Confessing the Faith QUESTION: Our pastor pours water over the head of the person being baptized. I’ve had people tell me that all the people of the Bible, including Jesus, were baptized using the immersion method. Why doesn’t our church follow the way Jesus was baptized by John? ANSWER: On the basis of the evidence provided in the New Testament, it is not possible to prove that the term “baptize” always referred to baptism by
“The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” was a saying on a trivet that hung on the kitchen wall at my grandmother’s house. I suffer from that speed disease, much to my consternation. This piece from Pr. Cwirla addresses that issue and I hope that you find it as insightful and helpful as I did. ~ Pastor Christensen The Grace of Slowness Pr. William M. Cwirla, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Hacienda Heights, CA I
Time for Another Reformation On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis for debate on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther was challenging the status quo in the church and wanted to debate its teachings in light of the Bible. Thus the Reformation of the church began. I believe it is time to challenge some of the status quo ideas of the Christian Church again. In recent years there
Speaking the Truth in Love The current debates in our culture and within some Christian circles don’t primarily center on issues that have historically disturbed the Christian Church. Most of those debates were centered on the nature of God and His Word, the teaching of the Scriptures regarding justification and sanctification, fellowship between churches, etc. Today the focus has almost completely changed. The current debates focus not on the nature of God but on the
Should Anyone Ask Jesus into Their Heart? Have you ever seen an evangelism tract or heard someone talk about asking Jesus to come into a person’s heart? Many people have actually prayed in these terms thinking that doing this initiates their personal salvation. Obviously in such situations we know that they are not referring to the body’s blood-pumping organ in the chest. We understand that the heart here refers to the core of our being