Author: Michelle Van Loon
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Weigh in: Formal church membership – yea or nay?
Are you an “official” member of your local church? Why or why not? I am curious to know what your experience has been. Researcher and teacher Ed Stetzer offers three reasons here why believers should go through a formal membership process with their local church. Pastor Matt Chandler makes his case here why he believes…
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A Little Gift-Giving Help For My Friends
If you’re in search of a great holiday gift for a relative, pastor, or friend, a beautiful calendar is the gift that keeps giving all year `round. Last year, I heard of a few people who bundled my book about the Jewish and Christian calendars with a 2017 calendar.Moments & Days: How Our Holy Celebrations…
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Reformation, Year 501
The late Phyllis Tickle noted that about every 500 years or so, the Church holds a sort of a spiritual rummage sale, clearing itself of bad practices and lousy theology. This cycle of revolution began with Jesus, who both perfectly fulfilled the Law and radically upended the old order of just about everything. Five centuries…
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On Not Attending My High School Reunion
What do you remember about your high school years? Football games? Chemistry tests? First dates? This week, I’ve been reflecting on my high school experience with an unshakable sense of sadness. My high school graduating class held their 40th reunion last weekend. The only reunion I’ve ever attended was my 10th. One of my friends…
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Weary In Well-Doing?
Another horrific headline screams bad news this morning. More than 50 souls and counting lost their lives to the evil actions of a domestic terrorist armed with a stash of assault weapons. As I write these words, the injured count from this incident in Las Vegas is past 400. The ground in this country is…
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Sign? Don’t sign? On the Nashville Statement and the nature of discipleship
My brothers and sisters, Twitter has informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Wayne Grudem”; another, “I follow N.T. Wright”; another, “I follow Jim Wallis”; still another, “I follow Christ.” The tendency in the church to engage in intramural battles is nothing new. The writers of the…