Who hasn’t heard of a church identified by the name of a well-known pastor? For example, “I am a member of Pastor Smith’s church” or “I visited Charles Spurgeon’s church when I visited London.” This identification is understood but, biblically speaking, is misleading and actually erroneous. Not realizing this error, those who identify a “church”…
By Thaddeus Williams, Adjunct Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at BIOLA The Peace and Love Hippie Hostel is one of Paris’ most budget-friendly, a dingy sanctuary for under-showered backpackers. It was there that I met Derrick. Derrick didn’t believe in organized religion. Derrick didn’t believe in unorganized religion. Derrick believed in marijuana, and that…
Teamwork, by its very nature, focuses on task accomplishment through the various contributions of each team member. God’s way, however, is not man’s way (Isaiah 55:8-9); so it should not be surprising that teamwork in the Body of Christ is more significant than simply a group effort to reach a goal. Biblical teamwork, like other…
Ministry of Discipleship / Counseling Condensed Version with Verse References The church of Jesus Christ is to be committed solely to the Old and New Testaments as the only written authority for faith and conduct. The biblical discipler/counselor’s faith and conduct, which includes discipling/counseling theory and practice, are established and defined only by the standards…
This article focuses on a three-word phrase that is central to the Christian faith. The phrase, JESUS IS LORD, has only one meaning but has innumerable applications. This phrase encompasses all of human history—past, present, and future— and reveals the infinite power that orders the universe. The reality of this phrase causes demons to tremble and,…
Is the Early Church Leadership Pattern for Today? Thus far, this series has reviewed various aspects of church leadership. Part 8 is the final presentation in this series. This study emphasizes that a plurality of elders – the New Testament plan for church leadership – remains the model for church leadership today. Some churches and denominations may…
Responsibilities & Qualifications of Church Leaders Thus far, this series has presented leadership plans along with insights about church leaders. RESPONSIBILITIES OF CHURCH LEADERS Part 6 highlighted common characteristics of believers growing in Christ. For example, all believers are spiritually gifted to minister in ways that build up the Body of Christ and bring glory to God. While ministering…
Singular Leaders in the Bible This series deals with New Testament church leadership. The New Testament leadership plan can be described as a plurality of elders or, with similar accuracy, a plurality of overseers/bishops or a plurality of shepherds/pastors. As Part 2 of this series indicated, the words for overseer/bishop (episkopos), elder (presbuteros), and shepherd/pastor (poimen) are used interchangeably in the New Testament…
Church Leadership: Plurality of Elders This is the third article in a series on Church Leadership. Part 1 gave an overview of the various forms of church leadership in use today. Part 2 focused on a church’s servant-leaders and the three Greek words that describe them. In our previous study, we saw that episkopos (overseer/bishop), presbuteros (elder) and poimen (shepherd/pastor) all refer to…
The church is described in various ways in the New Testament. One of these metaphors is a temple, a dwelling of God in the Spirit that is described in Ephesians 2:19-22. In verse 19 the church is pictured as a family or community. This partially describes the closeness God intends for His people, but the picture of the…