Baptism & Pool Party?
As a church plant, we run into unique situations all the time. Here is one I would like some input on. We are making plans for our first baptism as a church plant. Since we have no permanent facilities, we will likely be using a rented location (park district poolhouse, hotel, etc.). The question I [...]
Growing What Didn’t Get Zapped
By Donald A. Shirk Perhaps you are different than me, but when I became a believer I did not get zapped with a spiritual gift I never had before. I realize good and godly people hold different views on the acquisition of spiritual gifts. In this area I identify more with what Paul said about [...]
Fellowship: Its Center & Its Limits
Kevin Bauder has done it again. He’s been detailing differences between conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists. It’s been an interesting series. In his last article he spoke about differences between fundamentalists and groups like T4G (Together for the Gospel) and why fellowshipping solely around the gospel is not enough. He makes good points about cooperation and non-cooperation [...]
Congregations Gone Wild: Membership Has Purpose
G. Jeffrey MacDonald wrote an interesting piece in the New York Times last week concerning clergy and burnout. The article is based on the idea that congregations in America want to be entertained more than they want to be godly. This has put a lot of pressure on clergy who actually want to make a [...]
Church Membership
This week we are exploring the topic of church membership. Read the following posts and share your comments: Describing Church Membership Differently Members Who Are Not There Know of a resource on this topic? What has worked for your church? What has not worked? Share your ideas by submitting an article or post to one [...]
Members Who Are Not There
Many times people join a church, attend for a while, and then fall off the face of the earth. How do churches handle lack of attendance from their members? Do those people remain members and get counted among the membership? (For instance, a church has a regular attendance of 50, but has 250 members on paper.) Many churches [...]
Describing Church Membership Differently
It seems today that people are questioning the idea of church membership. People used to join without asking too many questions or wondering why they were doing it. Instead of just blindly accepting the practice of church membership, people are increasingly asking for a Biblical defense of the practice. This is more than just hesitancy to join. It [...]
Article Recommendation: “The Perils of ‘Wannabe Cool’ Christianity”
I just received an e-mail from a friend in another city with a link to the Wall Street Journal. My friend wrote, “I read this article today and thought you might find it interesting. When even the Wall Street Journal observes the fallacies of the ‘culturally relevant’ church, it makes you wonder why Christians don’t [...]
Using Greek in Ministry
Did you study Greek in your theological or ministry training? Do you still use Greek in your ministry? If so, in what way?
Dr. Rod Decker, professor of New Testament and Greek at Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, Penn., lists selected classic e…
Reaching Families . . . with a Plan
So many activities are available for children to do throughout the year, and some parents involve their kids in all of them. Other parents, though, are looking for affordable, wholesome family fun that does not involve a lot of commitment. This is where the church can stand in the gap. The plan Churches can host activities and outreach opportunities with a bit [...]
Announcing: A New Look!
The Quest website is getting a face lift! We are in the process of updating the theme. We appreciate your patience as we make the transition to the new design.
Contest Winner
The winner of our Quest blog post submission contest is Jamie Hart. Congratulations, Jamie! Thanks to those of you who participated. And keep those submissions coming—we want this blog to be a collaborative effort among all Regular Baptist leaders!
Reaching Families
This week our theme is “Reaching Families.” We’d like to share ideas for reaching not just children but entire families with the gospel and seeing them come to know Christ and join the church.
One outreach ministry that targets families is Upward Sports. My church has hosted Upward Basketball and Cheerleading for six years. Although Upward is [...]
Book Review: He Is Not Silent
by Ryan Schildroth
I just finished a challenging book on preaching by R. Albert Mohler titled He Is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World. I initially picked it up because postmodern thought is everywhere in our society. I hoped to discover new ways to communicate God’s timeless Word to people who may or may not [...]
KJV-onlyism and the KJV Preface
By Daniel Hartwig
Are you dealing with someone who insists that the King James Bible is the only valid Bible translation for churches to use today? One of the most powerful arguments I have come across is the statements of the original translators of the KJV found in the original preface to the KJV Bible. These are [...]
More Fun with Sermon Templates
This week we are featuring a series of articles by Pastor Jamie Hart on using technology in ministry.
By Jamie Hart
In a previous post, I showed you how to create a sermon template by modifying the heading styles in a Word document. As I mentioned, using the heading styles unlocks some amazing functionality. Let me show [...]
Ministry in the Cloud
This week we are featuring a series of articles by Pastor Jamie Hart on using technology in ministry.
By Jamie Hart
I’m a Microsoft guy for many reasons—not the least of which is the fact that, as a software instructor (I’m bi-vocational), the MS Office applications help me pay the bills! But when it comes to cloud [...]
Outlining in Microsoft Word
This week we are featuring a series of articles by Pastor Jamie Hart on using technology in ministry.
By Jamie Hart
If you use Microsoft Word, chances are you have a love/hate relationship with the application. And if there is any part of MS Word that you hate, chances are it’s the numbering and outlining feature. Outlining [...]
Why the GARBC Needs Old People, Part 4
One of the gifts of age is the ability to gain perspective. ”Perspective” is defined as “the faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship.” In other words, it is the ability to put together the big picture from the relevant details of a situation or relationship. With age comes experience, and with experience [...]
Learning from History Comes through Age and Experience
Why does the GARBC need an intergenerational emphasis? Some reasons have already been articulated in recent Quest posts. (See “Why the GARBC Needs Old People,” Parts 1, 2, and 3.) This topic actually seems opposite of what most associations and churches discuss. Most churches and denominations discuss the need for, and plan to recruit, younger members. However, unless we [...]
Arrested for Bibles, North Korean Dies in Prison
I wanted to pass along this article as an opportunity to remind each us to be praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being persecuted for the cause of Christ. Amazingly, this article is not from a Christian publication such as the Voice of the Martyrs, but is from the MSNBC news feed!
Why the GARBC Needs Old People, Part 3
On Monday Nat Kealen reminded us that older people often possess wisdom that comes from having “been there, done that.” You might say that they bring a sense of perspective that is much needed in any organization, including the GARBC.
Yesterday Will Hatfield explained that older people can challenge us to watch our pace. By “pace,” [...]
Why the GARBC Needs Old People, Part 2
I’m pretty impatient. I’d rather get something done today than have it drag out for months. It probably comes with the territory of being young. As we consider why we need older people in our lives and we delve deeper into the concept Nat so ably illustrated, what wisdom can we gain from older people? One [...]
Why the GARBC Needs Old People
Two weeks ago, we explored on The Quest why the GARBC needs young people. It seems only natural that we look at the topic in the other direction.
When seeking counsel and wisdom, many young pastors in the GARBC look up to godly men who have been there before. These “older” men have experience and time [...]
