ecclesiology – Grace Evangelical Society

Why You Can’t Help Everyone and Shouldn’t Try

April 30, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - church life, Discipleship, ecclesiology, Watchman Nee

You can’t help everyone. You may want to. You may think you need to. And your consistent inability to meet every single genuine need around you may disappoint you. After all, the people around you are hurting, with problems, challenges, and questions to address. But do they all need to be addressed by you? You

Should Christians Kiss One Another? (1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; Romans 16:16; 1 Peter 5:14)

April 14, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - church life, Discipleship, ecclesiology, kiss, kissing, one another commands, spirituality

I grew up in a French city where it was customary to greet people with a double-cheeked kiss. At least, that was normal among my French relatives. Meanwhile, my British/English circles preferred a firm handshake or nod of the head—or, if they felt especially informal, a quick hug. I have been studying the many “one

Do Not Bite One Another (Galatians 5:15)

March 8, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Church, church community, church life, ecclesiology, Galatians, one another

In a classic scene from The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Inspector Clouseau walks into a German hotel and notices a small dog by the counter. “Does your dog bite?” he asks the hotelier. “No,” the old man answers. When Clouseau goes to pet the dog, it viciously attacks him and tries to chew off his

Be at Peace with One Another (Mark 9:50)

February 16, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - ecclesiology, ekklesia, Local Church, normal Christian church life, one another, one another commands, peace, peacemaking

God meant the Christian life to be lived in community. It doesn’t always work out that way. Christians can be imprisoned, confined to a hospital bed, or live alone in a hostile country without an opportunity to meet with other believers. If that is you, I’m not here to make you feel guilty about being

Dinner Church Evangelism: Some Issues and Recommendations

July 27, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - dinner church, ecclesiology, evangelism, Verlon Fosner

I’ve been reading about different ways of doing church that try to adhere to how the first Christians met. One model is the “dinner church” model, which tries to recapture the fact that the early Christians met to eat meals together. For example: So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread