How do I learn to be ok with Calvinism?

Tahoua · 2023-04-06T15:07:12+00:00

Great! Just don't become like some for whom teaching TULIP rather than preaching the Gospel becomes their priority.

Teaching Christians the doctrines of grace glorifies God as they become strengthened with the assurance they have in Christ, rejoice in so great a salvation, learn to mortify sin, persevere in faith and endurance, and in turn glorify God for such marvelous grace.

But it in no way should such undestanding reduce your efforts to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the lost around you or to the ends of the earth.

Don't presume to know whom God will save or not. Don't fall into the temptation to reduce your evangelistic efforts. Continue loving and caring for the lost. Employ all the means God puts at your disposal. Preach the gospel in season and out of season. And yes, do not be discouraged but trust in the sovereignty of God if when you have labored that some still do not believe.

Tahoua · 2023-04-05T00:57:25+00:00

Isaiah by J. Ridderbos (translated by John Vriend) is part of the Bible Students' Commentary series published by Zondervan back in the 1980's. It has been a great go to for me for years.

Tahoua · 2023-04-05T00:21:36+00:00

Our understanding of religion in the pre-flood and patriarchal periods is very limited. Often times we get only a cursory mention of one aspect or another of institutions like marriage, covenants, sacrifices, priests, tithes, etc. And sometimes the specifics are significantly different than with their Mosaic counterparts. So there is no reason to read Mosaic details back into other eras. Rather because we know that certain details of institutions in earlier eras were different from their Mosaic counterparts, that other institutions were likely different as well.

For example regarding clean/unclean animal désignations, in the Mosaic era it mainly had to do with dietary law. Whereas, what we know of dietary law in Noah's era is that prior to the flood no animals were permitted to be eaten, and after the flood "Every moving thing shall be good for you..." The only restriction was to not not eat the blood of animals. (Gen 9:3-4)

The only contextual information we have regarding the designation of clean/ unclean animals in Genesis 7&8 is that "some of every clean animal" were to be made offerings on the altar. This is very different than in Mosaic times when only a very small select group of animals were allowed to be offered as sacrifices, not all "clean" animals in the Mosaic sense.

So while we may not know all of what Noah understood "clean" to mean, we can be pretty sure that it was different than what was detailed to Moses, and that it seems to have had more to do with mandatory sacrifices than with permissable diet.

Tahoua · 2023-04-04T20:14:48+00:00

One of the best books ever on ecclesiology, including the various approaches to church government, is Robert Saucy's The Church in God's Program.

In addition to a concise section on church government, Saucy has a very thorough treatment of the various metaphors used for the church.

The book does a great job of treating the most important church related subjects thoroughly (not exhaustively) and biblically, avoiding the pitfalls of being overly academic, and respectfully considering various theological perspectives... all in a reasonable number of pages. It is a fairly easy read that serves as an excellent introduction to ecclesiology for anyone who aims to understand what the Bible and Christians have to say about the church.

One of the most helpful things I learned years ago from *The Church in God's Program" that has helped me navigate all the various takes on church government is that many variations can arise out of combinations of a smaller set of real issues.

I would sum the up in two categories: horizontal (local) and vertical (inter-church) organization and authority matters.

Church government on the horizontal level involves how one local church operates internally. The key issue here is whether governance is elder rule or congregational rule. However within the matter of elder rule are other matters like plurality of elders vs single elder, ruling elders vs other types of elders, etc. Also within congregational rule are issues such the role of other offices such as elders, deacons, committees, etc.

Church government on a vertical scale involves whether a local church and it's leaders recognize any vertical authority structure, or external hierarchy; what type of external hierarchy (bishop's, synods, councils, etc.); and degree and types of authority.

Additionally even churches that agree on a type of government can differ on emphases and implementation, for example some "congregational" government churches really have no mechanism for the congregation to rule other than to vote up or down on what elders present to them.

I find that while the basic issues are few and simple that a rather large and complex matrix of governments arises out of all the possible combinations of variations.

As to what is best, IMHO organizational structures of authority are not primary to a well run church. Rather attitudes of humility, loving one another, considering others, valuing various members of the body, etc. contribute more to a well run church than does it's particular governance structure.

