I am traveling today (by train, a new experience for me) to Vukovar, a city on the Croatian side of the Danube River, across the river from Serbia. There I will participate in (and speak to) the annual conference of the Churches of Christ in Croatia. Vukovar is famous because of its recent history; here … Continue reading On My Way to Vukovar
Author: plstepp
“Red Letter Christians” (McKnight)
Some greatness from Scot McKnight, responding to a post about "Red Letter" vs "Black Letter" Christians (i.e., those who focus on the words of Jesus in the gospels as the highest teaching in the Bible vs those who focus on the whole of the Bible), and how this distinction is over-simplistic. Main point: everyone has … Continue reading “Red Letter Christians” (McKnight)
Evangelical Engagement, pt 4: Responding to the State Religion
Some thoughts on how we should engage with adherents of the state religions in Europe. Again, I am thinking primarily of Catholics, but engagement with Orthodoxy and other state religions will be similar, I think. Engage with the gospel. Evangelicals need to look to engage SCA's (state church adherents) on every possible front, with love, … Continue reading Evangelical Engagement, pt 4: Responding to the State Religion
Evangelical Engagement pt 3: “Why Evangelical Churches Struggle in Europe”
This is my summary of an EXCELLENT post by Patrick Nachtigall at three-worlds.com. I'm still thinking through the damage that christendom (the state church) does to the pursuit of biblical Christianity. Nachtigall has some important insights. In what follows, I have kept the labels that Nachtigall gives to the thirteen factors, but otherwise paraphrased his … Continue reading Evangelical Engagement pt 3: “Why Evangelical Churches Struggle in Europe”
Evangelical Engagement pt 2: The Acts Model
Yesterday I examined two models for evangelical engagement with non-practicing adherents of the state churches in Europe. I suggested that evangelicals should engage in a way modeled after the way the church in the Book of Acts interacted with the Jewish communities that surrounded it. The earliest Christ-followers were Jews themselves, in a country where … Continue reading Evangelical Engagement pt 2: The Acts Model
Evangelical Engagement with Adherents of the State Religion in Europe
One of the problems that evangelicals run into in Europe is the question of how to engage with the state churches--usually Catholicism, but also branches of Orthodox, Lutheran, etc., churches. Nothing I faced as an evangelical in America prepared me for the ubiquity of the state church's influence. It's EVERYWHERE, heavily felt even among the … Continue reading Evangelical Engagement with Adherents of the State Religion in Europe
Home
We finished our long trip with Beth's siblings last night. Actually, we finished it Thursday night & yesterday was our travel day. 8 hours on FlixBus with no bathroom stops! Woohoo! Ugh. This morning I went & picked up Sam from the sitter. Today was a beautiful day in Zagreb. Sunny, clear blue skies, high … Continue reading Home
More Travel Thoughts
Our trip / family reunion ended last night in Prague. Beth & I are traveling by FlixBus back through Austria on our way home to Zagreb. A few disconnected thoughts: We did 2 days in Budapest, 2 in Vienna, and 2 in Prague. We LOVED Prague; it's a lot like Zagreb. And we loved Budapest. … Continue reading More Travel Thoughts
Today’s Reading & Prayer
A piece of today's reading & prayer, from The Book of Common Prayer: Ps 57.10 I will give you thanks, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praise to you among the nations. 11 For your loving-kindness is as high as the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. 12 Be exalted, O … Continue reading Today’s Reading & Prayer
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