Joshua

I'm passionate about my family, restoring the hearts of men, following Jesus, and pursuing a life that allows me to maximize the time I get to spend doing it.

[CrossPolitic @CrossPolitic]

Politics Of Sex https://t.co/PjH6KwgFYB

[Joshua @JoshuaAndrews26]

@ZacharyGarris I've been appreciating Richard Baxter's A Christian Directory, Vol. 2, along with some of the other mentions here.

https://t.co/jSj753zb02

[Douglas Wilson @douglaswils]

The Grace of White Privilege

So don’t waste your whiteness.

If you were born into this world with this particular privilege, then it is your solemn obligation to be a good steward of that privilege. This, mind you, is privilege in God’s world, not privilege in that pretendy world of the envious, where carping and clawing are the rule, and where every privilege is assumed to be obtained at the expense of somebody else.

If it is actual privilege, then a Christian has the responsibility to steward it with a grateful spirit of noblesse oblige. And of course noblesse oblige that is patronizing or supercilious isn’t noblesse oblige at all. However, if it is the faux-sin of whiteness that the guilt-mongers are hurling at you, then you have the responsibility to just laugh at them and go on your way. And a black man with privileges that I don’t have, but who has the same spirit of gratitude, should do exactly the same thing. We serve the same kind God, and we are not chafed by anything that God decided to give to somebody else.

If God has given you something, then you must not accuse Him of being a hard master, and then go off and bury it in a handkerchief (Luke 19:10). Although, actually, if we want to keep this parable current with the times, that worthless servant would have to go off to some designated safety zone at his college, wrap his whiteness in a handkerchief, give it to the trained counselor, and spend a soothing hour coloring pictures of the therapy puppies.

But the reason the master judges him out of his own mouth in this retold parable is because he didn’t put his whiteness in the handkerchief at all. That entire hour was suffused in whiteness, from the ceiling to the floor, from the front door to the back door, and included the therapist, the coloring books, all the woke business, the hurt feelings, the appropriation of victimhood, the lot. He couldn’t have spent a whiter hour than if he had gone off to the Benjamin Moore factory to dive head first into a vat of White Diamond OC-61.

[Michael Clary @dmichaelclary]

This one's for all you Gig Eva bros out there.

"Gig Eva writers and podcasters have been so far ahead of the curve on cultural issues that Big Eva guys think they’re crazy. But they are almost always vindicated in the long run. I’m thankful for them because they amplified my puny voice before anyone ever heard of me."

https://t.co/8I8OPD2dtx

@BaptistLeaders

[James Baird @james_d_baird]

PASTORS, a special book deal:

If you want to hand out copies of “King of Kings,” then email [email protected]

you’ll get the high-quality hardback for 50% off (that’s only $11 a piece)

retweet to spread the word!

[Douglas Wilson @douglaswils]

Dear Mr. President,

Greetings in the Lord. Thank you for your service to our country.

As I have noted the various comments you have made about Heaven, I have felt burdened to write to you. I decided on an open letter and there are two reasons I can give for this.

In the first place, you have been very open about your questions. This has been a matter of public discussion, and so I don’t feel it is out of place to address them in this way.

Second, you are our president, and in this role you are in many ways our representative. I believe there are many Americans who have exactly the same questions that you do. As I write to you, I am writing also to them.

And to these reasons, I might also tag on a third, which is that approaching the task this way stands a better chance of actually getting to you, which is actually the central point.

I write because I am a minister of the kingdom of Heaven, and when I hear someone talking about Heaven as you have been doing, the only thing that comes to my mind is how I might possibly set out the message of Christ to you in a way that fits.

How might I faithfully address the questions that you have been raising about this issue?

We should want to do more than just insert the buckle into the seat belt . . . we also need to hear the click.

[Douglas Wilson @douglaswils]

The president has been talking as though Heaven is very much on his mind. It should be, and I have taken his comments as an invitation.
https://t.co/oj5KbtQM6p

[Douglas Wilson @douglaswils]

There is no way that ethnic tensions could be as pronounced as they currently are without a lot of deep sin going into the generation of those tensions.

But ethnic tensions are not the result of a white person waking up one day and thinking he needs to start despising people who are darker than he is. Neither is it the result of black people suddenly lurching into a policy of violence and mayhem.

