More Than Education
For the local church to follow its mission there are several important ingredients. Some of the are only provided by the Holy Spirit. Some of them are interpersonal within the local body. And some of them are resolved as functions that the church is designed to grow into and perform. It is this that Kerygma Institute desires to work, for the sake of the gospel and the cause of Christ.
What This Is All About
The center column is a series of essays and comments covering subjects pertinent to church education. These represent the mindset that I would bring to a local church when speaking on matters of world view, education, and the advancement of the kingdom of God.

Examining Inalienable Rights

The Declaration of Independence opens with this statement:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

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Galatians 3:15-29

Introduction

In this passage Paul clarifies the relationship of the believer’s faith relationship with God against the place of the Mosaic Law in the life of the believer. He is not, at least not directly, dealing with the national or ethic ownership of the covenant which came by way of Moses. What is specific here is the capacity of the Mosaic Law. His contention is that the Mosaic Law, and the believer’s attempt to fulfill the demands of this Schoolmaster, is not sufficient to produce righteousness in or for the believer. His argument covers the limited capacity of the Mosaic Law, the reason for its capacity, the place where its capacity serves best, and the Abrahamic Covenant which surpasses the capacity of the Mosaic Law in several ways. Read the rest of this entry »

The Corporate and Government Evangelist

For many evangelical fellowships the only way to do evangelism is to give an altar call.  It’s been that way, it seems, since Wesley and Whitfield.  It has proven effective in so many ways that there is no real reason to drop it.  Besides, if we drop that, aren’t we being disobedient to the commands to preach the gospel and do the work of evangelist?  It seems that the call to drop this method is also a call to be disobedient to the Word – to God himself. Read the rest of this entry »

Romans 14

Introduction

In the Context of the Whole Letter

Reading Romans at a surface level, following a popular and novel perspective of our time, might tempt one to think that Romans 14 is simply about visible personal justification. This section falls in line immediately after a section on law and the Christian’s relationship to it (ch. 13), which itself follows a discussion of God’s covenant faithfulness to Israel (ch. 9-11). So on the surface one might conclude that this is the fulfillment of Paul’s earlier condensed statement of living by faith (1:16-17, 3:21-31). But to do that is to read the text too simply. I would contend that just as the outline of the book seems to unpack 3:21-31, so also this section involves a part of the unpacking, by application, somewhat of Romans 2:1ff regarding judging and God’s authority, and what it means, from 4:5, to be “made righteous.” Read the rest of this entry »

Exegetical Practice

It’s always good to do basic Biblical theology — the exegetical day-to-day work that helps you develop your theological moorings as you seek to impact the world with the gospel.  The following is an exegetical study of Romans 3:21-31, probably the hub of the book of Romans.

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Gospel Threads: A Parallel Study of Romans and Hebrews

This PDF is a real curriculum designed for your adult ed/Sunday School program.  The goal is a unique one — to help build that “big picture” of how the Gospel and its impact is seen in the seemingly very different structures of the two largest letters in the New Testament, Romans and Hebrews.  This study requires work.  Those who read and are engaged in the study will gain a great deal.

Some of the points here might be controversial.  How should we treat Israel?  How should we behave toward an evil government?  How fallen is humanity?  Through all of Christianity, even within evangelical Christianity, there is a great deal of divergence on these matters.  But we do well to confront these challenges and build our Christian minds for the building up of the body and the furtherance of the Gospel. Read the rest of this entry »

Does the Universe Have a Purpose?

This question haunts even the evolutionist.  It is unavoidable.  It raises the obvious question of God’s (or Any Other’s) existence.  But it raises some even more interesting issues.  Stay tuned as the answers might seems surprising. Read the rest of this entry »

Teaching Thankfulness for God’s Promises

God’s promises hold true.  For that we are thankful for the future hope found in His promises and for the past heritage of His faithfulness, to the church and to his process.  Let’s begin with Romans 9:1-5:

I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.  (emphasis mine)

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Revolution as Current History

I write this that you might consider the importance of a Christian response which might be compatible with a popular patriotic response to the things happening in our nation today.

No revolution is a matter of immediate action.  All revolutions have their historical foundation in a long series of events that leave the citizens dissatisfied with their government.  The Russian revolution of 1917 was instigated long before it was effective.  Lenin’s strategy for revolution is measurable and discernible. Read the rest of this entry »

Christ v The Enlightenment: A Challenge to Christian Activism

Part 1:  The Situation of Ideas

We are children of God.  We are children of the enlightenment.  We live as believers re-born of God’s Spirit through the work or Christ.  But we also live in a world of dualisms and conflicts (some real, some contrived) which war against our faith.  During the past four decades we have been challenged as to “How Should We Then Live?” and the answers have been confusing. Read the rest of this entry »

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