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SHARPER IRON
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Without Faith

Paul J. Scharf | Friday, Feb 3, 2023 discuss

During my time as a student at Faith Baptist Theological Seminary, I learned that there was an old youth pastors’ joke, built on a misuse of Heb. 11:6. The verse states:

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

The verse, taken out of context, was evidently used to prod unsuspecting students into attending “the oldest Bible college in the country not named Moody.” I don’t doubt that more than one young person actually succumbed to that line of reasoning and made the trek to Ankeny, Iowa—where they would have nevertheless learned much better exegetical skills at Faith Baptist Bible College!

Faith...

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Responsibility for True Widows

Forrest McPhail | Thursday, Feb 2, 2023 discuss

Reposted from Rooted Thinking.

1 Timothy 5:3-16 is packed with implications for local churches and especially older saints but is rarely discussed. Economic prosperity often buries this rich and very practical passage. It may be that many churches that have not taken this passage seriously because of prosperity will soon do so.

I encourage you to take the time to read these verses carefully before continuing: 1 Timothy 5:3-16.1

As we take the time to understand this text and consider its implications, we find that it is relevant for every cultural context. We might also might find ourselves surprised that we have overlooked such valuable instruction.

Paul...

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A Tale of Two Conferences

C. D. Cauthorne Jr. | Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023  11

Last winter some friends and I were talking about changes at our alma mater, Bob Jones University (BJU). One suggested that there was a “realignment” taking place within “Bob Jones Fundamentalism” … with Sermon Audio (www.sermonaudio.com) at the center of it.

I do not know if my friend had inside information, but while walking across BJU’s campus in June, I ran across Sermon Audio’s founder Steven Lee. He gave me a tour of the future, on-campus location of the Vault (the storage facility for Sermon Audio’s digital files). In light of my previous discussion, I was surprised to learn that the headquarters of Sermon Audio was moving onto BJU’s campus.

Lee invited me to attend Sermon Audio’s annual Foundations Conference (...

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The Bible – Puzzle or Telescope (Part 2)

TylerR | Monday, Jan 30, 2023  6

Bible as a Telescope

At the back of all this is this question—what is a relationship with God about? There is a continuum, with “love” and “knowledge” at opposite poles. A ditch lies at either end—God is either Jello or an iceman. Both poles are important (it is kind of important to know about God, after all!), but you will likely tend towards one over the other—Carl Henry certainly did.

So, let me declare this—love must be the foundation for your relationship with God. Moses said it. Jesus affirmed it. I think that is pretty definitive! On this continuum, trend towards love.

...
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Four Lessons From Four Years (Part 2)

Paul J. Scharf | Friday, Jan 27, 2023 discuss

Last time, I began sharing some of the main lessons I have learned through the first four years of my service as a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.

In Part One, I wrote about the need to multiply our ministry’s effectiveness, and also regarding the importance of relationships in ministry. I would like to share two more lessons in this concluding installment.

The first relates to the necessity we have to make a greater and more intentional and effective use of media.

During the COVID-19 shutdowns, and ever since, we have all become accustomed to doing more of everything online—including shopping, attending meetings and even participating in church activities...

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The Bible – Puzzle or Telescope? (Part 1)

TylerR | Thursday, Jan 26, 2023  9

We need to read our bibles. God wants us to read our bibles—it is the story of Him revealing hidden things to us we would otherwise never know! Fair enough. But I first want to ask an important question—what is the best way to think of the Scriptures?

Different Christians answer in different ways; most often as the result of the different emphases of their theological traditions mediated from seminaries to pastors. How you answer the question above will determine what you think happens when you read your bibles. Only one of these answers is the...

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Hard Evidence for a Supernatural Book, Part 3: Too Many Cooks

DOlinger | Wednesday, Jan 25, 2023 discuss

Read the series.

And so we come to the evidence: objective evidence that the Bible is, um, unnatural, extraordinary, not like any other books. I’d suggest two lines of such evidence; we’ll look at the first one today, and a related topic later in the week. Next week, we’ll get to Door Number 2.

Door Number 1. Writing a book is hard. Just getting the facts right is hard enough (more about that next time); but doing it artfully, in a way that pleases the attentive reader, is really, really hard. Literary critics delight themselves in finding such artful devices in serious literature—for example, in noting how Willa Cather uses the imagery of wilting flowers to foreshadow the crumbling of the protagonist...

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Deciphering Covenant Theology (Part 27): Summation (1)

Paul Henebury | Monday, Jan 23, 2023  2

Read the series.

