Psalm 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. 5 Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. 6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.

In this passage, God issues six commands to all the earth. What do you believe about these commands? Have they ever been fulfilled? Will they ever be fulfilled?

Poll Results

What Do You Believe about the Commands in Psalm 98:4-6?

“Two noticeable reasons stand out among the reasons young adults stop attending church for at least a year between ages 18-22: 32% dropped out because church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical 25% dropped out because they disagreed with the church’s stance on political/social issues” - Lifeway

“In some ways, the fact that the polling industry has done a better job estimating vaccinations than voting is not surprising. Election polls face challenges that don’t exist for non-election polls” - Pew

“Divination arises from a desire to know the future or to receive guidance about how to live one’s life from some power or force or principle other than God.” - Roger Olson

“Annual birth rates are one tool for describing fertility, but not the only one. The Census Bureau recently released another crucial indicator: survey data on fertility history.” - IFS

“The above quote comes from an interesting little paragraph in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics….By ‘these things,’ Bavinck means the technological developments in communication up into the early 20th century.” - Ref21

“9. They are raising the bar of expectations. This move seems counterintuitive. If people are becoming less committed to the church, why not accommodate their low commitment?” - Thom Rainer

A Review of Daniel I. Block, Covenant: The Framework of God’s Grand Plan of Redemption, Grand Rapids: Baker, 2021, 704 pages, hdbk.

Daniel Block has been a major evangelical OT scholar for many years, contributing commentaries on Ezekiel, Deuteronomy, and Judges/Ruth, and many articles. He is known for his incisive and creative scholarship. Therefore, this contribution to the study of covenants in the Bible is most welcome.

“A large billboard bearing former President Donald Trump’s image next to a Bible quote [Isa 9:6] appeared on a northwest Georgia road late last week. The ad, comparing Trump to Jesus, disappeared a few days later, leaving behind a flurry of confusion and outrage.” - RNS

Also, Christian Post and Church Leaders.

“Handling a physical Bible taught me, at a subconscious level, to read Scripture as a canon, a library of books whose disparate voices could be heard as if they were speaking with and alongside one another about the same subject matter.” - C.Today

“Ask yourself: Is too much empathy really the problem you see in your church? In your pastor? In your life? We should all examine where we are and seek to accentuate what is right while repenting of what is wrong.” - Ken Brown

“The season the pastor is referring to is the charges brought against him by New South Wales (NSW) Police Force for allegedly concealing child sex offenses ….The investigation uncovered that Brian knew of his father’s abuse in 1999 and failed to report it to authorities.” - C.Leaders

“… while this series will be net critical of CRT, that doesn’t mean that CRT has nothing to offer to social analysis and that some of its insights aren’t genuinely instructive when it comes to our racial history in the U.S and our current racial zeitgeist.” - Pat Sawyer

I’ve written previously about the role of good sources in the exercise of discernment. To flesh them out, I’ve also offered some practical tips: closest is best, deprioritize opinion, and look past headlines.

Here we consider three more tips for better use of sources.

4. Understand “science” and studies.

a. What science is

Science is a really big deal these days. We encounter claims labeled “the science” every day, many of them contradictory.

I was just wondering if any other SI members have Pillsbury College connections and will be attending the college reunion next weekend (Sept 24-25). I attended Pillsbury from 1980 to 1984 and I’m looking forward to seeing a bunch of old friends. From what I’ve heard, over 400 people have registered.

I haven’t been back to the campus since the college closed, but the new owners are allowing us to use the campus for the reunion. The campus is owned by Camp Pillsbury, and they have some videos shot on campus on their home page. http://camppillsbury.com/

“Notice that in Matthew 25:34–37, the believers Jesus commends are surprised to hear of his pleasure in their ordinary work: “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?’” - TGC

“In their first joint statement ever, the spiritual leaders of Christianity’s three largest denominations addressed the United Nations.” - C.Today

Also in the news: Preach Progressive Climate Policy, Ecumenical Group Advocates

“While all eyes seem fixed on the [Executive Committee] meeting next week, a significant step in addressing sexual abuse in the SBC took place this morning at the ERLC trustee meeting.” - SBC Voices

“Nice dictators exist, at least in the leadership sense. I refer to these types of leaders in the church as amiable autocrats. Friendly church dictators rule from their positional authority. They order everyone around because their title enables them to do so, and they do it with a smile.” - Sam Rainer

“The mother-daughter duo from First Baptist Church Woodstock, Ga., are on the frontlines of the continuing battle over abortion, but their approach is markedly different from the more militant pro-lifers often seen on television news programs.” - BPNews

“…you do not have to evangelize people when you’re helping them. But you also should always be looking for opportunities. But nevertheless, you shouldn’t do it in a wooden way. You shouldn’t do it in a way that looks coercive. You should never do it in that way.” - Tim Keller

The gift of prophecy in the modern church is interpreted in many ways in our day. Sometimes, folks beleive is several different aspects of the gift.

So please choose what you believe is the predominant aspect of the gift in our day. Then comment with your nuances and qualifying statements, please.

Poll Results

What is your view of the current gift of Prophecy (main concept)?

“Recent data collected this summer indicate that at least half of U.S. adults (21% definitely interested, 32% probably interested) would be interested if their local church addressed vocational well-being in their preaching and programs.” - Barna

“…there is solid evidence that White Americans who viewed Trump favorably and did not identify as evangelicals in 2016 were much more likely than White Trump skeptics to begin identifying as born-again or evangelical Protestants by 2020.” - Pew

“A federal judge temporarily blocked the state of New York on Tuesday from forcing medical workers to be vaccinated after a group of health care workers sued, saying their Constitutional rights were violated because the state’s mandate disallowed religious exemptions.” - C.Leaders/AP

Related…

“For many Christians, taking precautions to avoid catching and spreading COVID-19 is embracing not a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” - Lifeway

“In my third sonnet on the Fruit of the Spirit, I reflect a little bit on how God brings peace to our relationships. Only by yielding to His work within us can our world ever have peace.” - Jake Bier

“The professor was reading and translating aloud from the Greek. When he got to the last phrase in the verse, he started crying as he repeated ‘kai esmen’ several times…. The phrase is translated ‘and that is what we are’ ” - Eric Geiger

Reposted from Rooted Thinking.

“I need some me time,” says everyone these days—parents, employees, even Olympic athletes. In the current vernacular, time with God could also be viewed as spiritual me time. Without even realizing it, we can begin to substitute personal wellness for closeness to God—but they aren’t the same thing. If we make that switch, we will experience the spiritual dryness brought on by narcissism.

“Based on my religious convictions, and after much thought and prayer, I am unable to follow the requirements of the Naval Academy’s COVID-19 policy, as it has changed these last few months” - C.Post