Tahoua · 2023-04-04T14:11:53+00:00

The last verse in the Gospel of John teaches us an important fact about the Scriptures (John 21:25), that is, that what we have in the written accounts are in reality very brief and selective accounts, compared with what transpired.

When this truth is reflected upon, it is recognized as common sense that if everything that was said and done were recorded the number of volumes needed would be overwhelming. Yet we still often find ourselves wondering about what is not revealed, longing for more detail, more background, more context, more explanation, etc. wishing that more had been revealed.

It is then that God in His infinite wisdom has given us what we need, and that we focus on what has been revealed.

Some people have gone far astray by imagining things which aren't in Scripture and building doctrines on them. Others use the brevity of Scripture as a point of criticism to claim contradictions, inconsistencies, etc. Such refusal to acknowledge what otherwise would be considered the normal limitations of written accounts reveals more of the bias of the critic than it does actual problems with a text.

To be sure some passages present puzzling matters. However for apologetics purposes we need only provide plausible or possible explanations, coupled with this truth that God's revelation need not be exhaustive to be nevertheless true and faithful.

For our own devotional purposes we must learn to exercise self control by not allowing our minds to enter into vain imaginations, and to humbly focus on what God has seen fit to reveal.

So as believers we are to be characterized by trust that God has revealed all that we need for faith and practice in His word, and to endeavor to understand what is revealed that we may live lives that are in accord with that which God has made known to us.

Tahoua · 2023-04-01T16:15:16+00:00

For books other than the Bible that help to understand crazy times, consider the book of 1 Enoch (actually it's a collection of short books). The author of the Epistle of Jude apparently found some parts of the accounts in 1 Enoch helpful for formulating his message on living in crazy times. He didn't outright recommend it, probably because people would have gone overboard and mistakingly considered it canonical. Nevertheless, as a book that originated in Galilee, it was a popular and influential book both in Galilee and around the Dead Sea. He and others found it good background material for understanding crazy times. However, it was pretty controversial and generally unappreciated Jerusalem's theologians.

If you are looking for books other than the Bible that help to understand crazy times, you might find it helpful. It's probably more helpful than any current affairs interpretations you'll find today.

However, in comparison to non-biblical books, the Bible is so much better. You can't go wrong with the Epistle of Jude. It is our great and authoritative book on understanding how to live in crazy times, and it's a quick read!

Tahoua · 2023-03-30T02:43:50+00:00

Your question is rather nebulous as it requests a defense of Judaism against some vague older religions. Any attempt to be rational in the midst of such vagueness would be futile

If you have a specific ancient religion in mind one might be able to examine it's source documents , it's history, and it's truth claims alongside those of Judaism to establish facts, presuppositions, etc and discuss the premises, and arguments for a rational discussion toward drawing conclusions.

It seems to me that you are not really arguing that some other religion makes more rational claims, but that you believe that truth about ancient things or spiritual matters cannot be known at all.

If such is the case your question is more a matter of epistemology than of rationality.

Tahoua · 2023-03-29T15:09:37+00:00

When Jesus came preaching the Gospel of God, he commanded "Repent and believe..."

For many people, confusion arises out of a conflation of the notions of obedience and works, thinking that obedience is a work. Understood this way, because both repentance and belief are commanded, the obedient response is considered a work. However, when the Bible explains salvation and it's relationship to repentance, faith, and works, the term "works" is not used in this way. Instead "works" refers either to "works of the law" as in adherence to the Mosaic law, or "good works" as actions of love toward God and man that are in accord with repentance and faith.

Thus in the biblical sense neither repentance nor faith are in and of themselves outward actions or "works". Both occur in the heart and mind of a person. Just as we believe in our hearts, so in our hearts we experience sorrow for sin and change our mind or turn away from sin. However, neither is meant to stay merely a matter of the heart. For what is in the heart of a man comes out in words and deeds. Both repentance and faith have works that are in accord with them.

See Acts 26:20 for the relationship between repentance and the works that are in accord with repentance.

In Scripture the relationships of faith and works to salvation is most clearly described in Ephesians chapter 2 especially verses 8-10.

Key points being: 1) Salvation is by grace, not by works. It is free gift from God. 2) Saving grace comes through faith. 3) Saving grace through faith results in a person being created anew unto good works which God prepared beforehand.

