Evangelical Ministries of Sylvania http://www.sylvaniachristian.com 2010-09-04T20:45:22+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png text/html 2008-12-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=250&Itemid=161 Vol. 39, No. 12 - December 2008 The idea that suffering is essential to Christianity, that suffering draws us closer to Christ, benefits the church, and produces servant disciples, are all true, but these concepts are very rarely articulated in what many today have termed user-friendly Christianity. However, Ajith Fernando wants to change this leaning. Writing specifically to pastors, but for Christians in general as well, he observes that today we often focus on affluency and modern technology, com-fort and convenience, wealth and pros-perity, with many preachers arguing that believers in particular have a biblical right to have these things, and that suffering is something to be avoided at all costs.Based on Paul’s words in Colossians 1:24-29, Fernando reminds believers of the joy they can experience when suffering is viewed through the eyes of mature faith. Can a believer experience joy even in the context of encountering grief and loss? Paul testified, Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church (Col. 1:24, RSV). Observe how Paul links joy with suffering. Fernando observes... text/html 2008-11-03T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=249&Itemid=161 Vol. 39, No. 11 - November 2008 For thirty-one years A. W. Tozer was pastor of Southside Alliance Church in Chicago. Few preachers then, much less today, were more penetrating in what they had to say, to both unbelievers and believers. Indeed, those who have read any of Tozer’s more than forty books often do so because they learn truths from him that they don’t hear from anyone else. Prior to his death in 1963, Tozer declared his belief that worship acceptable to God is the missing crown jewel in evangelical Christianity. He intended to write one last book, a book focusing on attitudes, beliefs, and practices in Christian worship. He did not have the opportunity to write that book, but in 1962 he preached a series of messages entitled, Worship, the Chief End of Man. He was very concerned about the fact that the war had been lost, a reference to the invasion of the world into the church. His use of the word war in this context was almost prophetic to what would be, decades later, termed the worship wars. Tozer strongly believed that in the early 1960s... text/html 2008-10-01T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=247&Itemid=161 Vol. 39, No. 10 Lorenzo Dow (1777-1834) referred to himself as cosmopolite because he traveled across much of America, as well as Europe. He played a role in this country's Second Great Awakening and in the creation of the Primitive Methodist Church in England. An eccentric revivalist, Lorenzo was also known as Crazy Dow, but his preferred nickname was Son of Thunder, and, Cosmopolite. In the preface to The Life, Travels, Labors and Writings of Lorenzo Dow: Including His Singular and Erratic Wanderings in Europe and America (Saxton, 1859), written by Lorenzo and his wife, Peggy (1780-1820), who often traveled with her husband, we read:Since the days of George Whitefield, it has not fallen to the lot of another minister of the gospel to enjoy as great and widespread a celebrity as that of the late Lorenzo Dow. In England and Ireland, in the United States and the Canadas, there are probably few persons now living who have reached adult age to whom his name is not familiar. There is not a State in our Union that he has not visited, and there is scarcely a town in the... text/html 2008-09-02T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=246&Itemid=161 Vol. 39, No. 9 Several polls show that relatively few believers today faithfully practice any of the spiritual disciplines. One might assume, if we include Bible reading and prayer among those disciplines, the percentages would rise, and they do. But, the fact is, if one spends a minimum of only thirty minutes each day reading the Bible and in prayer, that small amount of daily devotion and commitment to those two disciplines alone puts one in an even smaller percentage of believers in America. Our tendency, due in part, perhaps, to the brevity of the more popular devotional resources, is to spend only a few minutes (under five) each day in Bible reading and prayer. Further, if any time is devoted to the actual study of the Bible each week, that time is also relatively brief and, worse, shallow, in the sense that most believers do not bother to use a Bible concordance, nor a Bible atlas. Bible dictionaries are more commonly used, but most such tools, if owned, remain on the shelf. The vast majority of believers do not even know how to use a concordance, even fewer know how to go about doing an... text/html 2008-07-01T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=244&Itemid=161 Vol. 39, No. 7 We are familiar with materialism and clutter. But what is affluenza ? One writer defines it this way: affluenza. noun. A painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more (John de Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas H. Naylor, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic, 2nd ed., Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2005, back cover). In their context in Australia, Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss provide this definition: affluenza, noun. