Category: History

Easter Costumes: An Expensive Church Tradition

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As Easter approaches, I’m trying to figure out what outfit I will wear for that special Sunday.

This is what everyone does, right? It’s part of Easter tradition.

The tradition of wearing special clothing for Easter, often referred to as “Easter clothes,” has historical and cultural roots dating back centuries. While the specific customs and practices associated with Easter attire vary across different cultures and regions, supposedly the tradition originally symbolized renewal, rebirth, and the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Read Full Post

Your Church Might Be Like the Pharisees

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Sideview of Catholic Priest

What do Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jews, and the Greek Orthodox have in common?

Tradition.

On the one hand, beautiful, and on the other hand, detrimental.

I love traditions. I grew up with them, and I’ve started my own.

One of my favourite traditions is our family’s annual December trip to Kentucky to visit the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter to immerse ourselves in the Christmas lights and Christmas programs that they host. Read Full Post

Biblical Arguments Against Church Membership

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The Bible gives us many reasons to consider church membership, and I explored some of those in my last article. But some people also use Scripture to give us reasons to question church membership as we know it today.

A lot of it comes down to interpretive methods and the presuppositions that people have when they read the Bible. Many Christians embrace the idea of formalized church membership, while others raise valid biblical reasons against it. Read Full Post

Does the Bible Actually Support Church Membership?

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As we continue our exploration of church membership, it’s crucial to delve into the biblical foundations that supposedly underpin this concept. While the term “church membership” may not explicitly be found in the Bible, Scripture provides principles and examples that churches have used to form the basis for organized and committed community life within the body of Christ. Read Full Post

Did the First-Century Church Have Members?

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In our ongoing exploration of church membership, we now turn our attention to the roots of this concept in the first-century Christian communities.

The early church, birthed in the cultural milieu of the Roman Empire, operated in a vastly different context than the institutionalized structures we know today. Let’s unearth the foundations of belonging in the early Christian assemblies. Read Full Post