As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Careful theologians do not build their doctrine of the church merely around the use of the word ekklesia. The New Testament uses many images or word pictures to reveal truth about the church. One of the most instructive is the image of the flock, found in John 10. It occurs in one of the few parables in John’s gospel.
I’ve come full circle.
Recently, my wife and I vacationed in the Colorado Mountains. Colorado is our home state. While having breakfast on an outdoor patio, watching a deer scamper up a flower-covered slope nearby, we also noticed a man take a seat at a large table near us. He placed a basket of Bibles in front of him as more adults and children joined him. The group finally was composed of three couples plus some children. We could easily overhear their conversation which centered on Ephesians 2.
Note: Part 1 in this series surveyed the mindset of today’s listeners as well as the pitfalls to avoid when communicating to them. Part 2 addresses the specific means by which to engage this mindset and to avoid the aforementioned dangers.
Whatever. Our culture today uses this word frequently. Its breadth of meaning within its pronominal usage spans from meaning anything or everything (“Take whatever you want.”) to a statement of surprise (“Whatever made you think that?”). The word’s adjectival meaning is similar as well (“He ate whatever food he could find.”). Perhaps the semantic range of whatever shines most brightly, however, in its use as an interjection.
On Friday, August 4, 2006, Laura Bush, the First Lady of the United States, visited the University of Denver to deliver remarks at the second regional conference on Helping America’s Youth.
SharperIron was honored to receive full media access to the event as part of the White House Press Pool for the day.
Consider the following statistics from the White House:
For the last 22 years, I have been on the same church staff. For six years, I was an associate under Dr. Ed Nelson. After his departure, I became the senior pastor. Over these many years, I have hired numerous staff members in various capacities. Frequently, I tell people that I look for three essentials in a prospective staff member. First is character. Does this individual have the kind of Christlike character that is essential for vocational ministry? Second, is competence. Does he have the requisite skill set to do a standout job in the area he is being hired to minister in?
Discussion