Browse articles on various topics below.
Conservative Christian churches are not eccentric. They believe they are merely consistent in their understanding and application of Christianity. They believe that the Christianity they… Read More »Conclusion: Brothers, We Are Not Populists
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” “It is my opinion that the Christian conception… Read More »The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer
Missional authors argue that the church today has failed to recognize that the Christendom era has ended. It no longer enjoys the level of influence… Read More »The State of Mission Today
I am frequently asked, “What do you listen to?” when folks find out how conservative I am.1 I do believe that we ought to be… Read More »Recordings: Choral Hymns and Anthems
Fostering a right view towards the Christian tradition is part of true Christianity. Conservative pastors will do their best to see the Christian tradition rightly… Read More »Fostering a Love for Tradition
Understanding this missionary imperative for the church leads missional writers to ask the question, “Is the 21st-century North American church fulfilling its place in the… Read More »The Rise and Fall of Christendom
If we are to grow a right view of the Christian tradition within our churches, we will have to overcome the ‘suspicion of tradition’ that… Read More »Rightly Evaluating Tradition
It is irresponsible to claim that Luther used tunes from secular loves songs for his hymns and compare it to today’s situation. If there is… Read More »Did Luther use tunes from love songs?
Conservatism will have little attraction for those who fail to be skeptical of their own culture. The skepticism of which I speak must run deep;… Read More »Cultural skepticism, the opposite of worldliness
Flowing naturally from the idea that God has an overarching mission for mankind, thus rendering that mission God-centered, is the assertion that the church, as… Read More »The Missionary Imperative of the Missional Church – the Church as Sent
The religious scene of the country in which I minister is populated by mainline Protestant churches, some of whom place great emphasis on tradition. However,… Read More »Rightly Viewing Tradition
The first principle that drives the missional church is what it considers the biblically-mandated missionary imperative. But while the evangelical church has traditionally considered evangelism… Read More »The Missionary Imperative of the Missional Church – Missio Dei
I was pushed to write a series on discernment when I heard a famous evangelical pastor define discernment as the ability to see, allegedly by… Read More »Some concluding thoughts on discernment (Part 8)
A church that is self-consciously conservative has a relationship with both the past and the future. If we are conserving Christianity, we must be conserving… Read More »Conservatives and Tradition
It has been called “the second most important book you will ever read.” Whatever rank of importance it may command, there is no doubt that… Read More »Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen
In order to understand the driving impulses behind the North American evangelical missional church movement and its impact on worship, I will begin with a… Read More »A Brief History of the Missional Church Movement
I have been arguing for the importance of discernment in the life of a Christian. I define discernment as a biblically informed judgment whether certain… Read More »Discernment and God’s Judgment (Part 7)
Christians’ affections are greatly shaped by the moral imagination. The moral imagination is largely shaped by the meaning of the various media it encounters. This… Read More »Form and Meaning
If Timothy Dudley-Smith is known to Protestants in the United States, it is more likely as the biographer of theologian John Stott than as a… Read More »The Hymns of Timothy Dudley-Smith
Most church leaders readily recognize that God has tasked the church with several different purposes, yet how those purposes work together has equally mystified them.… Read More »The Influence of the Missional Church on Worship