As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“This perspective does sometimes identify actual oppression. And God hates oppression….But this oppression view is different. It opposes Christian understanding, redefining humanity, including creation, sin, and redemption, in meaningful ways.” - John Hanna
“New York’s top court on Tuesday rejected an effort to free Happy the elephant from the Bronx Zoo, ruling that she does not meet the definition of ‘person’ who is being illegally confined.” - C.Index
“Doctrines” is an old word for “teachings” or “instructions.” We tend to use the word “doctrine” when we list our beliefs, usually derived from someone’s attempt to summarize important teachings from Scripture.
We tend to distinguish between the “essential” (fundamental) doctrines of the evangelical faith and what we call “secondary” matters. I have heard many Christians dismiss important secondary doctrines as trivial because they are not among the fundamentals.
Gotquestions.com succinctly summarizes what most of us consider the fundamentals of the faith and what, in the past, used to define the original version of fundamentalism (most of which later came to be known as “evangelicalism”):
“Election results reported Tuesday night showed Barber received 3,401 votes (60.87 percent) in a runoff against Florida pastor Tom Ascol who received 2,172 votes (38.88 percent).” - C.Index
“The next morning…the General Assembly was presented with a two-paragraph statement apologizing for the ‘racial disparagement reported being made by some present at our Assembly’ and condemning racism more generally.” - C.Today
“In most churches today, the worship time has become a concert. …I visit churches pretty much for a living, and as I look around during the services, the vast numbers of the congregation are watching the stage and listening – not singing.” - Phil Cooke
“The latest Pew Research Center survey, conducted March 7 to 13, finds deep disagreement between – and within – the parties over abortion. In fact, the partisan divide on abortion is far wider than it was two decades ago.” - Pew
“While we revisit Trump’s original claims, and the panel’s efforts to rebut those false claims, we’ll also look at our original fact checks on these long debunked voter fraud allegations from the 2020 election.” - The Dispatch
“Church offers a place where infants and grandparents, unemployed and executives, immigrants and blue bloods can all assemble together. Where else can we find that unique mixture? Certainly not online.” - C.Today
“Ultimately, Wellman agreed to be nominated. He was elected by fellow Executive Committee members at a meeting Monday morning.” - C.Index
“…the Bible shows that in His unfolding drama of redemption, God is at work to reclaim not just our souls, but also our bodies, and not just our bodies, but also the earth from which that first human body was made, and over which God purposed us to reign.” - Randy Alcorn
“Before you invest in your next sound system upgrade, it’s important to understand … how sound waves propagate in an enclosed space, and how the complex interrelationships of direct and reflected sounds are perceived by listeners in the context of music and speech program material.” - C.Leaders
“homicide rates in rural America spiked 25 percent according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s not far behind the 30 percent increase urban areas saw.” - Relevant
Good judgment is a function of wisdom, and exercising it—in the form of discernment—is a Christian duty. The Psalmist prays for discernment (Psalm 19:12), Proverbs exalts it (Prov. 14:8), and Paul prays that believers will abound in it (Phil. 1:9).
Tim Challies’ definition of discernment is as good as any I’ve seen (I have not yet read the book):
Discernment is the skill of understanding and applying God’s Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong.
With the popularity of kindle becoming a major player over a dozen years ago (and e-books in general) and with the preponderance of programs and services like Logos and website commentaries, etc., have you book purchases been significantly altered?
Feel free to comment on the resources you do use, buy, or subscribe to.
Poll Results
Have your book habits changed over the past decade or two?
“It was a fight to get the landmark abuse investigation to happen. Now, will the denomination be able to overcome divides to enact reforms?” - C.Today
Related:
When Southern Baptists meet [this] week, anything could happen
“the regulative principle of worship states that God alone determines the content, motivation, and aim of worship. …The further we get away from his directions, then, the less we actually worship.” - Ligon Duncan
“Overall, 61% of U.S. adults say they have heard at least a fair amount about the phrase ‘cancel culture,’ up from 44% in September 2020” - Pew
“Rachel Gilson is the author of a fascinating book entitled Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next. She spoke specifically on something the Bible describes that we are saved from: confusion.” - Breakpoint
“these flaws in welfare policies apply with special force to those who are just at the point of making the transition from poverty to self-sufficiency. These problems have long been known. So why have they not been corrected long ago? And what can be done to fix them now?” - IFS
“…three key changes address future third-party investigations. One clarification is that those investigations will be launched by the local church or other Baptist body, rather than giving the impression of a top-down approach. Churches or groups requiring financial assistance to hire an outside firm will be able to apply for grants” - BPNews
“Laboratory-grown cell lines descended from fetuses that were aborted decades ago were used in some early-stage testing of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and to grow viruses used to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. …Novavax, however, says that ‘no human fetal-derived cell lines or tissue’ were used in the development, manufacture or production of its vaccine.” - RNS
“As a former security manager, concealed weapons instructor, and church planter, I’ve found seven principles help me think carefully about these important questions.” - TGC
“Survey shows citizens remain much preferred over their governments, while US polarization continues as youth shift support from Israel to Palestine.” - C.Today
WeWork’s “reputation had already been shaken by Neumann’s declarations in its filings about ‘the energy of we’…and for the company’s vow to ‘elevate the world’s consciousness.’ …executives got instruction from leaders of the Kabbalah Centre, whose values are loosely based on Jewish mysticism.” - RNS
The rich symbolism prescribed for the ancient Hebrew celebration of Pentecost culminated in the inauguration of a brand-new entity in the program of God. It all occurred, according to His perfect plan, on the Pentecost Sunday which was the 50th day following the resurrection of Christ.
As Bruce Scott stated, even in the Hebrew Bible, “Both the so-called Feast of First Fruits and the Feast of Weeks are inextricably linked” (The Feasts of Israel: Seasons of the Messiah [Bellmawr, NJ: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1997], 58).
