Visit VintageChristianity’s new worship blog Vintage Worship, and explore with us the many ways in which we may know and worship the real Jesus in a manner that is pleasing to him.
June 19, 2009
Vintage Worship :: Knowing And Serving The Real Jesus
Posted by Christopher Gates under UncategorizedLeave a Comment
May 28, 2009
Truth About Short-term Mission Trips
Posted by Jason McNutt under Church Planting, Evangelism/Missions, Ministry, Missions, Religion1 Comment
http://lifebetweensundays.com/2009/05/28/truth-about-short-term-missions/
May 5, 2009
Interesting dynamic of Paul’s meaning. Do you have any thoughts?
Koinonia: Women are saved through the bearing of children (Monday with Mounce 35)
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April 30, 2009
Mars Hill Worship Rocks :: Qualifications For Church Musicians
Posted by Christopher Gates under UncategorizedLeave a Comment
Check out Mars Hill Church’s qualifications for church musicians:
April 25, 2009
Qualifications For A Worship Leader :: The Worship Leader As Pastor
Posted by Christopher Gates under Uncategorized | Tags: church music, Music, Pastor, Worship, worship music, Worship Pastor |Leave a Comment
Ever wonder what the qualifications are for a Worship Leader? Seems to me that we don’t really take this position in the church very seriously these days. Why not? See Resurgence article on the definition and qualifications of a Worship Pastor here.
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April 25, 2009
Vintage Christianity Changing The World :: Time Magazine And The New Calvinism
Posted by Christopher Gates under Calvinism, Church Reform, Culture, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Music, Reformation, Religion, Religion/Philosophy, Theology, church music, worship music, worship songs | Tags: the new calvinism |Leave a Comment
If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard “The Old Rugged Cross,” a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of “Shine, Jesus, Shine.” And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are…well, hark the David Crowder Band: “I am full of earth/ You are heaven’s worth/ I am stained with dirt/ Prone to depravity.”
Calvinism is back, and not just musically. John Calvin’s 16th century reply to medieval Catholicism’s buy-your-way-out-of-purgatory excesses is Evangelicalism’s latest success story, complete with an utterly sovereign and micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the combination’s logical consequence, predestination: the belief that before time’s dawn, God decided whom he would save (or not), unaffected by any subsequent human action or decision.
Read the rest of the article here:
March 24, 2009
Vintage Christianity Meets Postmodern Mindset :: One Agnostic’s Wishful Thinking
Posted by Christopher Gates under Uncategorized | Tags: Agnostics, Christianity, Post-Modernism, Truth |Leave a Comment
“Its too bad Christianity is not true.” That is what Scott, a highly educated, relatively wealthy scientist with multiple degrees from multiple universities said to me as we talked about Jesus over lunch. “It would be the greatest thing to have ever happened in the history of the world,” he said, “if only it were true.” Due to his presuppositions about the universe there was no room for God in Scott’s thinking. He wished it were true, but knew that it was not. At least that’s what Scott wanted me to think. I don’t know, he may have actually believed that what he was saying accurately pictured the desires of his heart. Somehow, I don’t think that Scott’s “wishful thinking” was really rooted in a clear understanding of who Jesus claimed to be. What Scott did not say is that he wished Christianity were true so that he could give his whole life to Christ, be ridiculed by the scientific community, lose all his prestige and money, and perhaps even die on the mission field someday. He did not wish for that. So, what is it about Christianity that Scott wished to be true? (more…)
January 4, 2009
Church Planting Update
Posted by Jason McNutt under Church Planting, Culture, Evangelism/Missions, Missions[2] Comments
As most have commented, we have not written much lately. That is because the majority of my time has been wrapped up in church planting in Austin. We are settled in now and are planting in a growing area in Austin called Dripping Springs. For more information on the church plant please visit Austin Redeemed. This site is designed for those who are supporting the plant in various ways. This can be seen in prayer, commitments from people to move to the area and join or financial.
There is also another site that we lead people to who are searching and have no relationship with God. This site is designed to speak to them where they are and lead them to a group of people that will speak the gospel into their lives. Please visit this site but we ask not to leave comments that are heavy church language or theological. This is a place for people to simply find out more information on this new church. You can find it at Life Between Sundays.
January 4, 2009
Unity in Diversity
Posted by Jason McNutt under Church Planting, Culture, Ecclesiology/Church Practice, Evangelism/Missions, Ministry/Preaching1 Comment
Today I had the opportunity to preach at one of the associated churches of Hill Country. I opened their series on the new vision and spoke on diversity.
This was a great chance to actually see if the last three years of ministry in Louisiana were actually correct. I spent the last three years preaching and teaching on diversity in a very racially divided town.
I presented Ephesians 2:11-22 at the request of the elders, and developed the principle that Christ reconciled us all to one another and this new man to God.
I received affirmation when many of my black brothers in the congregation came to me afterwards to let me how grateful they were for the message.
God is good and His Word proves correct once again.
To hear the sermon you can download from www.hcbchutto.com or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes under Hill Country Bible Church Hutto.
January 1, 2009
Check this post out from our good friend and fellow blogger John Fraiser over at Chaos and Old Night. Just the thought of critiquing one of Paul Washer’s sermons, or calling into question his method will no doubt anger some of you. You may not agree with all that Fraiser says about Wahser, but I think it will be a good excercise in critical thinking (to say the least) if you would graciously and humbly consider what he has to say.
Here is an excerpt:
I know that many “Reformed” evangelicals like Paul Washer’s preaching. I find this rather troubling. I’ve heard several sermons by him and I find myself grateful that I heard the gospel elsewhere because I’ve yet to find it in anything Paul Washer says. Now, it’s true, I don’t just dislike his theology, I also dislike how he delivers it. I’m probably predisposed to dislike Paul Washer’s preaching. Paul Washer, how do you annoy me? Let me count the ways… I’m annoyed by the contrived weepiness with an amazing control to shut off the faucet when its time to yell. I’m annoyed by the synthetic British-southern hybrid accent, or (in keeping with the accent), the attempt to weave Puritan word-order into sermons (e.g. “you know not God!”), or what seems to be a relish for pissing people off while masquarading as speaking the hard things out of love. But these are my personal piques and I don’t expect others to share them. So I’ll dispense with those things and give attention to more serious errors.
Here is the video of the sermon:
