There is no denying that the house church movement in China is not only one of the fastest growing and furthest reaching movements in the church today, but also a shining example of growth and vitality in the face of persecution.In recent times, an increasing amount of attention has been given to the Chinese church. …
Emerging Church and Evangelism
One area that the emerging church struggles with , it seems, is how to consider evangelism. There is a tendency to downplay or be particularly cautious about up-front evangelistic efforts. The reasons for this are many: reacting against over-zealous evangelism in the evangelical church that had no regard for people as individuals, a misappropriation of …
Evangelicals – a new sociological study
Peter Berger, the famed sociologist of religion at Boston University, has initiated a new two-year study that aims to offer a more accurate picture of evangelicals. After so much bashing of evangelicals as unintellectual bumpkins (note the 1993 Washington Post article that called followers of two evangelists "poor, uneducated and easily led"), Boston University's Institute …
Decision-making
I came across the following article about Christian decision-making while reading an email that Urbana sends out. Right at the beginning, I appreciated the way in which it embraced both risk and wisdom in decision-making.Almost more than anything else during my college ministry years, I had students ask me about how to make decisions. Hopefully, …
The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit
I recently had someone ask me about whether I believe in speaking in tongues, healing, and other gifts that are oftentimes called 'charismatic' gifts or appear to be more miraculous to our contemporary eyes. This topic can be such a divisive issue in the church.I believe that all the gifts mentioned by Paul in the …
Matthew Erickson 