Christians today seem to assume that the best way to have the greatest gospel impact in the world is to gain the world’s approval and acceptance first. If we can just earn their respect, perhaps they will give us a better hearing. There is certainly some truth to this: our behavior before the unbelieving world should… Continue Reading
If the “why” of mission is the fact that God sends the church, and if the “where” of mission is post-Christendom Western culture, then for the missional advocates the “how” of mission is incarnation. By incarnation, missional writers mean that a truly missional church is one that is embedded in its target culture. Hirsch notes,… Continue Reading
“The new Calvinists constantly extol the Puritans, but they do not want to worship or live as they did. One of the vaunted new conferences is called Resolved, after Jonathan Edwards’ famous youthful Resolutions (seventy searching undertakings). But the culture of this conference would unquestionably have met with the outright condemnation of that great theologian.”… Continue Reading
Today, the influences of Modernism, Revivalism, and Charismaticism in the Church’s understanding of the purpose and function of music in worship cannot be overestimated. First, because of Modernism, most Christian fail to understand the nature of emotion in human spirituality and worship. Most Christians see no fundamental distinction between a response of the affections and… Continue Reading
This series is available in booklet format. Audio versions: Biblical Contextualization The First Principles of the Gospel Responsibility and Sovereignty in Evangelism The Power of the Gospel Introduction Audio Version There is a popular thought today in evangelicalism that says that if we as Christians are going to reach unbelievers around us, we need to… Continue Reading
Paul did, in fact, contextualize the gospel. He presented it differently with the Thessalonican Jews than he did with the pagan Athenians. But in so doing, we noticed two principles that characterized his relationship to their culture: 1. Paul didn’t approve of the culture, he was repulsed by it. 2. Paul did not immerse himself… Continue Reading
In Acts 17 we have the account of three cities, each of which has very different kinds of people, and we read a record of Paul’s preaching of the gospel in each of these cities. So what I’d like to do is to compare these three cities and Paul’s methods in each city, and try… Continue Reading
There is a popular thought today in evangelicalism that says that if we as Christians are going to reach unbelievers around us, we need to be more tuned into contemporary culture. If we want people to accept our gospel message, they say, then we need to present the gospel by packaging it in the language… Continue Reading
Part 1 – Introduction Part 2 – Dave Doran’s First General Session Part 3 – Horn and Conley’s General Sessions Part 4 – Dawson on Culture Part 5 – Snoeberger on Culture Part 6 – Doran’s Second General Session Paul and Educated Unbelief – Rolland McCune The third session of Thursday that I attended was… Continue Reading