Articles
Our desire is that these resources will point you to the Way, help you know Truth and how it is applied in life.
Rethinking “Faith” and “Gospel” with Matthew Bates
Editor’s Note: An evaluation of a scholar like Dr. Matthew Bates might seem out of place in an Anabaptist publication. However, Dr. Bates’ work has been featured by multiple Anabaptist groups, prompting this brief examination of his work. Dr. Paul Lamicela, an Anabaptist scholar, has produced a simple yet clear…
Justification: James and Romans
Most people throughout human history have been concerned with how to please God – or in most cultures throughout history – their god or gods. The Old Testament tells of how God made provisions from the time of creation for people to have a right standing with Him. Since the…
The Trap of Legalism
The Anabaptist movement has always emphasized practical, everyday obedience. This results from our focus on a literal interpretation of the Bible in addition to our particular cultural background. This is a valuable emphasis, but is there a danger of this becoming a legalistic trap in which we miss the main…
Even So Hath the Lord Ordained
1 Corinthians 9:13-15: “Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.…
The Importance of Expository Preaching
Throughout history there have been many people who have impacted the world through their preaching of God’s Word. There have been sermons that resulted in nationwide revivals, impacted the course of the church, and have brought about the salvation of many souls! Yet, there have also been sermons that have…
What Is Expositional Preaching?
My endeavor is to bring out of Scripture what is there, and not to thrust in what I think might be there. I have a great jealousy on this head: never to speak more or less than I believe to be the mind of the Spirit in the passage I…
What is King James Only-ism?
Introduction I was recently exposed to King James Only (KJO) teaching and, for several months, evaluated the arguments as openly as I could. Since my interest was piqued, I began to read books, articles and listened to podcasts from the KJO perspective to explore the belief. Several claims raised concerns.…
Sin: Nature, Consequence, and Answer
The Nature of Sin Sin is a word that is often used in the language of the churched, in the rhythms of their gathering, in the words of their prayers and songs, and in the words that they speak and read. Sin is not, however, something that is easy to…
Functional Pelagianism and Our Children
As someone who was raised within the Anabaptist tradition, I greatly appreciate the focus most Anabaptist cultures place on creating strong families with disciplined and faithful children. Unfortunately, many conservative Anabaptist communities increasingly struggle to retain young people past early adulthood.[^1] Some move toward more liberal expressions of Anabaptism, while…
An Introduction to Eastern Orthodoxy
In an essay entitled Drawn Eastward: The Attraction of Eastern Orthodoxy for Western Christians, James R. Payton, Jr. writes, “Since the 1980s, interest in Eastern Orthodoxy has mushroomed in the West.”[^1] One prominent example of that interest is Franky Schaeffer, who joined the Greek Orthodox Church in 1990. Franky (the…
Evidence for the Global Flood Account in Genesis
“Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘…For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For they deliberately overlook this fact, …that the…
Anabaptism: A Primer
Introduction What is Anabaptism? Why does Anabaptism matter? This article is an attempt to briefly answer those two questions. One of the most defining moments in church history occurred in 1523 in Zürich, Switzerland. The religious atmosphere in Western Europe throughout the medieval period was predominantly Roman Catholic, but change…