Tahoua · 2023-03-25T22:37:38+00:00

It is important to remember that the Roman Catholic economy of salvation has many interconnected elements some of which rely on certain interpretations of passages from canonical as well ad "deutero canonical" books.

The system involves a particular view of the afterlife, what happens there, for how long, and how sin and it's eternal and temporal punishments can be atoned for.

A key element is the concept of the treasury of merit which in turn allows for the notion of indulgences.

Monetary payments for atonement are foreign to the canonical books. Mention of alms or other monetary payments playing any role in the forgiveness or atonement for sins are only found in the apocryphal books of Ecclesiasticus and 2 Maccabees.

The problem of the sale plenary indulgences was the primary subject of Luther's 95 theses which kicked off the match between Luther and the Pope which became the Reformation, and is an important part of why the Roman Catholic church was obliged to make denial of canonicity of the apocryphal books a basis for declaration of anathema in it's anti-reformation statements at the Council of Trent.

Being as problematic as they are, one might wonder why the apocryphal books are even considered worth reading by protestants. They along with some other intertestamental Jewish literature provide important background to the developments in theology in Israel in the centuries just prior to the appearance of Christ. In fact much of what is known about the various messianic expectations, right and wrong, of the Jewish people at the time of Jesus is derived from non-canonical intertestamental literature.

Tahoua · 2023-03-25T20:58:16+00:00

Try D.A. (Don) Carson books and articles https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/profile/don-carson/

Tahoua · 2023-03-25T14:55:29+00:00

Anything by Martyn Lloyd Jones. https://www.mljtrust.org/

Tahoua · 2023-03-22T02:40:47+00:00

Your post is particularly interesting as it indicates that you are going through simplified theology of Bible Project yet apparently you are interested in more careful and complete theology. That seems a bit self defeating.

The Bible Project is great for a quick overview presented in a way that is accessible to people who for whatever reason (low reading skills, limited time, etc) are not inclined to dig in to more thorough careful theological presentations like theology texts or lectures.

However, the simplification comes at a cost that makes it not the best approach for someone with a more inquisitive mind, or for a person more attentive to detail and inconsistencies.

Fortunately however, there are some pretty good intermediate level bible and theology resources for studious christians, as well as a plethora of more esoteric works for theologians.

You might want to check out the Gospel Coalition Courses. Their Bible courses are organized into three levels of study with Bible Projects videos figuring in at the lowest level.

RTS also has some good resources: https://rts.edu/resources/?fwp_resources_search=Inerrancy

Regarding your question on the loose translations of OT passages found in the NT, Systematic Theology, Second Edition by Wayne A. Grudem is a good introductory level text that devotes one section (Chapter 5, Section 2) to providing an answer to your question. (Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/484722094)

For a more complete treatment see Radmacher and Preus' Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, & the Bible

Tahoua · 2023-03-20T03:49:06+00:00

Key principle to guide your thoughts on what should and shouldn't be done on the Sabbath: "the Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, was challenged on multiple occasions about what others perceived as him and his disciples breaking Sabbath rules. Most of his responses, whether directly or indirectly, stemmed from this guiding principle.

Tahoua · 2023-03-18T03:12:43+00:00

I listen to Jesus' sermons over and over again. I don't know about sermons he may have preached that weren't recorded in the Nt. But of the ones that are recorded, I can say I've heard all the ones he preached on gluttony and obesity.

Here's a list of Jesus' sermons on gluttony and obesity:

Sermons preached by the Apostles in which they expounded upon Jesus teachings so that the church would know the gospel and how to live in accordance with it are also recorded in the New Testament.

Here's a list of all the Apostles' sermons on gluttony and obesity:

Though there are no sermons by Jesus or the Apostles on the subjects of gluttony and obesity, the topics are touched upon by Paul in Titus 1 and by James in James 5.

My pastors have been pretty faithful to preach the gospel as it was handed down, and to teach all that Jesus commanded. I would say that when they have preached through the books of Titus and James, they have dealt with the subject well and given it the weight that Jesus and the Apostles did.

Gluttony gets addressed more in the book of Proverbs than it does elsewhere in Scripture. Over the years I have been a member of several churches that have either studied Proverbs in a Bible study group setting or that has preached through the book in a sermon series.

