Author Archives:
Should I Get Re-Baptized?
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Originally posted by Tim Challies on www.challies.com.
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What should I do if I become convinced that I might have been born again after my baptism? That can be a tricky question (for baptists, at least). There are a lot of people who end up being baptized two, three or four times. The Gospel Coalition recently shared two answers to the question, one from acredobaptist (a person who holds that baptism should follow conversion) and one from a paedobaptist (who holds that infants should be baptized). Recently I readJ.D. Greear’s book Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart (my review) and found his answer to the question very helpful. B&H, the publisher, was kind enough to allow me to share it with you.
Culture Keepers
Originally posted on by James Emery White, January 7, 2013, on ChurchandCulture.org. James Emery White is founding pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte and one of our strategic faculty in the College of Christian Studies. (His church will host our 2013 National Conference on Preaching in May.) His blog, www.churchandculture.org, consistently offers helpful insights for church leaders. Here’s his most recent post, which should spark thought for each of us – what are the essential elements of our own church culture that we should work hard to keep?
Culture Keepers
In all of the talk related to “culture,” I came across something that struck me as fresh.
The idea of culture “keepers.”
We know of culture changers, culture makers, culture adapters, culture…well, culture just about everything.
But culture “keepers”?
The idea is significant. There are aspects of culture – a nation’s culture, a church’s culture, a family’s culture – that must be “kept.” If they’re not, then they are not simply lost, they are replaced by something else. Culture is not a vacuum. It’s a sieve. It will draw in whatever is most readily presented.
A culture “keeper” is one who, in the words of Jim Collins, preserves the core but stimulates progress. Vanguard leaders often get the progress part, but less so the core.
As churches grow, and in our day expand to multiple sites, the dynamics of “culture keeping” are becoming more critical than ever.
There are many ways to keep your culture intact:
* hire from within
* develop and implement a membership process that includes an introduction to your church’s cultural distinctives
* reinforce cultural distinctives through weekend teaching and small group leader training
But perhaps the most important of all is to know what it is you are trying to keep. At Meck, we have ten aspects of our culture that we work hard to preserve and protect. They are non-negotiable.
These are the hills we would die on:
- The Bible is true and is the ultimate catalyst for life-change.
- Lost people matter to God, and therefore they ought to matter to us.
- We should be culturally relevant while remaining doctrinally pure.
- It is normal for Christ followers to manifest authenticity and grow in their spiritual maturity.
- The church should operate as a unified community of servants stewarding their spiritual gifts.
- Loving relationships should permeate every aspect of church life.
- We need other people to help with life-change.
- Excellence honors God and inspires people.
- Churches should be led by those with leadership gifts, and structured according to the nature and mission of the church.
- Full devotion to Christ and His cause is normal for every believer.
Do you know your top ten “keep” list?
If not, there’s no way to protect your culture…because you don’t have one to protect.
(James Emery White, January 7, 2013, ChurchandCulture.org)
James Emery White is founding pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte and one of our strategic faculty in the College of Christian Studies. His church will host our 2013 National Conference on Preaching in May.
