In chapter 3 of their book, Packer and Parrett set out to address the “Waxing and Waning of Catechesis.” At the outset they allude to the quote above from Calvin and rightfully conclude that “Christians of all sorts once again seem to be intent on testing this thesis.” This is a, if not the, most …
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Catechism, part 4
Posted Jun 16th, 2011 By Allison in Pastor Brian's Blog, Why We Do What We Do With | No Comments -
Catechism, Part 3
Posted Jun 2nd, 2011 By Brian in Pastor Brian's Blog, Why We Believe What We Believe With | No CommentsThe question Packer and Parrett take up in Chapter 2 is not whether or not catechesis works—several centuries of testimony demonstrate it obviously does—but whether or not it is Biblical. Or to put it another way, is this simply a good idea or is something that God is requiring of his church? In making their …
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Catechism, part 2
Posted May 27th, 2011 By Brian in Pastor Brian's Blog, Why We Do What We Do With | No CommentsShortly after I was converted I got involved in a church/denomination which rejected the idea of church membership. As a result there was nothing formal in place for new converts to be instructed in the newly embraced faith. The next church I attended did practice church membership. Not much was required to become a member. …
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Catechism, Part 1
Posted May 20th, 2011 By Brian in Pastor Brian's Blog, Why We Do What We Do With | No CommentsHistorically Reformed congregations have engaged themselves in the business of catechizing their members and especially their children. Of course, catechism has taken a back seat to far more titillating things like moral lessons from Bible stories, program-oriented youth groups and even many good things like small group Bible studies. There is a lot of activity …
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Why We Plant Churches, part 2
Posted May 3rd, 2011 By admin in Pastor Brian's Blog, Why We Do What We Do With | No CommentsLast week in the WWDWWD we asked the question: Why do we plant churches? This week we ask the question: How are we going to plant a church in El Cajon? The Theory: Reformed church planter in of the last century, Johan Bavinck (Nephew of the great Herman Bavinck… Well, “great” to me anyway) taught …
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Why We Plant Churches
Posted Apr 29th, 2011 By admin in Pastor Brian's Blog, Why We Do What We Do With | No CommentsThis week in WWDWWD we will answer the question: “Why are we going to plant a church?” We plant churches for God’s glory, because it is the church’s mission, and because we love lost sinners. There are many proximate purposes, but only one ultimate purpose for the church’s sojourn on earth. Proximate purposes include being …
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The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Posted Apr 22nd, 2011 By Allison in Pastor Brian's Blog, Why We Believe What We Believe With | No CommentsThere is always a tendency to knock off some of the rough edges of our faith. And among those rough edges stands the roughest of them all: the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The resurrection is absurd because in our everyday experience dead people don’t come back to life. Imagine your reaction …
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Holy Week
Posted Apr 15th, 2011 By Brian in Pastor Brian's Blog, Why We Believe What We Believe With | No CommentsThe church calendar makes a wonderful servant and a horrible master. This is one of the reasons we have chosen to use it in some places (notice the prayer in the front of the bulletin every week and the description of the Sunday, Maundy Thursday service, Good Friday service) while not others (we exposit books …
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History of the English Bible, part 13
Posted Apr 8th, 2011 By Brian in Pastor Brian's Blog, Why We Believe What We Believe With | No CommentsIn 2001 Crossway released the most recent revision of the KJV and its revisions, the English Standard Version (hereafter ESV). As the name indicates, the ESV is closely related to the Revised Standard Version and the New Revised Standard Version. Like the New American Standard and American Standard versions, the common theme in these translations …
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History of the English Bible, part 12
Posted Apr 3rd, 2011 By Brian in Pastor Brian's Blog, Why We Believe What We Believe With | No CommentsRevisions of the KJV continued beyond the Revised Version (1885). At the beginning of the 20th century the American Standard was released as a further revision. Then, in 1952, the Revised Standard Version. In 1971 both the New American Standard Version and the King James II Version were released and in 1982 the New King …
