You’re a Priest!

Our family has been listening to Izzy Avraham’s talks each week on Youtube. I wanted to share this week’s talk about being a priest. I thought it was especially good, and it’s the direction we have been going as a family. This is very worth watching:

The People in the Old Picture

See this picture?

Table Talk

I can’t walk Danny today because it is raining, and raining, and RAINING! There are flood and wind advisories out.

An Offensive God

I think it was C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors, who wrote that every generation has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Often, the current generation feels superior to previous generations, not realizing that while they may be stronger in some characteristics, a previous generation was stronger in others. So one generation might understand the love of God better, but other generations understood God’s holiness better, or had more courage in suffering, or had a deeper humility, or better grasp of obedience. Lewis suggested that people read books from all generations, and not just modern books, because if we read only books from the current generation, we gain only its strengths and all of it’s weaknesses. In reading books from every generation, we learn from the strengths of every generation and minimize weaknesses. I think that is wise advice.

Discipleship and the Hebraic Worldview

Cheryl Hauer of Bridges For Peace wrote a very good article about discipleship that I think is important to share. Understanding what discipleship is from a Hebraic perspective has changed the way I live.

What Now? Two Church Stories

It’s all very good to discuss what church, church ministry, and the role of pastors are and aren’t, but it’s quite another to know what it ought to be and how to get there from here.

What is the Role of a Pastor?

I believe that the church has erred in that leadership often grasps for power. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard leaders say that people ought to submit to them because they have authority over the congregation. There’s too much emphasis on getting authority rather than being the servant. This has been a problem through the centuries ever since Constantine gave favored status to the church. We have forgotten what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 20:25-28.

What is Church Ministry?

Our experiences at the little church we attended, as well as other churches has caused me to question what CHURCH ministry really is.

What is the Church?

The next few posts–about church and church structure, pastors, and church ministry–are all very closely related. They are so closely linked that it was hard to separate them, but I wrote about them separately so the post wouldn’t be so long. In fact, I wrote them all at once, so I could decide where to put various pieces of thought…

A Brief History of the Church

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)