As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“[T]his bill prohibits parents from retaining mental health professionals to assist their own children even if the minor request the therapy”
“Efforts to change minors’ sexual orientation are not therapy, they are the relics of prejudice and abuse that have inflicted untold harm on young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians” CP Story
Read the series so far.
Biblically, a people of God is first of all a people. A people is a nation. A people or nation is (among other things) an ethnic unit, bound together by its solidarity with a common ancestor. These considerations seem beyond serious question.
They also present a problem. In the New Testament, the church is denominated as a people of God. Indeed, the church is often illustrated by referencing Old Testament descriptors that apply to Israel as a people of God (Rom. 9:22-26; Ti. 2:14; 1 Pet.2:9; cf. Ex. 19:5-6; Hos. 2:23). This phenomenon raises two questions. First, how can the church be defined as a people if a people is fundamentally an ethnic unit? Second, how does the church as a people of God stand in relationship to Israel as a people of God, such that descriptions of the one can seemingly be applied directly to the other?
The answer to the first question lies in the church’s unique relationship to Christ. Romans 12:5 declares that church saints are one body “in Christ.” Paul spoke of Andronicus and Junias being “in Christ” before him (Rom. 16:7). He further stated that the Corinthian church was sanctified “in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:2). Believers who are not yet spiritual are considered to be “infants in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1). Church saints are new creations “in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17). Whether Jews, Greeks, slaves, free, male, or female, all church saints are one “in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). They have now received every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies “in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). They are accepted “in the beloved one,” in whom they have redemption, namely the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14). Positionally, they are now seated in the heavenlies “in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).
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I’m often struck by the little thought that within the pages of history one of the foundational truths is that we apparently don’t learn from history. I keep reading about the horrible things that are happening within the borders of North Korea. I’ve heard some say, “if only we had known what was happening by the hands of Stalin”….or….”if only we had known what was happening by the hands of Hilter.” Well - we know what is happening in North Korea. So….what should be our request to the US and our International friends as it relates to North Korea? Love to hear your thoughts.
Floods, plagues, burning bushes and parting seas, Bible movies make great vehicles for big-budget special effects, a key selling point for a wide swath of audience members
“As we approach the 15-year anniversary of the ratings system, it is apparent that the system itself is in need of dramatic reform.”
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These reflections concern Carl Trueman’s Republocrat, Chapter 1. (For notes on the foreword and introduction, see A Serialized Review). Two questions were on my mind as I approached Chapter 1: (a) Is Trueman really a political liberal? (b) Does he accurately understand the conservatism he left behind?
Two themes comprise Chapter 1. Theme 1 is expressed in the chapter title, “Left Behind”: how those of “Old Left” (Trueman’s term) political views are now homeless because liberalism has been “hijacked by special interest groups” (p. 14). Theme 2 makes the first interesting: how Left thought about oppression developed from the 19th century to the present.
The chapter is divided into eight sections.
Discussion