When you’ve been corrected, admit it. It’s called humility.

How to Argue Like a Christian: Listening

I follow a number of Church of Christ internet forums. I don’t have the time to participate as I once did, but I do enjoy seeing what people find interesting or controversial – and I pitch in now and then.

If you read through some of these discussions, you soon realize that perhaps the biggest mistake we make (and I’m guilty, too) is not listening to the other side. We are bad to either assume we know what they really think or else we read for the purpose of refuting their argument, rather than learning from their argument.

Email Regarding Divorced Elders

I get emails —

Fundamentally, I believe we have dealt with families who have come to us with divorce in their background in a manner similar to what you suggest in your summary list on MDR. That is, we have not treated them as second class citizens. Up to this point they have participated in every facet of congregational life, except the eldership.

The question is, should men who would otherwise posses the characteristics for elders suggested in Timothy and Titus, but who have experienced divorce, be selected as elders?

I suspect there may be both a scriptural and a practical (Is it wise?) answer. I am sure there are members in our congregation who hold both views on this issue. Based upon my study to-date I have come to believe that the “Husband of One Wife ” statement can best be understood as “Is he being faithful to his wife?” “Is he a one-woman man?”

I think the scriptural answer on this one is pretty clear. However, the practical answer could be devilishly hard.

New Commentary on Hebrews by Edward Fudge

I’ve just finished reading an advance copy of Hebrews: Ancient Encouragement for Believers Today, by Edward Fudge.

Most readers will be familiar with Br. Fudge, who occasionally comments here and authors the popular GracEmails. Edward has using the Internet to teach the grace of God since 1996.  (It’s unthinkable that Edward received no mention in the Theobloggers awards. I would gladly give up my nomination — plus two of Patrick Mead’s 😉 — for Edward to have spot.)