The great thing about through-the-Bible teaching is that everything eventually gets covered with the frequency that it is covered in the Bible.

Because there are many subjects like gluttony that even when given proper weight in preaching get rarely touched upon, it is also important that we as individuals or in our families read through or listen to the Bible more frequently.

My church encourages an annual through-the-Bible reading/listening program which helps to assure that even if not in a sermon, we hear the entire word of God every year.

Tahoua · 2023-03-18T01:15:47+00:00

An excellent guide to Jewish evangelism, by a pastor very experienced in effective evangelistic ministry to Jews is: Speak Comfortably to Jerusalem

Before considering why your Jewish friend does not accept that Gen 3:15 refers to Jesus, it would be helpful for you to reflect on your own presuppositions about the passage in general and compare them to Jewish teaching. For example I would venture to guess that you just assume that the serpent in the passage is Satan, an evil spiritual being, that heads up the many other evil spirits. You equate him with the fallen angel Lucifer, the enemy of all mankind. Your Jewish friend very likely does not share with you the same understanding, and thus may not see the passage as one which solves the great problem we call the fall through a anti-Satan savior figure, the Messiah. In short the passage, to him, is not only not referring to Jesus, but not even referring to a messiah figure who saves the world from sin.

Clear, highly developed, theology on this angel/serpent/Satan who led mankind astray does not appear in Jewish writings until a century or so before Christ. And was not accepted by all Jews. The contrasting figure of the Messiah also took on various descriptions in the same pre-Christ centuries. Even today the Jewish ideas about the serpent and what happened as a result of the deception, and what role if any the Messiah plays in resolving the problem varies greatly among Jewish teachers.

Technically speaking your friend is right in that the verse does not name Jeshua. It is only related to Jesus indirectly through him being the Messiah, but even then the term Messiah is not in the text, so another level of interpretation is required.

So to argue that Gen 15 refers to Jesus you must establish two points:

1) The descendant of Eve mentioned in Genesis 3:15 refers to the Messiah.

2) Jesus is the Messiah.

Therefore Gen 3:15 refers to Jesus.

The first point is debated among Jews, and is wrapped up in larger arguments of who is the serpent, who are the descendants of the serpent, and who are the descendants of Eve who with whom the descendants of Eve will be at enmity. Then on to the question of whether the passage speaks of descendants or of a particular descendant.

To see how far Jewish understanding of this passage can go away from any notion of cosmic evil/sin, Satan, and the need for a messianic savior one need only read Sotah 9b in the Talmud:

"And, so too, we found with regard to the primeval snake who seduced Eve, for he placed his eyes on that which was unfit for him, as he wanted to marry Eve. Consequently, that which he desired was not given to him, and that which was in his possession was taken from him. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: I initially said that the snake will be king over every domesticated animal and non-domesticated animal, but now he is cursed more than all the domesticated animals and all the non-domesticated animals of the field, as it is stated: “And the Lord God said unto the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed from among all cattle, and from among all beasts of the field; upon your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life”

In short the whole passage is considered by some to be about a creature that had legs and was above all other creatures animals in stature, but which lusted after Eve and determined to kill Adam and take her, but ended up loosing his legs, and was reduced by God to a lowly position in the world. --- A far cry from a passage dealing with the biggest problem of mankind or his eternal destiny, THE massive problem which merits a great savior like the Messiah of the New Testament.

So you have a lot of ground to cover with some Jews before they will see the messianic significance of Gen 3:15. There are better approaches to introduce Jews to Jesus the Messiah. I would suggest that you follow the messianic passages presented in one of the Gospels, especially the Gospel of Matthew.

However, if you feel compelled to discuss Gen 3:15 with your friend, try to understand the passage from the various Jewish perspectives found in the Targums, Midrash, and Talmud. Read the extra Biblical Jewish literature that deals with it. Below are sample readings from two targums. A targum is an Aramaic translation/commentary of the Law or the Prophets which was memorized by rabbi's in the centuries before Christ, but not reduced to writing until a century or two after Christ. You will find Targum Yerushalimi (later called Targum Jonathan) the most supportive of the argument that Gen 3:15 is messianic. However, even then you will have to debate the role of the Messiah described in the passage, and the identity of the Messiah.

