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  1. freespiritchurch

    What Should I Do with My Book?

    This is not a typical post in this forum, but really addressed to dispensationalists. First: I am not a dispensationalist: I'm an ex-Catholic who is now a Protestant minister. I got really interested in the history of fundamentalism while getting a Ph.D. in church history at the University of...
  2. freespiritchurch

    Is Life Fair?

    Hi, I'm in the process of starting a church in the Disciples of Christ. Those of you who are familiar with the DoC will know that there are few clergy in it who would fit into the "traditional theology" forum in any way. However, I enthusiastically accept and teach the traditional creeds even...
  3. freespiritchurch

    Original Writing

    I'm teaching a church history class in a seminary where students will not be familiar with Pentecostalism. I'm looking to include primary sources (original writings) from Pentecostal history. I'm including Frank Bartleman's description of Azusa Street, a selection of short articles on healing...
  4. freespiritchurch

    What will your church do this week?

    I realized that I have no idea what different RM churches do before and during Easter. Do you have anything special on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday? Does your church do a sunrise service or vigil service for Easter? Do you twitch when people talk about "Holy Week?" I'm going...
  5. freespiritchurch

    Chaplain's Corner: A Challenge

    I want you to read this recent post from "Ask a Chaplain." Today, there are people on CF who are learning about Jesus for the first time. Before you hit the "submit" button on your post, ask yourself this: what does your post teach people about Jesus? Does it show people that Jesus teaches...
  6. freespiritchurch

    Cross & Glory quotes

    Each week I put a passage on the back of our weekly bulletin. Because we're an ecumenically minded church, I try to find quotes from important people in various Christian traditions. Next week I'm preaching on the Transfiguration, highlighting the fact that the revelation of Jesus' glory is...
  7. freespiritchurch

    Mark 7--what's the parable?

    In Mark 7, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees and says, "Nothing outside a man can make him unclean by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean." Then his disciples ask him to explain the "parable." How is this a parable? I have a theory (of course). The...
  8. freespiritchurch

    Can Anything Good Come from GT?

    I am involved with a discussion on an atheist forum and I am formulating an answer to a difficult and well-considered question. Because I'm the only minister on the forum, I want to present the best possible answer, and I would like to get a range of opinions about it. In order for this to...
  9. freespiritchurch

    Relationship between dispensationalism and ideas about the Papacy

    On another thread (now closed), someone said that dispensationalists invented the idea that the Pope was the Antichrist. I wanted to post something in reply to that. I spent 30 minutes getting this post ready and I'm not deleting it now! In the mid-1800s, dispensationalists were among the few...
  10. freespiritchurch

    Literal interpretation is not Scriptural

    In a question about dinosaurs and Noah's Ark, I got accused of destroying Christianity because I challenged literal interpretation. I didn't want to hijack that thread, so I thought I would post here. I want to affirm that Scripture, and Scripture alone, is the authority for Christian life and...
  11. freespiritchurch

    House and traditional churches working together

    I'm a pastor of a traditional church in a mid-sized town in rural Illinois. I've found a fair number of Christians who are trying to pursue their faith on their own, without joining a church (usually couples who come from very different church backgrounds, or people who are very far from a...
  12. freespiritchurch

    Podcasting and sound

    I'm a pastor in a small church in a town of 7500 in northern IL. We have hooked a computer to our sound system and are recording the services; I burn them to CD on my laptop (which the church got for me--yay for them. I would like to start podcasting the sermons and have no idea how to begin...
  13. freespiritchurch

    1 Corinthians resources?

    I am a new pastor, called to a church of about 75 members who want to do new things. I've decided to do our first Bible study on 1 Corinthians, which gives a lot of the basics on how to be a church. I haven't been happy with many of the commentaries and resources I've looked at. What have you...
  14. freespiritchurch

    Either everyone is offered salvation, or not

  15. freespiritchurch

    How does the Bible prohibit slavery?

    I was asked to start another thread. I would be curious to know how the people who have been insisting that they follow the literal teaching of the New Testament as their justification for prohibiting women from speaking in public argue against slavery. As you interpret Scripture, what...
  16. freespiritchurch

    Faith and Works: Does it matter?

    So I've noticed interminable debates about "salvation by faith alone." I have never seen any evidence that the debate has any significance. On the one hand: no one believes that works are absolutely necessary for salvation. Imagine a really bad person--say Stalin. On his deathbed, Stalin...
  17. freespiritchurch

    [OPEN] What's the RM? What's a Protestant?

    I was going to send Raven a PM but neither of us are allowed to. So we'll have to have this discussion in public until we both have 50 posts. The best place for me to start is with a question: what do you know about Protestants now? (Moderator Note: In order to facilitate information exchange...
  18. freespiritchurch

    Either everyone is offered salvation, or not

    I've seen a lot of debates on the question--can people be saved without explicitly accepting the Gospel? There are only two possible answers to this question: YES. All people, even people who never have the opportunity to confess that Jesus is Lord, can be saved. NO. Some people have been...
  19. freespiritchurch

    What the church is

    So...time for a different kind of conversation. In order to graduate, I have to write a paper on my ecclesiology. I've discovered that my view of the church is half Vatican II, half Plymouth Brethren. These ideas aren't supposed to go together, and I would be interested to have a talk about...
  20. freespiritchurch

    Descrating the flag?

    Is anyone else bothered by the push to prohibit the "desecration" of the flag? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, descrate means: "To take away its consecrated or sacred character from (anything); to treat as not sacred or hallowed; to profane." It seems to me that Christians...
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