There are two errors to avoid when it comes to the kind of repentance that is needed in an hour like ours. One is to approach the whole thing in a simplistic spirit, calling for people to repent of all their behavior, but only starting at the precise moment the rioting started. But repentance is also needed for all the decisions and policies that led to the conditions that made the rioting seem like a reasonable way out. It isn’t, but why do people come to believe that?

The second mistake is that of starting at the wrong end—this happens when we start by confessing the sins of the other guy. That gets us nowhere, and just perpetuates the conflict. You can confess other people’s sins all day long and your joy will not come back.

[Pastor Rich Lusk @Vicar1973]

A few random observations after the Charlie Kirk memorial service:

I wish I was about 30 years younger so I could live for several more decades in the America we are on the cusp of creating. Obviously, things could get derailed. Nothing is guaranteed. But the trajectory we are on is encouraging. The future is bright. The Republicans are stacked with men who would make great Presidents and successors to Trump in carrying forward the MAGA torch. (Vance is my favorite at this point.) More importantly, it is obvious there is a renewed interest in Christian faith, not only as the way of eternal salvation, but as a civilization-building force. This is especially true of young men who have found in Charlie a man worthy of emulation.

Obviously not all the speeches were equally great, but many of them were explicitly Christian and proclaimed the gospel. To hear the VP of the United States openly declare that, "It is better to be persecuted for your faith than to deny the kingship of Christ” was quite amazing. Rob McCoy, Frank Turek, and Marco Rubio gave very clear gospel presentations to millions of people. The Secretary of War declared Jesus’ kingship. Tucker Carlson called on everyone to humbly repent of their own sin. Erika Kirk gave amazingly biblical counsel to men (“Be a leader worth following”) and women (“If you are a mother, that is the single most important ministry you have”). She was a model of what a godly wife should be in that situation. Trump Jr. displayed the kind of common sense we need - like the goal of making one income families the norm again and renouncing political violence. It was very impressive and encouraging overall.

Maybe the most powerful moment was when Erika Kirk talked about how her husband was trying to reach disaffected, missionless young men, precisely like the one who killed her husband. I know some people will criticize her for forgiving the murderer apart from his repentance. But I think that’s nitpicking. We should be willing to forgive, even if the transaction of forgiveness remains incomplete because the offender will not confess and repent, and she demonstrated that willingness. Also, from the sum total of the speeches, it’s obvious that personal forgiveness and civil justice (in the case the death penalty) are not at all at odds. A murderer can be forgiven while still suffering the consequences of his actions. The use of the sword to bless the righteous and terrorize the wicked is clearly built into the MAGA program at this point. MAGA is all about law and order, and restoring the rule of law in our land.

Charlie Kirk’s character and courage were honored. His political convictions were certainly clear in the service. But most importantly, his faith in Jesus was set forth as the center of his life and the key to everything he did. Charlie was honored; but Jesus was honored even more, which is what Charlie would have wanted. Charlie was presented as a Christian who was guided by his faith when he got involved in politics, not someone who instrumentalized his faith for political purposes.

The service showed how much a man with a vision and a work ethic can accomplish. It’s astounding to consider how much Charlie transformed our nation in his all too short life.

What we witnessed in the memorial service was Christian nationalism in nascent, immature form. Not everyone who spoke was a Christian - and Christian nationalism doesn’t require that. But what we saw is even people who do not share Charlie’s faith in Jesus showing open respect for Christianity. Everyone at the service was operating under the Christian gaze.

We cannot make America great again without making America Christian again, which means making America Biblical again. MAGA needs MACA and MABA.

Republicans in the past paid lip service to a god - a vague faith that never got defined. In this service, many politicians were explicitly Christian in their faith. It’s a remarkable shift in a very short period of time.

Whatever Charlie’s eschatology was, he was a practical postmillennialist.

As the left gets more Satanic, the right gets more consistently Christian. The lines are more clearly drawn than ever. The service and the events of the last 10 days clearly demonstrate that.

If ever the Christian right, as the Christian right, as a political movement, was going to resort to the kind of anarchic violence we see on the left, this would have been it. The most famous and popular rightwing Christian apologist was murdered in broad daylight. And yet what do we see? No riots. No gunshots. No violence. Instead, we got a massive prayer meeting in a packed stadium, live-streamed to millions more all around the world. And we saw a wife (now a widow) who forgave her husband’s killer. The two sides are not the same. There is no moral equivalence here.