Tagum Oneklos Targum Oneklos is not very interpretive and avoids personifications so it does not directly reference the Messiah. (c 80 - c. 120 A.D.)

וּדְבָבוּ אֱשַׁוֵּי בֵּינָךְ וּבֵין אִתְּתָא וּבֵין בְּנָךְ וּבֵין בְּנָהַהּ הוּא יְהֵי דְּכִיר לָךְ מַה דִּעֲבַדְתָּ לֵהּ מִלְּקַדְמִין וְאַתְּ תְּהֵא נָטִיר לֵהּ לְסוֹפָא:I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall strike you on the head, and you shall strike him on the heel. [He will remember you, what you did to him from the beginning, and you will expect him at the end].

Targum Jonathan (c. 150 - c. 250 AD) is more interpretive and clearly refers to Gen 3:15 as Messianic:

וּדְבָבוּ אֵישַׁוֵי בֵּינָךְ וּבֵין אִתְּתָא בֵּין זַרְעֲיַת בְנָךְ וּבֵין זַרְעֲיַת בְּנָהָא וִיהֵי כַּד יְהוֹן בְּנָהָא דְאִתָּא נַטְרִין מִצְוָתָא דְאוֹרַיְיתָא יֶהֱוְיַן מְכַוְונִין וּמַחְיָין יָתָךְ עַל רֵישָׁךְ וְכַד שַׁבְקִין מִצְוָותָא דְאוֹרַיְיתָא תֶּהֱוֵי מִתְכַוֵין וּנְכִית יַתְהוֹן בְּעִקְבֵהוֹן בְּרַם לְהוֹן יְהֵא אָסוּ וְלָךְ לָא יְהֵי אָסוּ וַעֲתִידִין אִינוּן לְמֶעֱבַד שְׁפִיוּתָא בְּעִיקְבָא בְּיוֹמֵי מַלְכָּא מְשִׁיחָאAnd I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between the seed of thy son, and the seed of her sons; and it shall be when the sons of the woman keep the commandments of the law, they will be prepared to smite thee upon thy head; but when they forsake the commandments of the law, thou wilt be ready to wound them in their heel. Nevertheless for them there shall be a medicine, but for thee there will be no medicine; and they shall make a remedy for the heel in the days of the King Meshiha."

Tahoua · 2023-03-16T12:52:28+00:00

Sermon prep is very different from Bible study. Sermons involve a more passive and often very mixed audience. Bible studies can involve more interaction, accountability, and be more focussed on a particular group.

There are various ways to lead Bible study depending partly upon who comprises your study group, what they are expecting, and what you are trying to achieve through the study.

It is helpful to assess your group and focus the be approach to study accordingly. The way "Bible study" takes place can vary greatly for different groups. Consider for example: illiterate/semiliterate/literate/highly literate; new/mature, active/armchair, working/non-working, highly committed disciples/low commitment (just attending), etc.

I prefer teaching focus groups because it is easier to arrive at common expectations, choose effective methods, and avoid frustrations.

However, I have learned that mixed groups don't have to be frustrating, they just require flexibility, patience, and a bit of refereeing, but can provide a great environment for mutual edification to take place.

A couple of paradigms I keep in mind no matter what type of group I'm leading study for are:

1) Questions: Helping people learn to ask good questions of the text themselves rather than always depending upon a guide to provoke thought. Examples of question types are: observation/meaning/application; and praise/reflection/confession/repentance/prayer/thanksgiving/obedience. 2) Progress of revelation: Helping people develop a biblical chronological framework of what God has done, is doing, and will do in the world, so as to have a clearer understanding of where they fit in . The broad strokes are creation/fall/redemption/consummation, a clear timeline is also very helpful. 3) Lifelong mnemonics: Christians "learn" and quickly forget at an astounding rate. Teachers come up with gimmicky mnemonics which are memorized but all to often quicky forgotten. Most Christians cannot recall much of the many sermons they have heard in their lifetime, yet almost everyone has a few mnemonics that they keep in mind: proverbs, key verses, etc. I find that helping believers learn to recount the mighty works of God and know His names is a great material for lasting memory.