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness by dogged pursuit of the Australian dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth (Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss, Affluenza: When Too Much is Never Enough, Allen Unwin, 2005, 3). Our human nature is such that, even as Christians, very few of us are like Isaiah and say to the Lord, Here am I, send me. Rather, the vast majority of us tend to say, Here am I, send someone else, because following God... text/html 2008-06-02T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=242&Itemid=161 Vol. 39, No. 6 Note: The following questions have been gathered from emails to EMOS' executive director, Charles W. Martin. This is the first issue of the Bulletin to actually focus on EMOS. The title, Ministry with Integrity, comes from a Southern Baptist pastor's description of EMOS. Question: Why all the books? What exactly is it that EMOS does? CWM: The library is related to what EMOS offers, specifically, research assistance to church leaders and believers around the world; the publication of the Bulletin of Evangelical Ministries; the development, preparation, and teaching of Bible studies and seminars; the quarterly book mailing; the discount book ministry; and preaching. Also, the library itself is accessible as a resource to persons involved in biblical and theological research. However, EMOS' library is not a lending library - it is non-circulating. Basically, what we do is offer research assistance, teach-ing, and preaching based on extensive study and reflection. Most studies that are taught are prepared over a period of about three years. During that time we consult with resource people and experts in their fields, gather books and other resources not already in our library, and begin to put together seminars... text/html 2008-05-01T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=241&Itemid=161 Vol. 39, No. 5 May 2008 Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with the study of the nature and grounds of knowledge, especially with reference to its limits and validity. For many evangelical believers, epistemology is about knowing God and His revealed word. However, the typical epistemological text discusses many fascinating topics, including the distinction between knowledge and beliefs, propositional vs. experiential truth, intellect and intuition, transcendence and immanence, cosmology, the relationship of faith and reason, and, in some cases, analogical truth, Socratic logic, and critical thinking. text/html 2008-03-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=239&Itemid=161 Vol. 39, No. 3 ✞ March 2008 Roger Olson defines “folk Christianity” as a “badly distorted version of Christianity that thrives on cliches and slogans and resists reflection and examination” (Roger Olson, Questions to All Your Answers, Zondervan, 2007, 12). In Olson’s definition, “folk Christianity” is simply Christian belief that is poorly informed, marked by “sloppy Christian thinking,” and little, if any, solid biblical theology. Olson’s examples of this kind of uninformed theological and doctrinal belief include the popular idea God helps those who help themselves, that all sins are equal, and the idea God has a specific, “perfect” plan or blueprint for every person’s life. Many beliefs that could be classified under the heading of folk Christianity are quite popular, and often heard in otherwise evangelical churchesInfant Death and Angels For example, when an infant or young child dies, at the funeral a remark often heard is “God needed a new angel in heaven,” the implication being that God is responsible and young, innocent children become angels in heaven. The idea that human beings can become angels appears in... text/html 2008-02-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=238&Itemid=161 Vol. 39, No. 2 ✞ February 2008 Gerald R. McDermott has written two important books on the relationship of Christianity to other world religions (theology and philosophy of religions). They both raise questions seldom raised by evangelicals. The first book, Can Evan-gelicals Learn from World Religions? Jesus, Revelation and Religious Traditions (Inter-Varsity, 2000), invites the reader to raise such questions as, “Can one’s Christian faith be enriched by [an] encounter with the Analects of Confucius? Could God’s saving deed and disclosure in Jesus Christ alone include a wider grace at work in the wisdom of other world religions?” (from back cover). McDermott’s answer is yes. McDermott’s second book appeared in late 2007: God’s Rivals: Why Has God Allowed Different Religions? Insights from the Bible and the Early Church (InterVarsity, 2007). In this case, the questions raised include, “Was the God of the Bible wise in allowing for other religions? Can they serve any purpose?” (from back cover). This book is also a helpful resource for those teaching Old Testament theology. text/html 2008-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=235&Itemid=161 Vol. 39, No. 1 January 2008 Today, both the popular literature available on Christian conversion and justification, as well as the more scholarly (theological) literature, more often than not, address the subject of false conversion. Much of what was written in the past about this subject was prompted by a context of genuine revival when, at the same time, false conversions appeared to be taking place as regularly as true conversions. However, in