JOSHRHONE [DOT] COM

Is the biblical canon still evolving? How YouVersion, BibleWiki.be and the “study Bible” have changed the biblical text.

joshrhone — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:56:32 +0000

I’ve heard it said that the further we get away from the time when Jesus walked the earth, the longer the names of our churches get. I’d be willing to take that observation a step further and suggest that the further we get from the time of Jesus, the longer the names of our Bibles get [...]

Explaining the Inexplicable

joshrhone — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:15:59 +0000

A smartly dressed business woman, in her mid-thirties, walks between the smudged glass doors which automatically open in front of her. The smell of burnt coffee mixes, not so pleasantly, with the pungent aroma of cleaning solvents. The hospital’s emergency waiting room is crammed full with the usual blent of snifflers, projectile vomiters, dislocated fingers, [...]

“Cultivating a Culture of Yes”

joshrhone — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:59:55 +0000

Yesterday, I received the latest copy of the Expanding Wave Newsletter, which is published on a weekly basis by the Evangelism and Church Growth Department of the Wesleyan Church. This week’s featured article was entitled, “Cultivating a Culture of Yes,” a copy of the article has been included for your review and to help provide [...]

Book Review: “The Gospel According to Lost”

joshrhone — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:02:11 +0000

LOST is in its sixth and final season. Mysteries abound. What is this mysterious island? Will everyone be rescued? Who will survive? Who will die? What was with the polar bear? Why was the black smoke monster so darn angry? The writers of LOST have done a tremendous job of keeping their audiences attention and creating a whirlwind of speculation that grows fiercer [...]

Book Review: “CRAVE: wanting so much more of God”

joshrhone — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:37:44 +0000

There’s so much more to life and faith than this. And we all know it. We all crave something that will vanish soon. Many people chase their cravings into sex, money, work, service, or religion without ever realizing none of these will satisfy. But others of us are beginning to see our cravings were for [...]

‘When You Want Church to be Church We’ll Still be Here – (offering) Traditional Services’ – What is ‘traditional’ anyhow?

joshrhone — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:10:50 +0000

I was driving to the hospital to visit someone the other day when I came across a church sporting a sign that read, ‘When you want church to be church, we’ll still be here – traditional services.’ It was a sign that was so unbelievable that I had to actually circle back for a second [...]

KABOOM: “social proof,” church growth, and you

joshrhone — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:13:51 +0000

Why do some churches experience exponential growth, while some remained stagnant? Why are the voices of the leaders of large or growing churches seemingly valued more than those of small churches that can’t seem to grow no matter what they try? Undoubtedly, there are a number of answers to questions such as these. For example, one cannot [...]

Haiti: How You Can Help

joshrhone — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:15:54 +0000

I know that the emails have been coming frequently and often over the last few days and I know that the ways in which you have been encouraged to help are many. This can lead a person to feel overwhelmed and possibly even paralyzed, because they don’t know how to respond. With that in mind, [...]

“Christ crucified” as a hermeneutical framework for interpreting the life and teachings of Jesus

joshrhone — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:40:26 +0000

Although the life, teachings, and interactions of Jesus serve as the substance for the majority of the historical narrative which have become known as the synoptic gospels by-and-large they have neglected by the church. Taking the Apostle Paul’s assertion in 1 Corinthians 1.23 as their own, the Christian faith, at least in recent years, has [...]

Trolls and Truth: 14 Realities About Today’s Church that We Don’t Want to See

joshrhone — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:13:02 +0000

“The church of Jesus Christ exists to be a sign of the kingdom of God in the culture in which it exists. It is the light and hope in a reprobate world that suggest there is an alternative worldview where giving, losing, serving, and turning our cheeks are higher values than hoarding, gaining, controlling, and [...]