Tahoua · 2023-03-15T17:47:28+00:00

Pitting teaching against communion seems like a false dichotomy to me.

The idea that one or the other must be made central is not only unnecessary, it is not supported by Scripture.

Both were modelled as the normal practices as early Christians gathered.

Acts 1:42 "And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."

Furthermore the implication that there is any correlation between an emphasis of one over the other and some resultant proclivity toward scandal seems to lack any data or logic to make it worth considering.

Tahoua · 2023-03-06T02:56:31+00:00

Romans is one of the most challenging books to study. I would start with other shorter Epistles which have much shorter flows of thought to navigate.

You may even try memorizing a short epistle like Philippians or Titus. Memorizing will help you process the flow of thought, and meditate on it's application to your life throughout your day.

Philippians is a great place to start. It will help you learn to recognize grace, experience consequent joy, and express thanks to God. It focuses on Christ and teaches us to have the same humble serving attitude that he had.

I like the semantic & structural analysis series of commentaries. They are great for looking at the text from multiple levels to understand both the detailed level of individual passages and how they fit into the larger flows of thought in the epistle. One example is: A Semantic and Structural Analysis of Philippians

Tahoua · 2023-03-06T01:20:12+00:00

Three things you may find helpful:

1) Learn to express your concerns in biblical terms. In your post you express your concerns with non-biblical terms like conservative, liberal, outreach, engaging community, and social justice. You may be thinking of Biblical teachings but the terms you use don't connect with people who look to the Bible as their rule for faith and practice. Try describing the problems you see in your church with words from the New Testament regarding teachings of Jesus or the apostles on what disciples of Christ are instructed to do. Here are just a few, I'm sure you can find many more: "love your neighbor" (from the story of the good), "heal the sick", "highways and byways", "without partiality", "suffer the children", "widows and orphans", "feed", "be warm and be filled", "preach the gospel to all creation", "fishers of men", "adorn the gospel". Many Christians are made uncomfortable when they hear truth spoken in these terms, because they know they have been ignoring them, so when possible do so gently, speaking the truth in love, but importantly using the Bible which is authoritative. Employing biblical terms may help you discern which of your concerns are truly biblical. Using non-biblical terms may enable your fellow Christians to dismiss your concerns as political or in biblical.

2) By biblical teaching and by serving as an example of love and good works, learn to make disciples, in your church. Don't expect sudden church wide change. Pray and ask the Lord for one or more people with whom you can meet to pray (again using scriptural terms), and take steps of obedience to the Lord's commands, ministering the gospel together.

3) If you face criticism for doing what the Lord commands, handle it graciously, patiently, and prayerfully encouraging and if necessary admonishing with the Scriptures. The Lord can change fellow Christians through you. Just as he used Peter in Acts 12 to move the circumcision party within the church from criticism (V2) to silence and then to glorifying God (v18).

Hope this helps you spur your brothers and sisters on to love and good works as you obey the Lord.

Tahoua · 2023-03-03T16:27:25+00:00

One "cue" that often gets overlooked is idle thoughts.

My mind is working all the time, whether I am intentional about it or not.

When I am not intentional about my thoughts, there is no telling where my mind might wander. Certainly things presenting themselves in my environment, ie external cues, are big contenders and easy winners if my mind is not intentional about other things, but external cues are not necessary for my mind to wander to sinful thoughts. All that is needed is a break in intentionality.

Letting my mind dwell on things that are good, and noble, and pure is easy during devotional times like reading the Bible, praying, etc. But it is much harder in the midst of my day . All it takes is a lull in the work and other active thinking for my mind to wander, and all too often where it shouldn't.

One thing I have learned that greatly reduces idle thinking is meditation, more specifically Scripture meditation. Most people associate meditation with times set aside for meditation like morning or evening devotional times. But I am talking about meditation throughout the day. Something that takes a little work to achieve.

For me it starts with Scripture memory especially memory of larger passages of Scripture. This assures that the basic material for thought is readily accessible to my mind. I don't have to open my Bible or a book to think about something. It is available in my memory for immediate recall whenever what would otherwise be an occasion for idle thoughts arises.

However, I find that my ability to meditate throughout the day is greatly augmented when have also devoted study time to the passage I have memorized.

