by Robby McAlpine | Apr 30, 2018 | Messy Church, Practical Theology, Revival, The Vineyard Movement
“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.” (Proverbs 17:3) Purify my heart, let me be as gold and precious silver Refiner’s fire; my heart’s one desire is to be holy Set apart for You, Lord (Refiner’s Fire ~ Brian Doerksen) The...
by Kenny Burchard | Jan 17, 2018 | Practical Theology
If I were to preach a sermon on Rev. 17:8, I’d title it “Marveling at the Monster.” Why? Because Revelation 17:8 is about a monster and the kind of people who marvel at it. From my perspective (as I’ll demonstrate here), it’s also not about...
by Kenny Burchard | Jan 16, 2018 | Practical Theology
Over the past few years, I have enjoyed Dr. John Walton‘s amazing books on the ancient understandings of the book of Genesis. He is, by far, one of my favorite biblical scholars and authors. His newest book The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest, written with...
by Robby McAlpine | Dec 29, 2017 | Disciple Making, Discipleship, Ethics, Evangelicalism, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology, Small Groups
Our church recently completed a sermon series on the book of Ephesians, and one of the repeated bylines for this series was the phrase: “Bringing our behaviour in line with our beliefs”. And in a nutshell, that is precisely what Roger Helland’s newest book, The Devout...
by Able Baker | Dec 21, 2017 | Leadership
Not all pastors are pastors in the same way. Sure, we can turn to Titus 1:5-9, 1 Tim. 3:1-7, and 1 Peter 5:1-4 to learn something about what it means to be a pastor. What is often not talked about is what kind of person the gift of pastor falls upon. In this article I...
by Able Baker | Dec 14, 2017 | Church Life
As a pastor do you desire to become more involved in the life of the community outside the church building’s walls? I don’t mean something along the lines of “hey, let’s turn God’s church into a community center”. I’m taking about a desire to...
by Brad Blocksom | Oct 28, 2017 | Evangelicalism, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology
Dear Protestants, Coming up this Tuesday (October 31, 2017) we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation launched by a simple act of academic publication, when an Augustin Monk and Professor of Sacred Theology at the University of...
by Robby McAlpine | Oct 8, 2017 | Church Life, Discipleship, Ethics, Forgiveness, Practical Theology
“Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. “Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble...
by Kenny Burchard | Sep 13, 2017 | Church Life, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Evangelism, Missional, Practical Theology, World Misions
Protestants don’t typically like the biblical word “liturgy” (yep, it’s a biblical word. Keep reading!) because it is so often used as a synonym for dead religious rituals. That’s a mistake. In reality, it is a wonderful word that...
by Luke Geraty | Aug 31, 2017 | Discipleship, Gender Issues, Homosexuality, Marriage, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology, Sex
The hot button discussion in American Evangelicalism this week is the recently released “Nashville Statement”. This is an attempt by some Reformed Evangelicals to clarify their views on sexuality; the statement has raised a fair amount of agreement and a...
by Robby McAlpine | Apr 25, 2017 | Church Life, Discipleship, Leadership, Practical Theology
“Do you know why retired pastors always sit at the back of the church?” he asked, with a knowing wink. I smile back, shaking my head. “I have absolutely no idea. Why?” His grin broadened even more, and he leaned back in his chair with a hearty laugh. “Because we can!”...
by Robby McAlpine | Apr 7, 2017 | Discipleship, Ethics, Leadership, Messy Church, Practical Theology
Before reading any further, take a moment to soak in the statement captured in the image above. In some ways, that picture+insight could simply exist as a blog post on its own, without any need for elaboration. But writers just can’t resist. My own trajectory as a...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 29, 2017 | Church Life, Cultural Engagement, Leadership, Messy Church, Practical Theology, Preaching
I have a huge interest in homiletics, the art of preparing and delivering sermons. I’ve read dozens of books on the subject, written a lot on it, and trained a lot of preachers in the past decade, not to mention having taken a number of courses in my undergrad...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 20, 2017 | Church Life, Discipleship, Practical Theology
I’ve long been intrigued by the elusive subject of Christian discipleship. As a “child of the church,” having spent the entirety of my life in and around churchianity, I’m well versed in numerous definitions of what it means to be a disciple...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 14, 2017 | Church Life, Cross-Cultural Ministry, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Leadership, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology, Preaching
Over the years I’ve been approached by a few people who wanted to either use the gifts they believed they had or be trained and equipped to minister through speaking (e.g., preaching, teaching, training, etc.). In simple terms, they wanted opportunities to speak...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 6, 2017 | Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology, Preaching
Preaching is the art of provoking hearts and minds toward Jesus and his kingdom. I believe it’s an art because I’m convinced it’s similar to painting or composing music. You can take a class on painting and learn the basic mechanics of brush strokes,...
by Brad Blocksom | Jan 22, 2017 | Devotionals, Leadership, Messy Church, Practical Theology
Leviticus, p. 135 You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD. (Books of the Bible, NIV) The worshiper, a common farmer or herdsman, must enter into the outer court, ceremonially lays his hands on the...
by Luke Geraty | Jan 4, 2017 | Church Life, Discipleship, Leadership, Messy Church, Practical Theology
Reading through the Gospels and taking Jesus’ words seriously, not to mention reading through both the Old and New Testaments, leads me to the conclusion that it’s perfectly “normal” for followers of Jesus to face persecution and to suffer. I...
by Brad Blocksom | Jan 1, 2017 | Devotionals, Ethics, Practical Theology
Revelation 9:20-21 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by the plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of...
by Robby McAlpine | Dec 31, 2016 | Church Life, Conflict Resolution, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Ethics, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology, Revival, Small Groups
“I’ve decided to stay out of those discussions, until I can be sure that we can have a non-hysterical conversation about it.” A “non-hysterical conversation”… The moment my friend casually uttered that phrase, I was immediately...
