tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84766384958909729532011-07-31T01:14:28.705-07:00Critical DiscermentCritical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-4573175441302218592009-12-18T07:05:00.001-08:002009-12-18T07:05:11.027-08:00

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-88381012507929988552009-12-16T10:57:00.000-08:002009-12-16T11:08:28.795-08:00

Have you every had one of those thoughts that creeps deep in your soul and it says something like this: "Your mom and dad were right!" How about I have become my mom and dad. Looking at some pictures from earlier this year, I am relunctant to admit that I am look more and more like my dad. As a father of two sons, those thoughts have crept into my head numerous times over the past couple years

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-22747740309895122452009-05-26T12:21:00.000-07:002009-05-27T13:26:21.672-07:00

The guiding vision I had for this blog was that it would be a teaching tool for students and families. In keeping with this vision, we will be starting a new series for our Wednesday nights at the park. It is a vision for the family. Studies show us that parents are the greatest transmitter of genuine faith. This is rather humbling for me since I am man who has committed his life to vocational

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-44134088581956388112009-05-20T13:14:00.001-07:002009-05-20T13:32:23.111-07:00

I know it has been a while since I have added to this blog, but today seemed like a good day add a quick thought. Discouragement is a funny thing. It can be the most grueling thing to go through at the time but turns out to be some of the sweetest moments of refreshing I personally experience. Let me try to explain. Serving as one of the pastors a new church, I get my fair share of

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-83148178580099147622009-04-20T11:00:00.000-07:002009-04-22T12:34:12.969-07:00

My guess is that most of you have heard about the story about Miss California's stand for marriage. As well, you probably know about Perez Hilton's comment stating that she lost the pageant because of her views. The idea that comes out of popular culture is that you are out of touch with reality if you hold on to these values. At the same time, they (the culture makers)must not believe in their

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-92191026807569070742009-04-16T11:51:00.001-07:002009-04-16T12:06:42.353-07:00

Sometimes a message so transforms a person's life that it has to be shared. This weekend we will be studying through the letter from Jude. If you want a preview take a look and ask yourselves, will God find us soft selling the Gospel? I have a deep conviction in my soul. Are we handling the Gospel rightly or are we "converting" people to a half Gospel. By "we" I mean the American church. Alistar

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-68018469014667110972009-04-07T06:54:00.002-07:002009-04-07T07:38:24.091-07:00

It is amazing to me how much of Christianity's identity has been skewed from its spiritual agenda and been focused on a lesser political or social agenda. I read a great article in Newsweek regarding the decline of Christianity in America (www.newsweek.com/id/192583 ). No matter how you slice it up, this is a regrettable situation we find ourselves in as evangelicals. Nonetheless, every

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-32535572430111399482009-04-06T08:46:00.000-07:002009-04-06T11:46:58.907-07:00

I have had the privilege to minister to some families who are going to through some trials. As I result, I want to give a shout out to my peeps Kenny and Debbie. As I was reflecting on the past week, some questions came to mind. When bad things happen, is it a sign that God has left the building? In other words, does God release us to the spiritual forces of this world to have their way with us?

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-56173552948981346462009-03-25T06:31:00.000-07:002009-03-25T07:28:09.325-07:00

Over the past several Sundays, we have been taking our church through a series emphasizing our core values as a church. Particularly, the past three Sundays have been dedicated to cultivating a missional mindset. No matter what you think about this term, whether it is over used or sounds too "trendy", the word has deep biblical roots. The pattern of Scripture for personal evangelistic witness

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-16567055527465728022009-01-12T07:22:00.000-08:002009-01-15T14:14:07.549-08:00

As most of you know, one of my hot button issues for the church is the mysteriously missing reality of "doing life together." Let me define what I mean by this phrase. When a church does life together we mean that a church is a group of people who gather for the purpose of being God's people. We are broken and flawed individuals looking for meaning and purpose and live life with people who are

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-11547452654254724712009-01-02T11:42:00.000-08:002009-01-02T12:11:53.352-08:00

With the recent challenges that have been thrust upon Providence Baptist Fellowship in recent weeks, I have found myself busier than usual and unable to put the time into maintaining this blog as I would like. I wish I could go back and relate to you the joy that I have experienced in being one of the shepherds at PBF and the incredible encouragement and support I have been given during this

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-90151970514878843992008-12-18T12:14:00.000-08:002008-12-18T12:54:33.230-08:00

It has been a difficult week for my beloved church. We had to see a dear friend in ministry resign because of moral failure. It has saddened us greatly. For those who don't know our history at Providence, we are a new church that started after a painful seperation from a mother church which for all intensive purposes would not be led. Some now are asking the question "WHY?" Why did this happen?

