“The guidance… stipulated that people who have undergone transgender surgical procedures or taken cross-sex hormones can be baptized provided ‘there are no situations in which there is a risk of generating public scandal or disorientation among the faithful.’” - CPost

“Most Calvinists live daily as Arminians do—freely making choices for which they take personal responsibility. Most Arminians pray like Calvinists—believing a sovereign God can and does change people’s hearts, swaying their wills.” - Randy Alcorn

“Last week in London, over 12,000 people attended The O2 and paid ‘significant sums of money to watch (Jordan) Peterson, the rockstar of public intellectuals’ ” - CPost

“(1) I start by briefly defining religion, politics, and political theology; (2) then I propose seven views on religion and government; (3) and I conclude with seven reflections.” - Andy Naselli

Read the series.

It’s time to look a little more closely at what we’re actually doing as we minister our gifts to one another in the church.

A passage I find helpful in this regard is the opening paragraph of Ephesians 5, which is just one sentence with two main verbs that point us to how we conduct our relationships in the church.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; ² and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

“the dispersal of humanity described in Genesis 10–11 need not be considered a fantastic element. The data provide no warrant, scientific or otherwise, to abandon or alter the traditional historical doctrine of biblical inerrancy.” - Hugh Ross

“Next week, Carl R. Trueman will deliver this [Center for Classical Theology] inaugural lecture on ‘Classical Theology and the Modern Mind.’” - Credo

“Trend 1: Kingdom Over Church…Trend 2: Networks and Denominations … Trend 3: If It Doesn’t Work [pragmatism]… Trend 4: Cities and the Missing Middle … Trend 5: Quick Starts and Short-Sightedness” - 9 Marks

“If we need community for physical and mental health, how much more do we need it for spiritual health?” - Ligonier

If “you only think of confrontational conversations, short-term intense efforts to guide non-Christians into instant conversions… then you have a pretty narrow, unrealistic, and inefficient view of evangelism.” - Word by Word

“With such a lineage and so many queries in pursuit of justice, it may be hard to see why I believe just war theory is deeply flawed. Because, in one sense, there’s much to appreciate in this theory.” - CToday

“A successful third-party run can siphon enough voters away from the major parties to force one or both of them to adjust their principles, policies, and rhetoric in an effort to bring those lost voters back in to the major party umbrellas.” - WORLD

“Psalm 12 offers strong encouragement, practical wisdom, and stern warnings for the faithful who are struggling to endure after intimate friends or trusted leaders fall.” - TGC

“there are some opinions where Christians have very different views on AI compared to non-Christians. Just over one in four Christians (28%) say they are hopeful AI can do positive things in the world, compared to two in five non-Christians (39%).” - Barna

“Many studies focus on the identity and nature of wisdom psalms. This approach remains controversial in that few interpreters agree on which psalms constitute wisdom psalms.” - DBTS Blog

“promoting women’s equality in athletics is an important governmental interest’ and that ‘not all gender-based classifications violate the Equal Protection Clause.’” - CPost

Read the series.

The Serpent in the Wilderness

(John 3:12-15 with Numbers 21:4-9)

Postulating that a New Testament text is a midrash of an Old Testament passage is sometimes open to challenge. In other instances, we are positive that a New Testament text is indeed a midrash of an Old Testament text because the New Testament text makes the connection. Such is the case with the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus, particularly John 3:12-15,¹ the comparison of the serpent in the wilderness and looking to Jesus in faith.

“We will gravitate to one system or another, and this is not necessarily a terrible thing, if we are gracious with those who differ with us and acknowledge the difficulties with our own positions.”- P&D

Just War Doctrine, Israel, and Hamas - Breakpoint

“The implication of the word ‘learned’ is that it was not always like this for Paul. He grew in contentment over time. It did not come quickly and it did not come easily, but there was growth and there was progress for him, and the same can be true for us today.” - Colin Smith

“On Tuesday, Ohioans voted 57 to 43 percent in favor of adding a sweeping right to abortion to their state constitution.” - N.Review

“(60 percent) say a residential move impacted their decision…. More than 1 in 4 church switchers say they changed because some things changed about the church they did not like (29 percent), the church was not fulfilling their needs or reasons for attending church (29 percent)” - BPNews

Read the series.

Mark F. Rooker is the next scholar in line and contributes a study of Jeremiah 31:31-37. He delineates the major features of the New covenant which include God’s writing His law on the heart (55-56). He is a little unclear in these pages, but the main thing he points out is the inner working of this covenant which produces a new relationship to God. This comes about as a result of God’s forgiveness of their sin (57).

“Spinoza defined wisdom as seeing things sub specie eternitatis, in view of eternity; I suggest defining it as seeing things sub specie totius, in view of the whole.” - Imaginative Conservative

“It turns out that, contrary to what years upon years of social media conditions us to think, you actually don’t have to post things every time the thought occurs to you to post things. You can just… not.” - Mere Orthodoxy

“the docudrama explores medical and scientific evidence, common types of NDEs, and the impact on people who report having these experiences.” - Reasons

Robert Downen is worried - Texas Tribune

“Are they speaking about the same divine being? If so, does our sense of this being overlap enough to say we are worshiping the same God? Do we merely understand the one God differently, or are we speaking of an entirely different God?” - Lifeway

“People often say, ‘We don’t understand now, but in Heaven we’ll know everything.’ Is this true? Definitely not.” - Randy Alcorn

“Each verse in Peggy Lee’s 1969 song describes a life event, such as going to the circus or falling in love….Each verse leads to the same chorus: Is that all there is?” - TGC