ecclesiology

WCF 30: Of Church Censures

William Boekestein
Jul 30, 2024
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant” (Heb. 12:11). We don’t like discipline—in our personal lives, in the family, or at church—because it hurts. No balanced person enjoys giving or receiving corrective instruction. Correction wounds our pride and threatens our imagined...

Attributes of the Church: Catholicity

Kevin DeYoung
Aug 17, 2023
Editor's Note: Taken from forthcoming book, Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung, Copyright © 2024. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org . As a Protestant pastor I’ve lost tracked of how many times a congregant has asked me...

Loving the Church, For Better or Worse

Derek Thomas
Aug 5, 2019
Something is terribly wrong when professing Christians do not identify with the church and love being a part of her. Something is wrong when professing Christians fail to be passionate about every aspect of the church and long to invest themselves in her, taking all that the church represents and...

My Jesus, I Love You; Your Bride I Despise!

Aaron Denlinger
Apr 12, 2017
Last week the Barna Group informed us that a whopping ten percent of America's population " love Jesus but not the church ." Lack of "love" for the church, for Barna's purposes, is essentially measured by lack of attendance at religious services. Few of those self-identifying with this group would...

Borrowed Conviction

Jeremy Walker
Dec 28, 2016
It has happened a few times before. It happened again recently. Someone without a good church gets in touch, referred by a mutual friend. Or someone drops an email asking for advice. Or there is a conversation at a conference with someone who has come looking for help, counsel, refuge. Somewhere...

The Patriarchy Movement: Five Areas of Grave Concern

Matt Holst
Oct 10, 2016
The church is an environment of extremes. The trouble with extremes is that they always contain a seed of truth, making them look and sound plausible to the careless bystander. By virtue of this fact, the church is also often full of susceptible bystanders ready to lap-up the latest and greatest...

Baptist 21 on Elevation Church

Todd Pruitt
Mar 6, 2014
I have shared my concerns about the practices of Pastor Steven Furtick and Elevation Church previously on this blog . I have done this out of a deep concern for the peace and purity of the church and the integrity of the office of pastor. One of my questions has been whether the Southern Baptist...

Movements and the Means of Grace

Todd Pruitt
Feb 17, 2014
Evangelicals love movements. I suppose it's because it makes us feel a part of something big or at least bigger than our church. Don't misunderstand. I like a good conference as much as anyone. I have benefited from good conferences. I appreciate Together for the Gospel , not least of all because...

Movements and the Means of Grace

Todd Pruitt
Feb 17, 2014
Evangelicals love movements. I suppose it's because it makes us feel a part of something big or at least bigger than our church. Don't misunderstand. I like a good conference as much as anyone. I have benefited from good conferences. I appreciate Together for the Gospel, not least of all because...

Do not forsake the assembly

Todd Pruitt
Feb 3, 2014
I was saddened but not at all surprised to read Donald Miller's recent disclosure that he does not attend a church. I was sad because one cannot be a Christian and reject Christ's body, his bride, his building. Christians are made and grown in the body of Christ. I was not, however, surprised...