The church in America has come to depend on professionals to "do ministry." In many churches, the pastor, paid to do the job, is the one who is expected to carry out all functions of the church. But it was not always this way. Jesus came as God-in-the-flesh. The pattern portrayed in the New Testament is that every Christian is part of the body of Christ, and the function of Christ's body is to be incarnational, to be Jesus Christ for the world (John 20:21). Author David Alan Black takes on this attitude of outsourcing our mission in his shortest book, yet one he has said might be the most...
The church in America has come to depend on professionals to "do ministry." In many churches, the pastor, paid to do the job, is the one who is expect...
Over the last few centuries the authorship of the book of Hebrews has been a contentious topic, but lately a strong scholarly consensus has emerged that Paul was not the author. There is no similar consensus about who did author the book; the consensus is entirely negative. Nonetheless, it takes some courage for a scholar to risk his reputation by challenging a so thoroughly assured conclusion of many scholars. Yet this is precisely what Dr. David Alan Black has done. In this book he adapts some of his previous scholarly work for a broader audience, demonstrating both how one goes about...
Over the last few centuries the authorship of the book of Hebrews has been a contentious topic, but lately a strong scholarly consensus has emerged th...
What is the church? What does it look like? What should it look like? For answers to these questions David Alan Black looks to the first century church and our founding documents in the New Testament. What were the characteristics of a Christian assembly in the first century? In his study he finds seven things that defined the church then: Evangelistic Preaching, Christian Baptism, Apostolic Teaching, Genuine Relationships, Christ-Centered Gatherings, Fervent Prayer, and Sacrificial Living. Dr. Black believes each of these things should characterize our twenty-first century churches as well....
What is the church? What does it look like? What should it look like? For answers to these questions David Alan Black looks to the first century churc...