both the past and present, the vast majority of pastors and evangelists have had little to say about false conversion from the pulpit. Perhaps one reason for this is it is often difficult to distinguish between true and false conversion, and we want to avoid confusing people. But the fact is, there are similarities in the conversion experiences of Christians and those who are adherents of other religious faiths. Why do we need to talk about the problem of false conversion? A major reason is because, for over a decade now, it has been said that American church pews are the largest mission field in the world. As we can observe from the... text/html 2007-12-03T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=231&Itemid=161 Vol. 38, No. 12 December 2007 Most evangelical believers know there are five warning passages in the book of Hebrews: 2:1-4; 3:7-4:13; 5:11-6:12; 10:19-39 and 12:14-29. However, not all evangelicals agree on how these passages should be interpreted. One of the most basic issues of debate concerns the New Testament teaching on apostasy and the possibility of believers “falling away” from the faith, either intentionally or unintentionally. In many passages Paul encouraged the believers to whom he was writing to “stand” (histemi) firm in their faith (1 Cor. 15:58; 16:13; 2 Cor. 1:21, 24; Gal. 5:1; Eph. 6:14; Phil. 1:27; 4:1; Col. 4:12; 2 Thess. 2:15), as did James (5:8). Peter encouraged those to whom he wrote to “stand fast” in God’s grace (1 Peter 5:12; cf. Rom. 11:20). Paul encouraged believers to “stand” in God’s grace in Romans 5:2, to “stand” in the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1; and “stand against” the trickery and deceitfulness of the devil in Ephesians 6:11ff. One verb used for the opposite of this effort to “stand” firm is aphistemi, which comes from the... text/html 2007-11-01T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=230&Itemid=161 Vol. 38, No. 11 November 2007 Have you ever been reading along in the Hebrew of the St. Petersburg Codex of A.D. 916, and glanced over at the Masorah Parva and noticed a reference to the tiqqune sopherim and wondered what that was all about? Probably not, which is why this is the focus of this Bulletin. As we proceed, we will do our best to explain the meaning of the Hebrew terminology and take note of why this subject deserves your attention. The tiqqune sopherim are the eighteen “decrees” or “emendations of the scribes” (tiqqune = “corrections”) which altered the given or traditional Masoretic text of the Old Testament to eliminate so-called anthropomorphisms or “indelicate expressions” in the text (see Gleason Archer, Survey of Old Testament Introduction, Moody, 1994, updated and revised edition, 69; and Ellis R. Brotzman, Old Testament Textual Criticism, Baker, 1994, 54-55). Apparently these arose due to a scribe’s hesitancy to let a disrespectful statement about God, or seemingly poor theology, stand unchanged. These changes do not imply the untrustworthiness of the critical (including variant readings and scholarly emendations) Hebrew text... text/html 2007-10-01T08:49:03+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=225&Itemid=161 Vol. 38, No. 10 October 2007Reading Jonathan Bonk’s revised and expanded Missions and Money (Orbis, 1991, 2006) is a revealing experience to those not familiar with the problems Western missionaries face overseas, but it is also essential reading not only for missionaries and missions executives, but for all believers. Bonk, a Canadian Mennonite, focuses on a problem that has long-plagued missionaries sent out from America: the potential of money and affluence to corrupt the inculturation of the gospel message. If you as a believer are not familiar with this subject, you should be. Often, in the year-long preparation many short-term mission groups undergo, as well as in the weeks of debriefing most groups undergo after coming back home (youth, in particular, see Terrence Linhart, “Planting Seeds: The Curricula Hope of Short Term Mission Experiences in Youth Ministry,” Christian Education Journal, 2:2, Fall 2005), this subject is repeatedly addressed. In such preplanning and post-planning contexts, Jesus’ mandate to those He sent out is often discussed (Luke 9:1-6; 10:1-9), particularly Luke 9:3: “And he said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.’” One can easily imagine the... text/html 2007-09-01T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=221&Itemid=161 Vol. 38, No. 9 September 2007by Charles W. Martin Jim Henderson’s and Matt Casper’s Jim Casper Go To Church is subtitled “Frank conversations about faith, churches, and well-meaning Christians.” The 2007 book is printed by BarnaBooks, an imprint of Tyndale House Publishers. Jim Henderson, also author of Evangelism without Additives (WaterBrook Press, 2007), is cofounder and executive director of Off the Map, a nonprofit organization focusing on reinventing evangelism by encouraging Christians to connect with people (nonbelievers) in small, ordinary, and doable ways. Jim describes his theological background as Pentecostal (xv). Matt Casper is a marketing copywriter, a freelance writer, a guitar slinger/rock singer, an avid reader, a halfway decent cook, and an atheist. That’s right, an atheist, but an open-minded atheist. As the back of the book explains, in 2006 Henderson hired Casper to join him in visiting twelve of America’s best-known and least-known churches, including