John Formsma

No one of consequence. Piano technician since 1999, husband, father, pickleball freak, low-carb. Also producing Reformed audiobooks. On Gab @JohnFormsma

[Joseph Spurgeon @Joseph_Spurgeon]

In Psalm 2, which the New Testament explicitly applies to Christ, the nations are declared Christ's inheritance, and their kings are commanded to worship and obey the Son or face destruction. Key points to consider are:
1. The reference to nations here must extend beyond individuals, as it includes their kings or civil authorities. The language is, therefore, corporate, encompassing whole nations, though individuals are not excluded.
2. Psalm 2 represents a clear mandate for nations and their civil leaders to embrace Christianity. There is an explicit warning for non-compliance. The pertinent question is whether nations and kings will heed this call. It’s one thing to say they should and another to say they will. Are there scriptures addressing this expectation?
3. Isaiah 60 is one of several passages relevant to this discussion:
a. Verse 3: 'Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.'
b. Verse 10: 'Foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you.'
c. Verse 11: 'Your gates will remain open continuously; they will not be closed day or night so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession.'
d. Verse 16: 'You will nurse the milk of nations and suckle at the breast of kings; then you will realize that I, the Lord, am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.'
4. It is thus affirmed that nations, as collective entities, should obey Christ. It is also true that those who refuse will face destruction (Isaiah 60:12). Moreover, the prophets predicted that some nations and their kings would indeed respond to this call. This raises the question of how such prophecies influence our understanding of the Great Commission and Christ’s command to disciple nations.
5. Evidence in the New Testament indicates that the early Church believed they would call nations and their leaders to honor Christ and expected nations and kings to comply. Here is just a little bit:
a. Jesus told his disciples that they would stand before kings.
b. The Gospel of Luke and Acts are both addressed to what is most likely a civil leader.
c. The Book of Acts records several encounters with civil officials turning to Christ. The Ethiopian Eunuch was a court official serving the Queen of Ethiopia. Cornelius was a centurion. And then in Acts 13, Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus, is the first authority with lawmaking power who repents. The Apostle Paul worked hard to persuade King Agrippa.
d. The Book of Acts ends with Paul eager to take the gospel to Rome and not just to Rome, but to stand before the emperor. He had success in converting many of the Emperor’s household.
6. Evidence from Church history shows that the church believed both in the call to nations to repent and had hopes that they and their leaders would. There is too much evidence here to list in a post, but one thing to note is that from the earliest apologists through the Protestant Reformers and beyond, Christian theologians and pastors often dedicated or directed their works to civil leaders."
7. There are also plenty examples of nations and their civil leaders adopting Christianity. Constantine and King Alfred are two such leaders. And Armenia was the first whole nation to do so.

In conclusion, the scriptural evidence, both from the Old and New Testaments, compellingly supports the notion that the call of Christianity extends beyond individuals to nations and their rulers. Christians should also be optimistic about this call but also recognize that their ultimate hope is not in kings or the nations but in Christ Jesus, the King of Kings and hope of the nations.

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

@thisisfoster Very sorry to hear…praying for you all.

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

@thisisfoster Praying it goes well. My father grew up in Zeeland, which is right next to Holland. Some of my relatives still live there. Beautiful part of the country!

[Joseph Spurgeon @Joseph_Spurgeon]

“Love is love.” People think it sounds profound. It’s not. It’s just a tautology, saying the same thing twice. It’s like saying “food is food” or “grass is grass.” It has the appearance of meaning but no real substance.

The supposed “power” of a phrase like "love is love" lies in its vagueness. You can take one of those words—love—and load it with whatever you want. Then you turn around and say it equals the kind of love everyone is supposed to affirm. It’s like going to a restaurant, and the waiter plops something onto your plate and says, “Food is food.” Well, that’s not the food I ordered. “Yeah, but food is food.” Or they bring you a plate of half-eaten leftovers from someone else's table. “Food is food.” Or worse, they bring you a plate filled with raw sewage. “Food is food.”

Eventually, you start to realize, “I don’t know if I like this food.” And that’s exactly what happens with “love is love.” The phrase is empty at first, but then it gets filled with things that are worse than raw sewage. Things that the Bible says God hates. But you’re still expected to nod along, smile, and call it good because “love is love.”

[Megan Basham @megbasham]

It's okay to be angry that millions of people came to our country not to bless it and assimilate and embrace their identity as Americans, but to defraud Americans and take from the system while denigrating the founding values of the United States.

We should be angry about that.

[Peter Leithart @PLeithart]

Satan takes Jesus to a high mountain and offers Him all the kingdoms of the earth (Matt 4). Jesus refuses.

Jesus ascends to a high mountain and is transfigured as Son of Man, heir of all kingdoms of the earth (Matt 17).

[Alexander Duncan @AlexDuncanTX]

How quickly people forget that Satan was kicked out of Heaven for pride.

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

@Phil_Johnson_ Key word is: “were.” They’ve all been corrected now. :-)

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

@TheKitchenPB HONEY

[The Kitchen Pickleball 👨🏻‍🍳 @TheKitchenPB]

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[Pastor Rich Lusk @Vicar1973]

"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me."

— Robert Murray M'Cheyne

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

@JDVance @SteveDeaceShow @grok, was any of this stolen money recovered? Will the guilty have to pay it back?

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

@JoshuaBarzon My pastor mentioned this 4 weeks ago. First I’d heard of it. Like it!

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

@TheKitchenPB HONEY

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

Good stuff, especially the double significance. John seems to use double significance a lot in his gospel.

Also, consider the time and purpose of the gospel. That old covenant world was in darkness and was ending. God’s own covenant people were in darkness and near death. They and the world were dying without Christ, the Light and Life.

John spoke of a New Covenant world, using creation language (h/t to James Jordan). With the first sign being done at a wedding, it calls to mind the Biblical thread of pursuit of the Bride (ditto h/t).

The water used for “purification” came from Judaism, which, by the time of Christ, had perverted the Law of Moses. Jesus turning that water into wine signified the real joy that only the Purifier could provide.

Running out of wine could also signify the inclusion of the Gentiles. Though the old covenant was ending, the new covenant would save the first-century remnant and also gather in the Gentiles. There wasn’t enough wine for the future wedding guests (the Gentiles). Such a quantity of delicious wine at the end of a wedding seems extravagant. But perhaps John has in mind the beginning of the celebration of the Gentile wedding guests. (John 10 and the “other sheep,” for instance.)

We’re studying John in our Sunday School. It’s amazing how John has layer upon layer of meaning in his gospel.

[Mary Talley Bowden MD @MaryBowdenMD]

Odds of getting struck by lightning: 1 in 1.22 million.

Odds of dying from hantavirus: 1 in 34 million.

[Mary Talley Bowden MD @MaryBowdenMD]

@FoxNews .@grok compare the odds of being struck by lightning to dying of hantavirus.

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

@canonpress Downloading now…thanks for making Canon+ such a wonderful resource!!

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

@RPMPickleball I would try it. Send me a free one? 😂

[John Formsma @JohnFormsma]

@TheKitchenPB Play against a tall athletic young fella and you’ll see exactly why. They can leap many feet with ease and come down smashing the ball. Having the momentum rule saves you from such savagery.