Blog Series Favorites

As the years have rolled along I've written several blog series. Some are better than others. My four favorites are below. I encourage you to take a look and tell me what you think.


Church, Bible, And Interpretation - It's Not So Simple

Homosexuality - an appropriate Christian response

Twenty-Five Reasons Professional Pastors Should Resign

Unavoidable Church Principles

Series Summary: Ten Bad Reasons for Returning to the Church Institution

Some Christians who depart institutional Christianity struggle with the temptation to return. You may have been in that situation in the past, or perhaps you're there right now. It can be a difficult time.

Although I cannot think of any valid reasons for going back to the institution, it's not difficult to think of bad reasons for doing so. In this series I've listed ten specific reasons I've heard for followers of Jesus returning to the tradition-laced model of church they once left behind. None of these reasons are valid. They fail the validity test because none are based in scripture.

Most believers who go back to Rome choose to do so because it's easier. Don't fall for that trap. Stick to the often lonely, more difficult road that is simple church life. Follow God's plan for His body. In the end it will be far more rewarding than the alternative.

The posts:

Series Introduction
A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: Personal Guilt
A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: Family-Induced Guilt
A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: Failure to Find a Small Group
A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: Kids
A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: It's Easy
A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: You've Been Told You Are Being Disobedient
A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: You Like a Particular Pastor
A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: "Well, the New Testament is Simply Descriptive."
A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: It's Where Your Extended Family Attends
A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: the Lure of the Mega Church

Series Summary: Church, Bible, And Interpretation - It's Not So Simple

Understanding the bible correctly is neither particularly easy nor difficult. Rather, the task falls somewhere in between.

The body of Christ as a whole is not particularly good at biblical interpretation. This stems in large part from the church's shameful lack of scriptural knowledge in general. Coupled with this is Christians' tendency to use all sorts of odd and random methods for understanding the bible. If the church would be consistent in using proper methods of interpretation it would be able to avoid many of the problems it faces today.

My purpose in writing the series Church, Bible, and Interpretation - It's Not So Simple is to help fellow believers understand scripture better. I hope it has been of benefit.

Click below to read any of the posts in the series:

The Bible is a Book That is Meant to be Understood
The Biblical Writers Meant What They Said
The Biblical Text Has Meaning; We Do Not Bring Our Own Meaning To It
Biblical Meaning Stems from the Book, Not the Verse
The Bible is Full of Eyewitness Accounts
The Bible Does Not Read Like a Myth or Fairy Tale
Genre Must Not Be Ignored
Descriptive Differs From Prescriptive
The Bible Was Written in Hebrew and Greek, But We Can Generally Trust Our Good English Translations
The Gospel is the Key and Jesus Christ is the Center