GraceConversation.org

by Jay Guin

Over the next few days, beginning on Monday, I’m going to post a series of articles dealing with Romans 14 and Galatians, all leading up to Gal 5:4: falling from grace by seeking justification other than by faith.

At that point, we will have stated, and set forth the case for, all three of the ways that Christians can fall from grace that Todd and I contend for.

After that, Lord willing, I intend to post some material on how that theology plays out in terms of church discipline. The passages on disfellowshipping a member of the church are so important, and so often misunderstood, that I can’t leave the topic without putting those teachings into the blog. After all, much of the division within the Churches of Christ has arisen over one church disfellowshipping another church down the road. We’ve even had churches and preachers disfellowship a preacher from another congregation — even in another state! — by publishing a full-page ad in a newspaper.

At that point, the conversation on apostasy will be over. Todd and I are considering whether to take on another topic with another conversationalist. But if so, it will be after we take some time off.

Dear readers,

Greg Tidwell has asked to step aside from this dialogue for a while due to other obligations that demand his attention. So that the dialogue may continue, Mac Deaver has kindly agreed to fill in for Greg.

Many readers will already be familiar with Brother Deaver. He graduated from Oklahoma Christian College, received an M.A. from Harding University Graduate School of Religion, and received a doctoral degree from Tennessee Bible College. He has preached for over 40 years, taught at Brown Trail School of Preaching, Southwest School of Bible Studies, and Tennessee Bible College. He is the editor of Biblical Notes Quarterly and is a noted debater on Biblical issues.

Brother Deaver is the father of Todd Deaver, one of the other participants in this dialogue, and Weylan Deaver, who are both ministers of the gospel.

Mac and Phil are coordinating their response to Todd’s and my posts and plan to announce the timing of their reply shortly.

We deeply appreciate the readers’ patience with this transition. We’ll be back to regular posting soon.

Jay

Please help us publicize this conversation as widely as possible within the Churches of Christ — among all elements of the Churches.

If you participate in a Christian forum or maintain a blog, please post a notice iniviting readers to read and comment. For this sort of dialogue to truly work well, it needs the broadest circulation possible.

Thanks.

Jay

For readers who are new to blogging, I thought I’d point out a few ways to subscribe to the blog, to help you get all the posts as soon as they are available.

You really should subscribe either by an RSS reader, such as Google Reader, or by email, because the posts on this blog will pop up unpredictably as the parties have time to respond to each other.

The link to subscribe by email is shown to the right. (more…)

Let me say how much I appreciate Jay Guin inviting me to participate in this discussion and hope others will find it useful.

I have known Jay for a while and, though we do not agree on some issues, he has always been kind and gracious in his dealings with me. I have recently made the acquaintance of Todd Deaver and have appreciated having the opportunity to learn more of his perspective on the brotherhood. Phil Sanders and I are old friends and fellow travelers along a common path. I am grateful to have the opportunity to interact with each of these talented men. (more…)

I’m pleased to announce an online conversatoin among myself, Todd Deaver, Phil Sanders, and Greg Tidwell about grace. It’ll take place starting in week or so.

I’m the author of The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace: God’s Antidotes for Division in the Churches of Christ, and I operate a blog at OneInJesus.info. I’m an elder at the University Church of Christ in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and I practice law for a living.

Todd, of course, is the author of Facing Our Failure and has his own blog at Bridging the Grace Divide. Todd is a fellow progressive. Todd is the minister for the Oliver Springs Church of Christ.

Phil and Greg are regular columnists with the Gospel Advocate. It’s fair, I think, to refer to them as “conservatives.” They are not what some would call “ultra-conservatives.” (more…)