Is “Above Reproach” Its Own Qualification, or a Qualification of the All the Others?
Body
“Our elders were forced to consider this qualification in the heat of the moment. A pastor of our church had not crossed any one line.” - 9 Marks
As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Our elders were forced to consider this qualification in the heat of the moment. A pastor of our church had not crossed any one line.” - 9 Marks
“I don’t mean that magnanimity is unique to men or that women are not also called to this trait. After all, Witherspoon calls it a Christian virtue. But I do think magnanimity is a virtue particularly befitting to manhood, and that manhood bereft of magnanimity is especially lamentable.” - DeYoung
“Paul instructs Timothy, ‘And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil’ (2 Timothy 2:24; cf 1 Tim 3:3). Let’s focus briefly on the requirement to ‘not be quarrelsome.’” - 9 Marks
Reposted from Rooted Thinking.
William Borden was famous.1 His parents were millionaires. They were prominent members of the Moody Church in Chicago. The newspapers of the early 1900s reported on young Borden’s activities. Every door of opportunity swung open for this privileged youth.
“[T]oday a belief even in the possibility that there are things we can identify as good falls prey to cynicism. Culture reflects this. Across the dizzying variety of digital entertainment media, one constant holds: we live in the era of the ‘complex’ protagonist, characters whose stories lean toward a kind of benevolent moral ambiguity at best.
Of all the great characters found on the pages of Holy Scripture, none—outside, of course, of our Lord Jesus Christ—serves as a greater example to us than the prophet Daniel.
Transported to Babylon in the first wave of the captivity of Judah in 605 B.C., Daniel’s life was upended at an early age. This could have been an excuse for him to abandon any ties to his people and his God. He was taken to a strange land, given a new name and offered all the worldly comforts available in the king’s court (Dan. 1:7-10).
“There are two kinds of walking, of going on a journey. The first kind is typified by an elevator ride…. the experience is all about getting where you’re going. It’s not about the journey. But there’s another kind of journey. It’s best typified by lovers going for a walk….Nobody cares where we’re going; we’re just going for a walk.” - Dan Olinger
“In his letter to his protégé Timothy, the apostle Paul declared: ‘Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness’ (2 Timothy 2:23-24).” - Russell Moore
“Jesus teaches us not only what is right and true, but also how to display the beauty of the truth in our words, posture, and deeds. He models how to live righteously and love compassionately alongside how to think deeply.” - Dustin Crowe
“If we’re going to help our people, we pastors must cultivate humility. We need to grow in our Christlikeness to help others do the same. So how do we do it? Here are a few ways to cultivate humility in ministry.” - 9 Marks
Discussion