Pitfalls of Parachurch

Nicholas T. Batzig writes:

I want to be as clear as possible at the outset. I, in no way, want this post to be received as a vitriolic rant against parachurch ministries. Rather, it is my hope that it will be received with pastoral sensitivity and concern. I actually have great appreciation for many parachurch ministries, and am personally involved with several different parachurch ministries. When I was a boy, my parents had my sister and I involved in the Skilton House—one of the most wonderful parachurch mercy ministries in the Vietnamese section of Philadelphia. I have attended two seminaries, which, by their very nature (whether the seminary professors there would acknowledge it or not), are parachurch ministries. I fully believe that there is a place for parachurch ministries, and that many have been blessed by them. That being said, I do have a growing concern about the (often inadvertent) negative consequences of parachurch ministries; and, I believe that a higher priority on the individual’s commitment to a local church is the cure for this deficiency.

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Michael L. Johnson writes:

Joel Osteen is plugging the upcoming movie Son of God, so it’s destined to be a blockbuster. I’ve yet to research the film for biblical, theological, or historical accuracy, or its artistic merits, so I can’t provide reliable commentary. But Son of God will likely join Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ as a bona-fide Hollywood film about Jesus’ life and death.

The hoopla surrounding Son of God conjures a visit I made in 2004 to Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. just before The Passion’s release. I asked pastor Mark Dever if he planned on seeing the movie.

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2 March 2014 — 10 AM Worship

2 March 2014 — 3 PM Worship

Mike Horton writes:

My friend Kevin De Young wrote a helpful post addressing the question, “Who can baptize?” It’s succinct. His position is standard practice for Reformed churches as well as others. Laypeople are not to baptize, he argued.

But what surprised me were some of the comments. Wow, did it open up the floodgates!

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Thabite Anyabwile writes:

We’ve lived so long in a hyper-sexualized culture that we no longer recognize its hyper-ness. What was once shocking and offense has become “entertainment” and mainstream. One sad consequence is an accompanying loss of beauty in sexual things. With loss of beauty comes also a loss of worship.

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