The Church’s Mission According to Barth and Pinnock
The following are some goldmine quotes related to the Mission of the Church, which is tied to the Mission of God. One is from Karl Barth (Church Dogmatics) and the others are from Clark Pinnock (Flame of Love). Peep game: "The Christian community is not sent into the...
Uniting Kingdom to Atonement: Vineyardizing the Relationship of Cross and Crown
The Vineyard movement is widely known for embracing kingdom theology as it's theological center. We look to King and Kingdom as foundational to our beliefs and practices. Jesus announced the inbreaking of his kingdom and then spent his public ministry focused...
A Review of “Understanding Prophecy”
While there are some significant differences between the various eschatological views that are found within the Church, I'm convinced that there are some general hermeneutical guidelines that would serve students of Scripture when approaching apocalyptic literature....
Upwards in a Trinitarian Infused Gospel
Michael Bird writes: "The God we are confronted with in the gospel is the Triune God. The gospel and the Trinity are internally configured toward each other because the saving acts of God point to a God who exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The salvation that...
Ecclesiology is Radically Personal
I love my church. I know, I know... it's not really my church. I serve Jesus' church and I'm well aware of the fact that pastor's would be wise to remember that they do not own the church's they serve, nor do the church's we serve need us in order to "make it." Yet...
Top 5 Books on Healing
By popular request (most recently my good friend, Aaron Prill), I've decided to put forth my top five healing prayer books. Before jumping into my list, a couple prefatory remarks. First, these are books that I find most biblical/theologically accurate,...
How to Get Out of Making Disciples: The Art of Evangelistic Excuses
Does your pesky pastor or church community keep emphasizing God's mission? Are there regular reminders of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) and the purpose of Holy Spirit in evangelism (Acts 1:8)? Never fear! Here are the top ten excuses you can use to get out of...
Centering Biblical Theology in the Vineyard: King & Kingdom
"Are Vineyard churches and pastors Calvinistic or Arminian?" I remember the question well because I was trying to choose between about five different answers, but I decided to go with the best answer I could muster: "Yes." For some, one must be either a Calvinist or...
The Pathos of Academic Scholarship: Why I Almost Wept Upon Completion of My Dissertation
On Tuesday of this week, I typed the final sentence of the dissertation I have been working on for the past two years. As soon as the last stroke of my MacBook Pro's keyboard, I had this very surprising sensation come over me. On one hand, I couldn't believe that I...
Massive Book Sale
Pardon me for posting this here. I'm currently selling a bunch of books that I have doubles of as I have moved to using more electronic versions (kindle and Logos). I am selling the following list of books: Philip Schaff – History of the Christian Church (8 volumes in...
Should the kingdom of God be viewed against the kingdom of the cross? Ummm… no.
Pick up Crown of Thorns today!
#VineyardGlobalFamily Recap (Day 1)
Eleanor Mumford. Just... Eleanor Mumford. The first day of the #VineyardGlobalFamily conference was epic. In addition to seeing a ton of some of my favorite people in the world, I got to finally meet a ton of people that I've only known via Facebook or Twitter or even...
Bring Your Hawaiian Shirt to Columbus: Tuesday, July 7, in Columbus!
Hawaiian shirts and the Vineyard go together like Steve Nicholson and Diet Dr. Pepper. Those wonderful Aloha shirts characterize Vineyard gatherings in the same way that sandals and NIV Bible's do. This up and coming week, from July 6-9th, the Vineyard USA 2015...
An Interview w/ Dr. Mark Cartledge
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkNWH9WGd-Y] Pick up a copy of Mark's new book The Mediation of the Spirit today! From the publisher: "How might a distinctively Pentecostal and charismatic theological perspective inform and enrich the discourse of academic...
“Preaching with Accuracy,” by Randal E. Pelton (a review)
Finding helpful books on preaching can be challenging because there is no shortage of books on the subject. There are lots of books claiming to offer "secrets" to preaching, including the "secret to preaching without notes," which I've written about before (full...
Where Are the Angels? I’m Still Curious…
One doesn't have to read much Scripture to find angels. I've hung with some Christians who seem to see angels everywhere they go, though these people also tend to identify demons in everything negative that happens around them too, so I'm not sure they can be trusted....
Toward My Theological Montage: Integrating My Influences
As I've been working on my dissertation, which is a constructive theology exploring the idea of a Vineyard sacramental ecclesiology, I've been reflecting on the relationship between engaging, integrating, and creating theology. I'm convinced that most constructive...
Searching for the Radical Middle and Finding It: Honoring Bill Jackson
Though I grew up attending Vineyard churches during my formative years, I think it would be safe to say that I took a lot of that for granted. When you are a kid growing up in a church, you don't always understand the details about church life. You just know that your...
Jack Levison’s “40 Days with the Holy Spirit” Devotional
I think I could sit at a table talking about the Holy Spirit with Dr. Jack Levison for hours. The way that he thinks and writes is ever engaging and many of the questions and concerns he poses go on to raise countless hours of reflection. Those of you who are into...
Thomas S. Kidd’s new book on George Whitefield (a review)
Historical biographies are important for the health and development of individuals and ecclesial communities. While it may be true that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, as George Santayana is famous for saying, I'd like to think that a...
Culturally Relevant Mission: Toward a Global Vineyard Lean
God's mission of extending the rule and reign of his kingdom to every square inch of the world is the scope of his great love. As the prophet Isaiah declares, "for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea" (Isa 11:9). This is...
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