As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Though we may not see an answer in the immediate circumstances of our lives, we can begin to put one together as we look at the lives of other believers. What did trouble do for Joseph?…What did trouble do for David?….for Paul?” - Challies
“…this one is going to be very simple, just to ring the alarm bell about something that I think is so important that every single human being should be reflective about it, and what I’m talking about is the way the Internet is shaping us.” - Gavin Ortlund
Read the series.
We’ve surveyed how God speaks. Should we seek to speak in similar ways? And if so, specifically how?
Let me start with the “should we?” question.
Back to the beginning.
“How can followers of Jesus do the care of widows and orphans today? Here are four ways that we as individual Christians and local churches can engage and make a difference.” - Ligonier
“Your skirt length is a heart problem.”
“Music with a 2-4 beat is demonic.”
“Christians should never step foot in a movie theater.”
Maybe you remember hearing things like this in your church.
Some young Christians, when they look back on their upbringing, only remember a Christianity of “dos and donts.” They only remember their pastors preaching against rock music, clothing standards and movie theaters and the guilt they felt when they violated these commands. And the first chance they get, they flee.
“The fruit of the Spirit is the fundamental hallmark of a transformed life with Christ. But when we consume news haphazardly, we often spiral into distinctly joyless, impatient, ungentle, and not peaceful modes of doom and gloom.” - TGC
“Our guest today is Ben Hicks, the Associate Pastor at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana…. Ben has done a lot of work on the topic of Christian liberty and he brings his study of that topic to the issue of substance abuse.” - P&D
“But God’s Word never says, ‘Since you’re a sinner, there’s no reason to expend effort to gain victory over sin.’ On the contrary, Paul says, ‘For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me’ (Colossians 1:29).” - Randy Alcorn
Read the series.
And now, in the New Testament, God speaks in a way he never has before.
He speaks in person, visibly, incarnately, powerfully.
“ ‘But I don’t want my children to think I don’t trust them.’ …Some parents trust their teenagers in situations I wouldn’t trust myself in. You can trust your fourteen-year-old to his level of maturity and life skills. But that doesn’t mean you would trust him to fly the space shuttle or have a smart phone with unrestricted internet access.” - Randy Alcorn
Discussion