FrontLine
Involving College Students in Ministry
Michael D. Cruice Ministry to college students should be considered under the single-adult ministry umbrella. Being such a student is a transitional stage, such as a caterpillar would experience en route to becoming a butterfly. A fundamental issue is an understanding that these individuals are adults choosing to go to school and that they ought…
Read MoreThe Layman’s Role in Campus Ministry
Burt Campbell As a senior in a liberal college, I was under great conviction when an older gentleman named Bruce Galloway showed up. “Papa G” was in his mid-seventies at the time and was reaching out to athletes at the college. He invited several of us to a weekly Bible study in his home, and…
Read MoreChrist Is Supreme Because He Is Man (Hebrews 2:5–9)
Layton Talbert Have you ever been stumped by a child’s theological question? It is a humbling reminder that sometimes children see things we have not noticed. A query from my daughter prompted a closer examination of the nuanced Christological argument of Hebrews 1–2. In that argument, the quotation of Psalm 8 in 2:6–8 raises the…
Read MoreShould We Legislate Morality?
Joel Arnold For years I have been perplexed when it comes to religious liberty. Should gay marriage be illegal? Definitely. What about adultery? Not so sure. No question in my mind that heroin should be illegal. But should we outlaw alcohol too? One over-worn stock phrase is that “you can’t legislate morality.” And in fact,…
Read MoreIn Defense of Marriage
Rick Cross This article originally appeared in 2004, some references are thus dated, but the topic is important and, unfortunately, too relevant in today’s world. Marriage is the molecular structure of our civilization: it cannot be changed without destroying itself. Yet Christians are faced with an urgency to defend the Biblical definition of marriage under…
Read MoreRemembering the Difference between Doctrine and Preference
Kevin Schaal The Bible is a Divine Revelation given of God to men, and is a complete and infallible guide and standard of authority in all matters of religion and morals; whatever it teaches is to be believed, and whatever it commands is to be obeyed; whatever it commends is to be accepted as both…
Read MorePassing the Torch – My Timothy
Ben Strohbehn The letter was signed “Your Timothy”— one of the greatest commendations a senior pastor can receive. This came to me from one who once served as a member of our pastoral staff. He is now serving as senior pastor of another church to which the Lord led him. This unique closing of his…
Read MoreGenuine or Counterfeit?
Marion Fast In 1 Samuel 16:7 we read, “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” During nearly…
Read MorePutting Things in Order
An anonymous pastor The old saying “easier said than done” comes to mind as I think upon what the apostle Paul’s admonition must have sounded like to Titus (1:5). After appointing spiritual leadership in the churches, Titus was to go about his work of “setting in order” (the term refers to the setting of a…
Read MoreMatthew Henry: Serious Self-Examination before Ordination (4)
Mark Minnick Part One ♦ Part Two ♦ Part Three ♦ This is Part Four Pastor Minnick offers us Matthew Henry’s thorough meditation of self-examination on the occasion of his ordination. Part One dealt with the question, “What Am I?” and Part Two dealt with the questions, “What Have I Done?” and “From What Principles…
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