As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Lewis lacks sympathy for his subjects, but perhaps more to the point he applies a sociological lens instead of a theological one….he fails to understand the Christians who support a Jewish homeland because he fails to understand them theologically.” - DBTS
I recently had someone assert to me that he believes that we must hold that Jesus and the apostles were the greatest group of musicians in the history of the world and not to do so is blasphemy. Apparently, for him, because Jesus was (and is) incarnate Deity, He had to have been the greatest singer and musician ever. He also had to have taught the apostles about music so that Jesus and the apostles had to have been uniquely excellent in their sacred music that they played and sang.
Do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the greatest singer and musician of all time?
“…Michael Horton’s latest book, Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears that Divide Us… argues that we can only conquer the wrong kinds of fear by embracing the right kind of fear, and that’s what he means by sanity.” - TGC
Well, I finally did it. I read Dostoevsky. It wasn’t a joyride, so I don’t think I’ll pick up Crime and Punishment anytime soon. After chewing through a meal like Karamazov, I’m doing dessert reading for a while (the book equivalent of Concrete Mixers from Culvers—minimally nutritious, over too soon, but yummy and chunky).
“…leaders like Jesus and Paul labored alongside women, affirmed their giftedness, and established structures that would maximize their contribution to the gospel’s effectiveness in the church and out into the world.” - TGC
“I want to define antithesis and common grace in their historical context to show that these concepts, when held together, help us to maintain a Scriptural balance. They help us remember that the devil is our enemy (not humanity) ” - Wyatt Graham
“…everybody separates, has lines of demarcation around a set of acceptable views, lines that keep out unacceptable ones. Everybody, I think, stratifies doctrine, from the irascible discernment blogger who seems to treat every doctrine as of first importance to the liberal who makes it all negotiable.” - Mark Ward
I want to talk about what “the church” is. This will be a high-level discussion, not a defense of a particular kind of church (Baptists v. Methodists, etc.). I want to talk about this because I fear we forget just how important it is to get this right. As sectarian battles light up social media and the news (with no end in sight), this deceptively simple issue deserves some consideration.
There are different ways we use the word “church:”
“In many cases, sin does express itself in shocking debauchery—but most often it expresses itself in more invisible or easily justifiable ways of ‘walking in the flesh.’” - Russel Moore
Discussion