Book Review - Loving Well (Even If You Haven't Been)
“It’s only after having been loved that you respond with love. You love him (God) back, and you reach out to share with others a tiny portion of the love that you yourself have received.” (p. xix)
Which best describes your view of the Imprecatory Psalms, as, for example, Psalm 69? If more than 1 choice applies, choose best.
Poll Results
Which best describes your view of the Imprecatory Psalms, as, for example, Psalm 69? If more than 1 choice applies, choose best.
Discussion
Christians and Mythology (Part 1: Ubiquity)
Discussion
Culture and Modesty
Please, do not address my previous thread about wedding photography here. It is a separate issue, which I recognize: for, even if this question is answered in the affirmative, I *still* reside in my culture.
No, this is a separate question, but a question that I have learned more questions about while along the path:
Discussion
The Rapture of the Church, Part 11
Read the series so far.
When will the rapture take place?
Our Lord assured us that it was impossible to date the rapture of the church. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matt. 24:36; cf. vss. 42, 44, 50; and Mark 13:32-37).
Amazing! Not even the Savior knew the date of His coming again. During the days of His non-glorified human existence—for a third of a century—our Lord set aside the independent exercise of His divine attributes of greatness (omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence), not His moral attributes (holiness, truth, love, etc.). That is the meaning of Phil. 2:7 and 8—He “made Himself of no reputation… He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Over and over again, our LORD explained: “I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things” (John 8:28); and “the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak…Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak” (John 12:49, 50; cf. 5:20, 7:16, 8:38, 8:40, 15:15, 17:8).
Discussion
Book Review - A Theology of Luke & Acts
Last year, under the editorial direction of Andreas Kostenberger, Zondervan began the Biblical Theology of the New Testament Series. The first installment was Kostenberger’s contribution A Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters. The BTNT series seeks to provide a biblical theology of the entire NT in eight volumes with a biblical/thematic approach.
Discussion
Demon Fight'n - Part 3: The Weapon and the Battle
Read Parts Continuing the series on demon-battling, we consider the believer’s divine weapon.
As stated earlier, the battle against Satan is primarily a defensive one,1 yet there is an avenue for the Christian to attack. However, as Chuck Lowe cautions, “There is a battle to be fought, but our role is neither to win some spectacular victory, nor even to launch an all-out offensive. Our function is primarily, if not exclusively, defensive.”2
Paul exhorts the Ephesians, who have put on their armor, to take up “the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). These last two instruments of war constitute the final piece of the warriors equipment (i.e. the helm) and the offensive weapon. The sword spoken of here is a short sword, much like a dagger which was used to strike hard and fast at close range.3 The picture Paul paints is one where the battle is fought at close range with viciousness.
However, the battle is not ours to fight. Paul informs the saints of two offensive plans of attack. In both plans, God is the primary actor in the battle. First, they attack with the sword, which is God’s word and contains all his promises. Second, they attack by praying at all times in the Spirit. As Christians, we have the impenetrable armor of God and divine weapons of war.
This whole passage sounds off on a triumphal note. There is no hint that the believer who has put on the new man (Eph. 4:24) and is controlled by God’s spirit (Eph. 5:18) has to be anxious about Satan or demons controlling, or in someway taking them over.
Discussion
Were First Century Christians That Much Better?
One of the most interesting words in the English language is hagiography. One of its definitions is the one I have in mind, an “idealizing or idolizing biography.” The idea is that once someone has died, we remember the individual as being better than he or she actually was. This adjusting of memory and idealization of those who lived before us is common throughout the human race.
But people “back then” were really not as wonderful as we think they were.
This is universally done with the folks who made up the very early church. Although the very early church had its strong points (the Apostles were around to teach and lead, God worked some unprecedented miracles like raising the dead, etc.), the people who made up the early church community were far from wonderful.
The case of Corinth
Consider the words of the New Testament itself about the believers who made up the family of faith. In Corinth, we notice a man sleeping with his stepmother (1 Cor. 5:1) while fellow Christians in the church accepted this brother as someone in good standing. The Corinthian church was divided into factions, each following the unique perspectives of a famous Christian leader (1 Cor. 3:4-5).
Things were so bad at Corinth that during their carry-in dinners members were consuming all the food before all arrived; some even became drunk while they waited (1 Cor. 11:21). The Corinthian Christians invented the “happy hour.”
Discussion