We are hosting a Return to Manhood conference at our home on March 27-28. Come and join us!
Clickhere for more information.
01.18Solomon’s Porch
It was my priviledge to share our testimony on Friday night, January 16, 2009, at the first Solomon’s Porch. Visit the Solomon’s Porch website here.
The Command of the Lord Jesus Christ:
Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The record of the four gospels is that the Lord Jesus Christ was continually teaching and preaching everywhere he went. This is so pervasive in the four gospels that it would be impossible to reasonably suggest otherwise. Read more…
We have enjoyed reading together out of Sinclair Ferguson’s book, “In Christ Alone”. It is filled with short essays focused on the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Tonight we read the essay entitled, “High Priest, Effective Sacrifice”. It ends like this:
“…The shedding of the blood of God’s Son opened the way to God for us (Acts 20:28). That is both the horror and the glory of our Great High Priest’s ministry. Read more…
I have created a separate page to document what I call “Our Journey Out of “The Truth”. This describes the process of our slow awakening to God’s gracious work of salvation and His delivering us from the bondage of our trust in man and the merit of our own works by revealing the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A few definitions of words used in this writing are in order for those who are not in the know:
“To profess” means to make a profession of belief in the ministry of this fellowship and is essential in order to join “the fellowship”. Thus a “professing” person is a person inside the group. The word “professing” has come to be a technical term describing someone in the group…not necessarily someone who professes Christ.
“Workers” are the itinerate “homeless” ministers of this fellowship, either male or female.
“Friends” are the people who make up the fellowship.
“Sunday morning meeting” is a home church meeting.
“Convention” is a yearly gathering of the friends and workers, usually numbering in the hundreds.
This fellowship internally calls itself “The Truth” while outwardly claiming to have no name. It claims that only those who hear its form of the gospel through “the workers” and believe are saved. Thus, all other Christian peoples have no salvation because they reject “the homeless ministry”.
It claims that the fundamentals of the faith of Jesus are “the church in the home and the ministry without a home”. The primary element here the “homeless ministry”.
If you would like to read it, click here.
09.02Hungarian Semantics
For those who know me, you will know why I read, and enjoy reading, a book like “The Medicalization of Everyday Life” by Thomas Szasz.
Now…I’m not going on a rant about what this particular book is about, but I wanted to post a particularly interesting quote.
This comes from page 51 from the essay, “Defining Disease”:
“…Perhaps our very explanation [of defining disease], framed in ordinary language, is biased by our deep-seated conceits and fashionable preconceptions. The Hungarian term for “explanation” suggests that such, indeed, may often be the case.
“The Hungarian word for “Hungarians” is magyar. The same term serves as the root for “explanation,” which is magyarazat; “to explain” is megmagyaraz; “inexplicable” is megmagyarazhatatlan, literally “it cannot be said in Hungarian”; and the command to say something clearly is mond magyarul, that is, “say it in Hungarian.”
“Hungarians are not aware that their term for “explanation” and therefore their concept of it are so linguistically self-centered. Perhaps one has to change cultures and retain an interest in the idiosyncrasies of one’s mother tongue to appreciate such a semantic oddity”
Some Presuppositions
It might be best to set forth some of the questions that are in my mind as I examine the scriptures regarding this matter of the need for teaching in the church. Here are they are:
1. Did Paul purposefully and systematically teach the whole counsel of God, or did it come out spontaneously? Another way of asking the question would be this – is purposeful and systematic teaching devoid of the Holy Spirit, is the Holy Spirit only and always spontaneous?
2. Did the teaching that we do see take place in the meeting of the church, or did it take place at some other time in some other venue? Read more…
Acts 20:17-38 – Paul’s Message to the Ephesian Elders
“Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.”
In his frank talk to the Ephesian elders, Paul emphasized how he had taken every opportunity to communicate what he called “…the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27, NKJV). In several different ways, Paul reminded these men that he had taken pains…great pains…to communicate the entirety of the purpose, plan, and will of God to the believers in Ephesus.
Read more…
08.31My Hope
It is my hope that in recording the thoughts that result from study, reflection, prayer, the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and listening to others, there will be a stirring up of the gift of God not only in my own life, but in the lives of others.
I desire to encourage the church to return to methods that allow the expression of the gifts of the Spirit in the assembly of the believers, within the context of the decency and order set forth in the Word.
May the LORD cause His face to shine on us. May the effect of the gospel fulfill the promise – the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers.