Jeff Straub Last week, I began a discussion on the trend to combine college and seminary education into a shortened five- or six-year program. By the end of the 19th century, the M.Div. was a graduate degree built off a non-ministerial undergraduate degree so that it required three years of intensive theological education. During the… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub It has become a bit trendy in recent days to pare down the M.Div. degree to something much less than the traditional 96 hours. Some schools now offer an expedited program that will give the student both the B.A. and the M.Div. in as little as five years. There are a number of… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the annual meeting of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International, held in the beautiful facilities of Colonial Hills Baptist Church of Indianapolis, Indiana. My good friend, Wendell Heller, started this church and the ministry continues now under its third pastor, Chuck Phelps. The FBFI is a… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub In last week’s Nick, Kevin mentioned some of the books that he had read during the past twelve months. I thought I might follow up with an essay on summer reading. Christians need to read. Pastors need to read. Reading informs our mind, instructs our sensibilities, broadens our understanding, corrects our misconceptions, challenges… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub Ecclesiastes 3:4 reminds us that there is a “time to weep.” If ever there was a time for weeping in our independent Baptist world, it is now. Last week, a 280-page report was published on the serial sins of a trusted Baptist missionary doctor and the apparent malfeasance of his mission which, despite… Continue Reading
Jon Pratt Believers struggle with sin. But disagreement arises over how this ongoing conflict ought to be engaged. Some have suggested that classifying Christians into “spiritual” and “carnal” categories helps to explain the battle so that steps can be taken to secure victory over sin. Responding to a two-part essay on the “carnal Christian” by… Continue Reading
Jon Pratt One of my former professors, Charles Hauser, has recently written in support of the “carnal Christian” view as a way of describing the reality of sin in the believer’s life (Nick, 3/4/16 and 3/11/16). In response, I offer this essay in respectful dissent and in support of the more historically grounded position that… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub I love encountering new cultures. The sounds, the smells, the tastes—pungent, bitter, sweet, loud, soft, ebullient, quiet. What a world we live in! Last week I spoke of the global ministry of teaching that the Lord has given me in the last twenty years. This ministry has carried me to four continents. I… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub Throughout my 12-year tenure here at Central Seminary, I have been using part of my time to teach overseas. When I was hired, I told the administration that it was my intention to be a participant in world missions even if I had to do it on a part-time basis and use my… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub The modern missionary movement is now about 225 years old, if you mark its beginning with the journey of William Carey to India in 1792. Of course, students of missions history recognize that missions hardly began with Carey. It dates to the New Testament era and the great missionary apostle, Paul. Moreover, looking… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub Recently, I returned from the Far East after another blessed ministry trip. As I journeyed home, I began to muse on the incredible opportunity which the Lord had given me. What a world we live in! Thinking back on the history of Christian missions, my teaching trip was extraordinary. Compare my journey with… Continue Reading
Charles A. Hauser The previous essay attempted to show that 1 Corinthians 1:14-3:3 establishes three categories of people: natural, spiritual, and carnal. The latter two are both genuine believers, but differ in their level of maturity. This contrast seems especially clear in 3:1-3. To avoid this interpretation, Reformed theologians like Ernest Reisinger appeal back to… Continue Reading
Charles A. Hauser All Bible-believing interpreters of scripture agree that doctrine must be determined by the teaching of the Word of God, not by creeds or confessions. The creeds are helpful and widely respected, but doctrine must always be decided on the basis of what scripture clearly teaches. Reformed theologians have consistently taught that the… Continue Reading
Friday, January 8, was the sixtieth anniversary of what is likely the best known missionary sacrifice of the twentieth century. Jim Elliott and his four companions, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Ed McCulley, all surrendered their lives to follow Christ. They gave up those lives on a lonely stretch of sand by the… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub The third week of November is always reserved for the gathering of the Evangelical Theological Society, now in its 67th year. As we do not publish a new Nick during Thanksgiving week, I had to wait until this week to offer a few comments on the meeting. Three of our full-time professors attended… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub Washington, D. C.; New York, New York; London, England; Mumbai, India; Nairobi, Kenya; Moscow, Russia; and now Paris, France. What do all of these cities have in common? Well, in the light of the tragedy of last week, the answer is obvious to anyone who pays attention to world events: all of these… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub Last week, I began to evalutate Steve Shadrach’s book on raising ministry support, The God Ask. It is a how-to manual for Christian workers who need to secure personal funding for their ministry. I found it an interesting and engaging book, with a number of helpful suggestions that can make the efforts of… Continue Reading
This week and next, I want to interact with a recent book that has some bearing on the discussion we have been having over the past several weeks. I have been writing a series of articles to encourage churches to become more missions-minded. As I was writing this series, my son (who will be returning… Continue Reading
Jeff Straub All churches should be growing in their commitment to fulfill the Great Commission, and having a missions-minded church is one way to increase this commitment. Already in this series, we’ve seen that the pastor or lead elder needs to set an example of missions-mindedness. This equips him to lead his church into deeper… Continue Reading
The work of ministry on any significant scale requires resources. This is especially true of the work of missions. Nearly every country that admits missionaries requires them to be fully supported from outside sources so that they do not take jobs from the national population. This almost always means the missionaries will need to raise… Continue Reading