Rick Warren’s Saddleback, Joel Osteen’s Lakewood, and Bill Hybel’s Willow Creek. In Jim and Casper Go To Church, the two document their experiences at and reactions to attending... text/html 2007-08-01T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=161 Vol. 38, No. 8 August 2007by Charles W. Martin In 1985 Dennis Kinlaw’s book, Preaching in the Spirit, was released. The book’s core is a series of lectures given by Kinlaw at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. The theme of the book is that preparing to preach each Sunday involves more than simply the exegetical and inductive study of God’s Word, or the use of memorable illustrations. Rather, the essential ingredient in preparing to preach is something that human intellect and energy alone cannot provide. That something is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, or, to use Kinlaw’s words, being “immersed in the Holy Spirit.” His book describes how a preacher can become more open to the Spirit and, conversely, how a preacher’s negligence can impede the Spirit’s work. As books on preaching go, it is a rather small book (128 pages), but it almost stands alone in terms of a Wesleyan-oriented perspective of what biblical preaching is all about. There is much in Preaching in the Spirit that is also appli-cable to teaching in the local church, or what might be termed “teaching in the Spirit.” But in recent... text/html 2007-07-01T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=212&Itemid=161 Vol. 38, No. 7 July 2007 by Charles W. MartinIn the last issue of the Bulletin we referred to Alan Wolfe in the opening pages. Even while that issue was in the process of being mailed out, several readers expressed an interest in Wolfe, some of them concerned because they had never heard of him. In this issue we will try to change that. The inside dust cover of Alan Wolfe’s book, The Trans-formation of American Religion (Free Press, 2003), summarizes not only the contents of the book, but, in general, several of his previous books. It begins: text/html 2007-06-01T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=208&Itemid=161 Vol. 38, No. 6 June 2007by Charles W. Martin Each month more and more people, even those who are outside of the church, are expressing concern about, to borrow Alan Wolfe’s terminology, the “transformation” of the church in America. But it is not simply the transformation of the local church that is taking place, it is the transformation of the Christian faith itself. In the 20th century, not only did the church in America fail to transform the surrounding culture, the surrounding, secular culture transformed the church, and is continuing to do so at a record pace. Further, that same culture is also transforming the content of the Christian faith. text/html 2007-05-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=201&Itemid=161 Vol. 38, No. 5 May 2007 by Charles W. Martin“Exegesis,” the critical interpretation of the biblical text, is a word that is becoming increasingly rare today, both in the local church and in Bible colleges and seminaries. Fewer and fewer pastors graduating from Bible colleges and seminaries see the need for the skill of being able to personally read and deal with the original Greek (New Testament) and Hebrew (Old Testament) texts of the Bible. Part of the reason why is because we live in a world where a variety of high-quality English translations abound, not to mention computer software programs which can provide even the novice student with quick insight into a word’s etymology (history and development of a word), occurrences, and usage (variation in meaning) in Scripture. There are so many commentaries available today - many which cater directly to sermon development - that a pastor or Sunday School teacher need never actually study the Bible personally or firsthand. text/html 2007-04-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=191&Itemid=161 Vol. 38, No. 4 April 2007by Charles W. MartinOne of the most hotly debated questions today concerns how much freedom Scripture gives the church to adapt the eternal and unchanging truth of the Bible and Jesus’ gospel to fit into the culture and custom of the day (Mike Erre, The Jesus of Suburbia: Have We Tamed the Son of God to Fit our Lifestyle?, InterVarsity, 2006, 159-160). In recent decades, usually in the training of overseas missionaries and professors of mission, classes and studies have been offered in the contextualization of the gospel. This term was first coined by the Theological Education Fund (TEF) to describe the task of overseas Bible translators and teachers in their efforts to translate and teach the Bible, or portions of the Bible, into the languages of different cultural groups. text/html 2007-03-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.sylvaniachristian.com http://www.sylvaniachristian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181&Itemid=161 Vol. 38, No. 3 _ March 2007by Charles W. MartinWe have referred to the name of Robert Wuthnow on several occasions. A year ago, Princeton University Press released his American Mythos: Why Our Best Efforts to Be a Better Nation Fall Short. This is one of those books designed to help us understand American culture. What Wuthnow says is both challenging and discouraging. He forces the reader to confront some rather unsettling truths about who we are, what we believe, and what we must do if we are truly to become a great nation.