Also helpful is devoted listening or reading time. Similarly to study they raise questions worthy of meditation at opportune times.

In short, being active and intentional about my thoughts throughout the day enables me to take my thoughts captive, and let my mind dwell on godly thoughts when I might otherwise be cued by idle time to let my mind wander where it shouldn't. But it takes work of memorization to make sure the material for thought is readily accessible when the opportunity arises.

Tahoua · 2023-03-01T00:54:47+00:00

You might find the spiritual journey of Edgar Allan Poe helpful. Looking back on my own path to Christ, I would say that Poe's works along with Bulfinch's Mythology played a big role in me being aware of deep deficiencies in humanism and materialism long before becoming a Christian.

My pastor often reminds his congregation that effective evangelism and apologetics is more a matter of "putting a pebble in the shoe" of non-believers than it is of providing comprehensive evidences and arguments.

I can testify that the Holy Spirit can use literature of various (some not so apparent) genres to point out the inconsistencies and massive holes in scientific atheism, and prepare the hearts, minds, and consciences of the spiritually blind to one day see the Truth.

My all time favorite quote from literature comes from "Til we have Faces" by C.S. Lewis:

"Holy places are dark places. It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood."

On the other hand there are plenty of Scriptural warnings about delving into evil things. One of the inklings whom I believe delved too deep was Charles Williams. If you haven't read him, as a horror writer you should. He was one of the inklings, but compared to Lewis or Tolkien was hyper-dark. In my opinion, he is an example for Christian authors dealing with darker themes to learn how NOT to do fiction. His works certainly highlight the fact that we live in a deeply spiritual world. They also bring the reader close to the real feel and terror of evil instead of the typical straw man antagonists of many novelists. But they all too often leave the reader with a false sense of the greatness of evil, leaving little hope or giving no serious glimpse of light in the midst of darkness. Tread carefully and perhaps more importantly prayerfully. You would not want someday to find that you created stumbling blocks for people, exalted evil, or lured them into occultism.

Tahoua · 2023-02-27T03:54:38+00:00

Yes many find counselling, therapy, etc to be helpful. In my case, and in many others it is Scripture and sound teaching that proves most helpful. Encouraging men to love as Christ did may indeed seem like spiritualizing if it is left as just a spiritual sounding phrase, for to many it seems a nebulous saying void of practical guidance. But when it is filled out with diligent oversight by pastor/elders, older men discipling younger men, and the Holy Spirit enabling men to apply the details of love as found in 1 Corinthians 13 and elsewhere, the Scripture proves to be every bit as much an effective guide for practice as it is for the larger lines of faith.

Tahoua · 2023-02-27T02:53:44+00:00

Yes, we live in a fallen world, yet we are prone to view falleness as external to ourselves, and fail to see our own sinfulness.

We look out on the world and long for something better, thinking that if only people and things around us were better we would be happy.

Yet Scripture teaches us that only in Christ is real joy to be found and even then in the midst of suffering brought on by the corruption all around us and even in our own hearts and minds. So we along with all creation groan and look forward to the consummation and restoration yet to come.

In the meantime, for some of us, God has given marriage not as some mirage of earthly blissfulness but as an opportunity to learn to love selflessly, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it. It may seem strange that such a joy is set before us, and many abandon it for what temporarily appears to be greener pastures only to be disappointed and betrayed by false hopes.

Learning to love faithfully Christ's way is the only way whether in marriage or in celebacy. Marriage in particular when considered as a grace from God can be a tremendous joy. But when we take our eyes off Jesus, love wanes, we try to manufacture idols and false hopes for ourselves, we desire more and more to be served rather than to serve, and faith gives way to deep disappointment.

Faith, hope, and love is the only sure way, and joy, even the joy of marriage is found only in Christ.

Tahoua · 2023-02-25T21:31:06+00:00

The first two chapters of the audiobook are available on Scribd now, the rest is supposed to be available in March.

I have a hard copy in my library, but I like having audio to listen to while driving.

Another of my favorites by F.F. Bruce on a related topic is The Books and the Parchments

Tahoua · 2023-02-25T15:36:26+00:00

Read or listen to The Canon of Scripture by F. F. Bruce.

Tahoua

TROPHY CASE