As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
As we approach this New Year, our world is weighted down with manifold troubles. Yet believers in Christ need not succumb to despair. God’s Word gives us the capacity to discern God’s work in history—in light of the prophetic Scriptures. Jesus, in fact, entreated His followers to engage in this exercise, and chided those who were unable to “discern the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:3).
“the woes of contemporary Catholicism are not so easily separated from those of contemporary conservative Protestants at this point.” - Carl Trueman
“The reading journal that I kept this past year (below) helped me meet my reading goals. It reflects my reading beyond my daily Bible reading or preparation for preaching and teaching.” - Rooted Thinking
“Jesus, whose Hebrew name was Yeshua, was born in Bethlehem of Judea. His mother’s name was Miriam, and His followers were named Yaakov and Shimon and Yehudah, among others. …And when He comes again, He is returning to Jerusalem.” - Michael Brown
There has been no shortage of debate amongst Christians about the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Because of our finite perspective —and our insistence on having a theology that logically makes sense to us—we are tempted to downplay, diminish, or even outright reject one of these truths in favor of the other.
“Without God and all that His existence implies, there is no solid ground for saying that any knowledge is true for everyone.” - Breakpoint
So where is this going to lead? Is this a first step toward abandoning the Biblical concept of marriage, of male and female? Or is it mere a P.R. concession to calm the outcries of the social engineers? Share your thoughts.
“even in the midst of a blessed occasion for his family, Zechariah’s first words are about the Rescuer who has come as a horn of salvation for us (Luke 1:69); a Redeemer who is a Dayspring from on high that shatters the darkness (vs. 78-79). The whole Benedictus is vivid and moving.” - Brent Leatherwood
This week, the Western world pauses to remember the birth of the One who divided time, and all of history, by His first coming—our Savior and the Messiah of Israel, Jesus Christ.
As we stop and worship this baby in Bethlehem’s manger once again, let us remember that He, eternal God, came to Earth to become a man, to die for our sins and to rise again. The events of Christmas were an essential step in that process but, of course, they do not tell the full story.
Discussion