Covenant Theology and the Bible

In an article at TableTalk Stephen G. Myers writes,

Covenant theology seeks to use the biblically prominent covenants to inform our knowledge of God and of His work. Specifically, covenant theology contends that God has been working throughout history to gather His people to Himself through covenantal relationship.

There is a problem here. The three theological covenants of CT are not prominent in the Bible. Moreover, the concept of covenantal relationship ,while part of the genius of CT, can and has been explained along...

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In Case You Missed It

Fri, Jan 20 -

Four Lessons From Four Years (Part 1)

Paul J. Scharf
Thu, Jan 19 -

Still Fruitful: The Value of Senior Saints

Forrest McPhail
Wed, Jan 18 -

Hard Evidence for a Supernatural Book, Part 2: The Bible’s Claims for Itself

DOlinger
Mon, Jan 16 -

From the Archives – Is the 1689 Baptist Confession Sufficiently Missional?

Bob Gonzales
Fri, Jan 13 -

Deciphering Covenant Theology (Part 26)

Paul Henebury
Thu, Jan 12 -

Training Up Men for the Church, Part 2

Guest
Wed, Jan 11 -

Hard Evidence for a Supernatural Book, Part 1: On Being Reasoned About a Crazy Claim

DOlinger
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Bonhoeffer’s courage, 90 years later
Thu, Feb 2, 2023 discuss
"The young Lutheran’s stand against Nazi idolatry and an oncoming catastrophe" - World
Dietrich Bonhoeffer   Holocaust
God Doesn’t Need Your Singing, but Your Neighbor Does
Wed, Feb 1, 2023  2
"Though we often conceive of corporate worship vertically, there’s a rich horizontal dimension too." - TGC
Congregational Singing   Worship Music   Church Life
As Russian invasion nears one-year mark, partisans grow further apart on U.S. support for Ukraine
Wed, Feb 1, 2023 discuss
Americans in general: "About a quarter (26%) now say the U.S. is providing too much support to Ukraine, while 31% say it is giving the right amount and 20% would like to see the U.S. give Ukraine additional assistance." - Pew
Ukraine Invasion   War   Russia   Pew Research
Concerning Pope Francis, hockey, Pride night and putting ‘scare quotes’ around ‘beliefs’
Wed, Feb 1, 2023 discuss
Reuters headline: “Rangers back right to 'beliefs' after Pride Night jerseys absent from warm-ups.” ...What happened here? - GetReligion
Journalism   News Media   LGBTQ Politics   Sports
Two Congregations Force LGBT Debate on Evangelical Covenant Church
Wed, Feb 1, 2023  14
"This summer the denomination’s pastors will vote on whether or not to expel Awaken and Quest Church, in Seattle, for their positions on LGBT issues." - CToday
LGBTQ Politics   Evangelicals   Evangelical Covenant Church
Trial date set for case involving Patterson, SWBTS
Wed, Feb 1, 2023 discuss
The "trial involving former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson and the seminary and an alleged sexual abuse survivor. U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan set the trial date for April 3, 2023." - BPNews
Paige Patterson   SBC   Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary   Ministry Sexual Abuse
Intimidation Does not Produce Righteousness
Tue, Jan 31, 2023  1
"As a pastor, I must convince, not command.... If a member does what I ask, just because I ask it, but not because they are convinced that what I am asking is truly God’s will and truly scripturally supportable, then I am running a cult, not a church" - P&D
Ministry Leadership   Pastoral Leadership   Authoritarian Pastors
Email scammers steal $793K from N.C. church
Tue, Jan 31, 2023 discuss
"the church received an email from Landmark Construction, the company overseeing the project, that included an invoice.... the church received a second email immediately after the first one that included payment instructions." - BPNews
Church Finance   Fraud
The Cry from Memphis: How Long, O Lord?
Tue, Jan 31, 2023 discuss
"I’ve always found it beneficial in such times to distinguish between the known and the unknown.... This isn’t the way it was supposed to be (Gen. 3:14–19; Rom. 8:20–25)." - TGC
Police   Broken World   Memphis   Lament
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Poll of the Week

Has your church in-person attendance recovered from the COVID decline?

By Ed Vasicek
Feb 04 2023
We have grown and are now numerically larger than we were before the quarantine.
0% (0 votes)
We are about where we were, numerically, before the quarantine.
0% (0 votes)
We have declined numerically slightly.
0% (0 votes)
We have declined numerically significantly.
100% (1 vote)
Our online ministry has grown vigorously and we are happy with this new dynamic, regardless.
0% (0 votes)
Other
0% (0 votes)
Total votes: 1
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