Category: Christian Culture
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DuPriest: “Christian Unity begins in Friendship”
Read more: DuPriest: “Christian Unity begins in Friendship”In 1985, drawing heavily both from Jeremy Taylor’s “Discourse on Friendship” and his own personal experience, the Episcopalian English professor, Travis DuPriest, argued that “Christian unity begins in friendship.” Why is this worth knowing? For one thing, it’s happening. For another, it is true to who we are, both as humans and as humans united…
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Do You Know Why You Go To Church?
Read more: Do You Know Why You Go To Church?What is the local church? Not physically so much, but what is the point? I asked this question for years ever since I started going consistently of my own volition in my senior year of high-school. I really only went because I had friends there, and occasionally I’d hear an interesting point about some passage…
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Excising the Experts
Read more: Excising the ExpertsThe Root Issue: Failure to Listen In my previous blog post, The Art of Listening, I discussed the important and wise lesson behind one of my favorite biblical versus—Proverbs 18:13: “He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him” (NASB). If you have not already done so, I highly…
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Charity: The Forgotten Christian Virtue
Read more: Charity: The Forgotten Christian VirtueThis year has been a bit crazy. American politics are more than ever divided between the right and the left. Terrorism abroad and at home have people in fear and often their neighbors have become a source of that fear. Racial tensions are a powder keg of emotion and pain. It seems that there are…
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Where did Christian Baptism Come From?
Read more: Where did Christian Baptism Come From?Question of Origins What are the origins of Christian baptism? A quick perusal of the biblical texts might leave one perplexed as to the sudden appearance of baptism in the New Testament.1 Immediately and without explanation one is confronted with the appearance of John “the Baptist” and the practice of baptizing in water (Matt 3:1ff)….
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One Body, One Suffering: Stop Telling Members They Don’t Hurt
Read more: One Body, One Suffering: Stop Telling Members They Don’t HurtIf one member suffers, all suffer together; – 1 Corinthians 12:26 I’m going to be addressing an issue that I couldn’t possibly hope to fully articulate nor cover in a single post, so I’d like to ask for grace in that from all parties reading before I get started. What I do hope to address…
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Biblical Injunctions for Bearded Awesomeness
Read more: Biblical Injunctions for Bearded AwesomenessI’ll admit, lately I have become a bit obsessed with my beard. Strangely, this unruly hair that is growing out of my face has captivated my attention, adding a minutes to my daily grooming schedule. For people that don’t know me that well this is a pretty big deal. It’s true, I am a clean…
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Family dinner: 6 paradigms for corporate worship
Read more: Family dinner: 6 paradigms for corporate worshipWhatever sung worship is, it is not just a matter of taste. I’ve heard a lot of metaphors for what worship may be. Here are five major paradigms: 1. Family dinner. Why do we do things a certain way? Because always have and always will. Traditions remind us that we’re not alone, but part of great family spanning…
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“Covenantal Friendship”
Read more: “Covenantal Friendship”So many of us are lonely. Modern Western culture — Christian and not — has all but lost its rich heritage of friendship. Below is my first try at writing out an idea I call “Covenantal Friendship.” I wrote this piece to get out of an assignment for a seminary counseling course. I’d treasure your…
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James Bond and the Eucharist
Read more: James Bond and the EucharistI recently watched the new James Bond film entitled Spectre. I must say that it was amazing, and well worth your money. I will also say that it is exactly like every other Bond film. No spoilers, but here is what happened in Spectre and in every other Bond movie: 007 gets the bad guy….