Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09045 The phrase “Messianic Jew” describes a Jewish person who has come to faith in Jesus (Yeshua) as the promised Messiah of Israel. This is not a modern invention or a fringe movement. It is, in fact, the oldest form of Christianity there is. Every apostle was a Messianic Jew. The entire early church…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09090 The idea of formal church membership strikes some believers as an unnecessary bureaucratic addition to what should be a simple, Spirit-led community. Others regard it as so obviously biblical that the question itself seems odd. The reality is that the New Testament does not contain the phrase “church membership,” does not describe a…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09053 The question of whether Christians should attend church would have baffled the first believers. To them, belonging to the gathered community was not an optional extra bolted onto personal faith; it was an inseparable expression of it. The modern framing of the question, “Can I be a Christian without going to church?”, reveals…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09054 The house church movement has gained significant attention in recent decades, particularly among believers who are disillusioned with institutional Christianity, frustrated by what they see as consumer-driven mega-church culture, or convinced that the early church model of meeting in homes is the pattern all Christians should follow. The movement raises legitimate questions about…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09050 The office of deacon is one of the most familiar features of church life and one of the least well understood. In many churches, deacons have become the governing board, the decision-making body, or the gatekeepers of congregational power. In others, the role has been reduced to practical tasks with no real spiritual…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09048 How a church organises its leadership and decision-making is not a matter of indifference. The New Testament does not leave us to improvise. While it does not prescribe a single rigid organisational chart, it does establish clear principles about who leads, how authority is exercised, and where accountability lies. The question of church…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09049 The role of elders is one of the most important and most misunderstood subjects in church life. Some churches have elders in name but give them no real authority. Others vest so much power in a single leader that the plurality the New Testament assumes has vanished entirely. Understanding what Scripture actually says…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09043 The question of when the church began is not a matter of historical curiosity but a question with significant theological consequences. The answer determines how we understand the church’s relationship to Israel, the nature of the church itself, and the way we read large sections of both the Old and New Testaments. The…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09046 The church exists for a reason. It was not an accident, an afterthought, or a social convenience. Christ brought it into being at a specific moment in redemptive history for specific purposes, and understanding those purposes is essential for any local church that wants to be faithful to its calling rather than simply…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09039 The principle of the local church’s autonomy is one of the most distinctive features of Baptist ecclesiology, and it is not a quirk of tradition but a conviction drawn from the New Testament itself. Understanding what local church autonomy means, what it protects, and where its limits lie is essential for any believer…