The Stylite

It's trendy these days for Christians to express the idea that they don't like church denominations.  Even if they attend a church that belongs to a particular denomination, I have heard many Christians say things like this:  "I go to a [Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, Foursquare, etc] church, but I'm not [ Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, Foursquare, etc]."   The logic behind this kind of "anti-denominationalism" seems to be that since denominations divide people into different groups and God wants his church to be united, denominations are a barrier to the unity of the Body of Christ in the world.  But, I think that logic is wrong.   Denominations are not a barrier to the unity of the Body of Christ, they are an expression of it. If we insist that God doesn't want there to be denominations, then a number of very practical questions arise.  Should churches have any kind of structure beyond the leadership of the local church?  Should there be an...

On Sunday I preached at a new and growing fellowship here in Ankara. This was the first time that I've preached in a "traditional" church in Turkey (as opposed to a house church). It was actually our first Sunday at this church, and for the next few years we will be doing ministry with this small church on the western edge of the city. My message was about the Fruit of the Spirit and about our role in our spiritual growth. In reality, spiritual growth is beyond our ability. We can't just decide to grow any more than a farmer can force a seedling to sprout. Our role is to cultivate the spiritual conditions in which God will cause the seeds of maturity to grow and bear fruit in us. I described three things that we can do to work the soil of our souls: 1. We can consume the Bible not just for information, but for transformation. 2. We can engage in prayer as a transforming friendship with God which includes a lifestyle of listening. 3. We can commit ourselves to serve o...

Often, when I get a chance to talk about Christianity with Turkish friends, the conversation turns to the structure of worship. Since Islam is anchored in large part by a shared set of practices all over the world, people think about these as the definition of what it means to be a Muslim. That is, a Muslim is someone who believes in Allah and his prophet, prays five times a day toward Mecca, fasts during Ramadan, donates a percentage of his income to the poor, and if possible goes to Mecca on a pilgrimage at least once in his lifetime. In reality, a vast majority of Muslims don't do these things, but still they understand that a Muslim should do these things. And the form of these practices is basically the same all over the world. The complex set of rituals is memorized and reproduced wherever there are Muslims. So, Muslims often wonder what the parallel practices are in Christianity. In Turkish they ask what the "shape" of our "ibadet" is ("ibadet"...