Category Archives: Faith and Works

Who Does God Choose?

Posted on September 3, 2016 by Mark Williams

Recently my mother of 86 years died and I went home for the funeral. In addition to the normal sadness of such an event, coming from a missionary family of a sect, and having been withdrawn from (disfellowshipped, shunned) years … Continue reading →

Posted in Evangelical Church, Faith and Works, Hell, Holy Spirit, Salvation | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Baptism as a Comfort

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Mark Williams

Most people go to church for comfort. Everything about church is familiar and comforting: the music, the passing of the communion, shaking people’s hands, the prayers, the sermon. In the tradition in which I grew up sermons on baptism were … Continue reading →

Posted in Baptism, Faith and Works, History, Psychology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Instrumental Music and Nadab and Abihu: The covenant of the Law vs. the Covenant of the Heart

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Mark Williams

The hard line Churches of Christ, a cappella, believe that the Sunday morning worship service is the most important part of being a Christian. They believe they have found Christianity and all others have lost it. They base this idea … Continue reading →

Posted in Command, Example and Necessary Inference, Faith and Works, Grace, Holy Spirit, Instrumental Music, Uncategorized | 17 Comments

The Rules are Written on your Heart

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Mark Williams

There is a theory put out by the hard line Churches of Christ that Jesus gave the apostles all the rules for the work, worship and organization of the local congregation between his resurrection and his ascension. This is then … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Command, Example and Necessary Inference, Faith and Works, Grace, Instrumental Music, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Rude Guy Who Beeped at me in Traffic

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Mark Williams

A recent commenter to this blog wrote: The bible is perfect and complete (James 1:25), it was written for and applies to everyone forever (Acts 2:39-42), and Jesus is referred to as the Word incarnate and sent the word through … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Command, Example and Necessary Inference, Faith and Works, Grace, History | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

The Eastern Orthodox never believed in Total Depravity

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Mark Williams

Friday I was talking to a friend of mine, a pastor of an Assembly of God church nearby who has two master’s degrees, about John Calvin’s shenanigans in Geneva, Switzerland in the 1600s. He said N.T. Wright (who is an … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Command, Example and Necessary Inference, Faith and Works, Grace, Hell, History, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Judged by our Works

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Mark Williams

Recently I saw a statement on a Facebook friend’s status about how we will be judged on that great day by what we have done in our lives. He is a preacher for a hard line Church of Christ in … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith and Works, Grace, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Baptism of the Heart

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Mark Williams

The Apostle Paul, speaking to Jewish Christians in Rome at the time, appealed to their reason: Won’t non-Jews be accepted by God if they keep the Ten Commandments? If the Ten Commandments are written on their hearts, won’t they be … Continue reading →

Posted in Baptism, Faith and Works, Grace, Salvation | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Revenge as a Theme in hard line Churches of Christ

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Mark Williams

In the 1970s when I was in Florida College, a college affiliated with the Non-Institutional wing of the churches of Christ, I came across two young men who liked to get revenge. They were both studying to be preachers. One … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith and Works, Grace, History, Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Hardline Churches of Christ are Shame Based

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Mark Williams

The previous blog post outlined how many fundamentalist churches follow the same rules as shame based families. But the hardline Churches of Christ (about 10% of Churches of Christ in general) go one better: they are competitive, they are the … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith and Works, Manipulation, Psychology | 1 Comment