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-34989777300861234882008-12-05T06:19:00.000-08:002008-12-05T06:27:31.423-08:00

With the onslaught of demanding seminary work, my time has been limited in posting, but I ran across this article from our friends over at 9 Marks and got a hearty chuckle out of it...enjoy!By Mike McKinleyShow me a grown man with a goatee and I’ll show you a major league baseball player. Show me a grown man with a goatee wearing sandals and I’ll show you a youth pastor.When I was a kid, I

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-23987914378603616482008-11-18T14:39:00.000-08:002008-11-18T14:54:17.258-08:00

The issue of God's sovereignty has many implication that are sometimes disturbing at first glance. None more than the issue of the eternal destiny of children who die early in life. Joe is a colleage of mine at Providence Baptist Fellowship and has some comforting words regarding this issue. One note from the beginning. We know that some may still be unsatisfied with his explanation, but I

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-59761168113905599932008-11-18T07:15:00.000-08:002008-11-18T14:27:13.977-08:00

I am extremely concerned about some of the mantra coming out of the evangelical camp these days. With the election of Barrack Obama as our president elect, conservatives are coming out of the woodwork acting as if now that the liberal left has gained control of our government that now we are on course for the second coming of Christ! God is not taken off guard by the election of Obama as

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-88552116382745620112008-10-28T07:32:00.001-07:002008-11-18T14:26:12.532-08:00

I spent some time perusing through the humanities department of my Alma Mater a couple weeks ago. The Humanities hall houses the Religion and Philosophy departments at Carson Newman. Now let me say from the outset, I am a proud Carson Newman Eagle as am I a proud graduate of those those departments at Carson Newman, but as I walked up and down those hallways, I was struck by the level of close

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-6243199056522796702008-10-20T11:30:00.000-07:002008-10-22T11:54:14.791-07:00

I find having a conversation with many brothers and sisters in Christ about the topic of the Gospel too boring! I know! I know! I am being a little harsh by making such a blanket statement. But lets' be honest for minute. Have you ever had one of those conversations with a precious brother or sister in Christ and just felt like your conversation with them was little more than frivolous dribble.

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-31592113178156023722008-10-09T08:09:00.000-07:002008-10-09T13:06:17.908-07:00

In my last blog, I made the proposal that a fully informed theology is vital for robust Christian living. I want to take the opportunity to expand on that notion. C.J. Mahaney in a recent interview on the topic raising up godly men notes that if we don't have an informed theology then we will be conformed by sin. The primary issue is not that people don't have a theology it is that most don't

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-74372494411817040502008-10-06T08:01:00.001-07:002008-10-07T09:35:50.484-07:00

Recently, I have been reading True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer. This book has been challenging me to think through the reality of my Christian witness while engaging culture. We would all agree that there are numerous challenges to living for the glory of God in our modern day. Every where we turn, we find ourselves thrust into a new arena which requires us to discern how to think "

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-67619275797928833852008-10-02T07:02:00.000-07:002008-10-02T08:08:17.288-07:00

I have the privilege of being a child of the great state of Virginia. My brother and I arrogantly refer to it has the colony that begat all others! One of the most notable beacons of my home state is the University of Virginia. Though not the first state funded academic institution (The University of North Carolina holds that honor), it stands as the gold standard in the eyes of many as what a

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476638495890972953.post-56575132827943721642008-10-01T06:41:00.000-07:002008-10-01T06:55:05.150-07:00

The past several weeks have been extremely draining for the Agnew household. Eight weeks ago we started a new church called Providence Baptist Fellowship. With all the excitement of starting a new church, we had to travel to Virginia to celebrate the life of a woman who has been a spiritual hero of mine since I was child...my Grandma Geneva. She passed away this past weekend at the ripe old age

Critical Discernmenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810077044336718785noreply@blogger.com0