belong

I can’t remember the first time I heard it, but I know I’ve heard it a lot since. 

“I’m a Christ-follower.”

I understand what people are doing when they say that. It’s an attempt to avoid the cultural baggage of the term “Christian,” a term that has come to mean all sort of things to people outside of the church which fall far short of the vision of the Kingdom of God we find in Christ. That being said, I’ve never been able to embrace “Christ-follower” as an alternative. It seems to me that it fails to communicate the reality that when a person puts his or her faith in Jesus as Lord, something radically different happens to their very being which changes them. Their identity, which does come from following Christ, is changed at the core of who they are. It’s as if in that moment, they are born all over again into someone new.

I see that hand!

This belief, that as Christians, we are born-again is woven deep into the history of the Church of God. Having grown out of the revival and camp-meeting background of the 19th century, the Church of God has been a people who have held up the importance of that moment of rebirth. We call people to remember the day when their life changed forever and they were reborn in the Spirit of God! Sure, some are more dramatic than others, but it’s a part of who we are to believe that there is a day in our past to which we can point as our “second-birthday.” Continue reading →

As I finished David’s post about what it means to say that we are “a Bible Church” I realized I had my work cut out for me. His post was clear and spot-on really, and I wasn’t sure what I might have to say to add to his thoughts. But the task has been given to me to kick the can down the road so to speak, and so I needed to find some way to consider the Bible as a central component in the life of the church, while moving us forward.

The Challenges of a Bible Church

To say that the Church of God is “a Bible church” seems to point to the reality that in some way there must also be churches that exist that are something different. That’s not to say that they don’t read, teach, or believe the Bible, or that they are unChristian in their approach to scripture. Rather it is simply to highlight that various parts of the global body have been organized differently around this book, and if that’s the case then it seems logical to assume that there are certain challenges that arise from either decision. It would serve us well to consider these challenges.  Continue reading →

Something in Common

God is pleased when his people read, study, teach, preach, and live by Bible. Who would disagree? Surely this is a no-brainer: God’s people, those who have experienced the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, are to center their lives around the Old and New Testaments. Emphasis on the priority of scripture is most certainly integral to the fabric of what it means to be God’s church. From weekly sermons to small group studies to the “B-I-B-L-E” children’s song, one thing is clear: We are people of the Book. This is a truth around which all Christians can rally.

Yet to say that this value finds unique expression in the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) is to say something of a different order. Our understanding of and adherence to the Bible do not overshadow or replace the love of scripture that has marked the church since its founding and especially since the Reformation. We are not somehow more biblical than other Christians. However, our approach to Christian faith and practice influences our relationship with the Bible. And while that relationship is certainly not unique among all Christians, our perspective can influence broader conversations about what it means to be faithful students of the Bible.

Continue reading →