One of my dreams used to be to open a small seminary that helped ministers (Sunday school teachers, preachers, parents, etc) learn more fully the skills of the calling. I got my idea from this list in like 2006. It takes something of a vocational school approach. I’ve put the most interesting ones in bold.
I found them in “Charles Spurgeon: His Faith and Works” pp 154-155.
There are some songs that stick in your head forever. This is one for me. I don’t even know how I came across this album in high school, but I did. Anyway, I think Reese Roper really got articulated something profound in this brief and fairly unpoetic song. Here’s my favorite bit (it starts at 00:59):
Limping through the world There's a knowing look or two Is it just the cripples here Who understand the truth? Why is love so painful Why do we always lose Paving pathways for the lost The bitter, and recluse? He said "Love endures all things" And it hurt to think it’s true did it nail Him on a cross did it crucify Him too?
Around this time, I get a bit somber during the days the birthday of a friend who died a few years ago. He was an unusual guy in a good way. And while I feel I’ve never struggled to be clear, I have struggled to be understood as a person (and who hasn’t?). Anyway, my friend [we’ll called him Bradley] understood me and I think I understood him. Many of his life struggles mirrored mind and a great deal of his personal suffering and demons surpassed mine by a long way. While some of his life struggles made it difficult for us to hang out, we saw each other regularly until he disappeared, which led to his untimely death.
When in Berlin the writer often attended Schleiermacher’s church. The hymns to be sung were printed on slips of paper and distributed at the doors. They were always evangelical and spiritual in an eminent degree, filled with praise and gratitude to our Redeemer. Tholuck said that Schleiermacher, when sitting in the evening with his family, would often say, “Hush, children; let us sing a hymn of praise to Christ.” Can we doubt that he is singing those praises now? To whomsoever Christ is God, St. John assures us, Christ is a Saviour. Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. Vol 2, 400 n1.
Few read this blog and fewer likely read it for theology. And fewer who read it care about Schleiermacher. But it’s grand to see Hodge put the Scriptures first in his assessment of another’s faith rather than the systematic accuracy of that person’s writings or utterances.
I pre-ordered Hart's most recent book as soon as I discovered it would be released. I like Hart's work and I found his New Testament translation to be mostly helpful despite its many shortcomings. His new book is thought provoking and contains at least three hard to beat arguments for apokatastasis (the doctrine that God will redeem every last living soul in the end). I'll write about it in the future. To be honest, I'm nearly convinced.
I read a really good article on Servant-Benefaction here:
The Servant-Benefactor as a Model of Greatness
It's pretty illuminating for anybody wishing to understand Luke 22.
You can access it freely using "sci-hub.tw/
Here's a good line from the conclusion:
Those who aspire to "greatness", but who are not yet called "benefactors" (v 26a), are advised to follow the example of Jesus, the servant-benefactor par excellence (v 27b), and that of those apostles who remained with Jesus throughout the Passion (v 28).
Virtue signalling is "the conspicuous expression of moral values by an individual done primarily with the intent of enhancing that person's standing within a social group." Jesus, while not using the terminology, definitely addresses the concept.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Christians are called upon by God to share the Christian gospel with others in order to help them become Christians.
One of the ways Christians try to evangelize (help non-Christians believe the gospel) is to help them see how wretched they really are so that they might see their need for Jesus.
Others try to help people see their philosophical need for a source or ground of absolute truth. This can be done using various methods.
In response to efforts of the American leaders in the United Methodist Church to influence Africa's Methodists to reject the Biblical teaching on homosexual marraige, they did not budge:
I thank God for His precious Word to us, and I thank him for you, my dear sisters and brothers in Christ.
As the General Coordinator of UMC AfricaInitiative I greet you on behalf of all its members and leaders. We want to thank the Renewal and Reform Coalition within the United Methodist Church for the invitation to address you at this important breakfast meeting.
As I understand it, the plans before us seek to find a lasting solution to the long debate over our church’s sexual ethics, its teachings on marriage, and it[s] ordination standards.
This debate and the numerous acts of defiance have brought the United Methodist Church to a crossroads (Jeremiah 6:16).
One plan invites the people called United Methodists to take a road in opposition to the Bible and two thousand years of Christian teachings. Going down that road would divide the church. Those advocating for the One Church Plan would have us take that road.
Another road invites us to reaffirm Christian teachings rooted in Scripture and the church’s rich traditions...
More and more articles on the standard Christian websites and highly read blogs have articles that follow this pattern:
Belief 'X' is almost always something like traditional Christian sexual ethics, the Biblical restriction on divorce, being pro-life, believing that God is real (not even kidding), or believing the Bible is inspired or even accurate at all.