This is the first of two articles I wrote for the congregational newsletter on the multisensoryness of worship. Multisensory Worship, Part 1 By Pr. Rich Futrell In Matthew 15:8, Jesus said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” When Jesus said that, He wasn’t setting up an either-or […]
How to Use the Apocrypha and the Its Contents: A Re-education
January 24, 2011 by
Lesson 5: How to Use the Apocrypha and the Its Contents: A Re-education By Pr. Rich Futrell Jan 30, 2011 The Protestant Churches’ Rejection of the Apocrypha When some claim the Apocrypha is not biblical, they often cite many “proof texts” showing why we should reject the Apocrypha, such as, it teaches false doctrine. Ironically, […]
The Apocrypha and Change within the Lutheran and Roman Churches
January 18, 2011 by
The Apocrypha and Change within the Lutheran and Roman Churches Lesson 4 By Pr. Rich Futrell Jan 23, 2011 Recap Last week, we learned how the early Church responded to three traditions on the Apocrypha and affirmed the Anagignoskomena and Deuterocanonical views as legitimate. The Church rejected the view that allowed someone to reject the […]
The Apocrypha, Early Church Councils, and Martin Luther
January 13, 2011 by
The Apocrypha, Early Church Fathers and Councils, and Martin Luther Lesson 3 By Pr. Rich Futrell Jan 16, 2011 Recap Last week, we learned that the Apostolic Fathers quoted and referenced the Apocrypha, without distinction, in the same way they did the others part of the Old Testament. Hagiographa/Kethuvim To understand the distinction in […]
The Apocrypha and the Apostolic Fathers
January 5, 2011 by
The Apocrypha and the Apostolic Fathers Lesson 2 By Pr. Rich Futrell Jan 9, 2011 Recap Last week, we saw how Jesus called one book of the Apocrypha “scripture” and how Jesus celebrated a festival in the Jewish liturgical church-year calendar that is only mentioned in the Apocrypha. We also saw how the New Testament […]
Introduction to the Apocrypha
January 1, 2011 by
In our Adult Sunday School class, we’ve started a short study on the Apocrypha. Here is the first lesson. A Look into the Apocrypha (Deuterocanon, Anagignoskomena) Lesson 1: Introduction By Pr. Rich Futrell Jan 2, 2011 Meaning Apocrypha: “That which is hidden.” During 16th-century controversies about the biblical canon, the word acquired a negative connotation, […]
What is Hell?
December 18, 2010 by
In our Sunday School class, we’ve been exploring the biblical teaching on the End Times. Part of that exploration has dealt with Hell. Many today see Hell as an eternal separation from God. We explored that idea based on 2 Thessalonians 1:9, but also studied why Hell as an eternal separation from God is not the […]
Baptism in the Early Church: Part 3
December 17, 2010 by
DID THE EARLY CHURCH BAPTIZE INFANTS? Of the five existing apostolic churches, all currently baptize infants. This leads one to conclude that the apostolic church baptized infants–unless the practice of infant baptism developed later and then spread to all the apostolic churches (historically unlikely, but possible). Some modern-day scholars strongly oppose the idea that the […]
Baptism in the Early Church: Part 2
December 17, 2010 by
HOW THE EARLY CHURCH BAPTIZED Of the five existing apostolic churches, three baptize by, or prefer, immersion. The Roman Catholic and Syrian Orthodox Churches baptize by affusion. However, the Syrian Orthodox Church calls immersion an “old practice” it used to perform.[1] And so, historically, the apostolic churches prefer to perform baptism by immersion. However, what […]
Baptism in the Early Church: Part 1
December 17, 2010 by
Baptism and the Early Church: The “How” and the “Who” A paper presented to the Springfield Pastors’ Circuit of the Missouri District, Jan 12, 2010 By Pr. Rich Futrell This paper takes a brief look into the early Christian church practices on baptism. The historical era looked into will be after the period covered in St. Luke’s […]