Reformed Christians might be tempted to look down on the style of worship and music in the service and the imprecise theology on display. We should resist that temptation. What good is mature theology if you don’t enter the fray and get into the battle? Evangelicals charging the gates of hell with slingshots and BB guns are more effective than Reformed Christians who leave their jet fighters in the hangar and their battleships in the dock. An immature theology combined with courage and a willingness to act will always be more effective than mature theology and worship that never enter the fray. Reformed Christians love to be the Monday Morning Quarterback who criticize the normie evangelicals in the arena, but those who are in the arena are the ones through whom God is working to bring change.

Perhaps the most important thing of all is that Charlie Kirk’s legacy was accurately portrayed. Charlie always made clear the cultural, political, and civilizational impact of Christian faith. Charlie was willing to connect the dots in a way that many pastors are not; he linked his faith to his economics, to his convictions about marriage and family, to his views of immigration and nationhood, to his belief in limited government, etc. In other words, he presented the Christian faith as a comprehensive system of truth that works in the real world. He challenged people (especially college students) with a biblical worldview, showing that Christian faith answers coherently and compellingly all the pressing personal *and* political questions of the day. That came through in the memorial service, and for that I am grateful.

[Charlie Kirk @charliekirk11]

It’s all about Jesus.

[Secretary of War Pete Hegseth @SecWar]

A prayer for Charlie, our warriors, and for our nation.

[Joshua @JoshuaAndrews26]

False prophets and priests have risen to "heal the wound of my people lightly." In other words, they downplayed the sins of Judah.

If you support the "third way" approach, how is it distinctly different from what we see here in Jeremiah?

2/2

[Joshua @JoshuaAndrews26]

Jeremiah 8:11 ESV
[11] They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.

Context: Jeremiah has been warning of the impending invasion by Babylonia (ch. 6).

1/2

[Jamie Bambrick @j_bambrick]

A message to the 'Christian Left' after the assassination of Charlie Kirk

[Doug TenNapel @DougTenNapel]

I've been a muralist and large-scale artist for over 35 years. I did this Lincoln on my own back wall in under an hour using a projector: https://t.co/aGVOxTEd4Y

Enlarging measurements and doing the painting isn't the hard work with murals, it's getting permission from the building owners in Nashville so you don't go to jail for 7 months. I know enough business people in the are to legally grab about 5 or 10 walls legally and quickly.

I think I could realistically render a full color or posterized black and white 12' x 12' Iryna Zarutska in acrylic house paint or spray paint within 48 hours. Any big tech guy could drop $10k in crypto per mural and we could have 10 legal murals of Iryna within a month for the public to enjoy.

Thinking only within the genre of murals is small potatoes if maximum penetration in public consciousness is desired. I've enclosed a single color sample image of a template for making a stencil. Another use of funding would be to manufacture die-cut, cardboard stencils that people can be distributed so that individual non-artists, not just muralists, can spray paint a 2' x 2' image on their own house, garage, car, tee shirt, poster etc.

I have experience managing mass-media art projects from TV shows, comics and video games to my Youtube channel. Funding is wasted inside the box, if you really want to communicate en masse, then do it right.

[Joshua @JoshuaAndrews26]

Hi! @TheIAHE

We're happily homeschooling our way through elementary school so far, but a couple of our kids really enjoy playing sports.

Is anything on the legislative road map that would be similar to the Tim Tebow laws passed in other states? If so, how can I get involved?

[Tod Ashby @TodAshby]

Like you, I hold Scripture as the final authority. But I believe your argument against limited atonement rests on a critical flaw.

At the heart of your objection is the word kosmos (“world”) in 1 John 2:2. You rightly observe that Calvinists don’t uniformly treat kosmos as referring only to the elect, but you argue that John’s consistent use of world includes non-elect people, and therefore 1 John 2:2 must mean Christ propitiated the sins of every person individually.

The problem is that your argument requires kosmos to carry one consistent referent across John’s writings, a principle that John himself plainly violates.

John uses kosmos more than any other New Testament author, and yet he employs it with a remarkable range of meanings depending on context. For example:

In John 1:10, kosmos refers to the created order (“the world was made through him”).

In John 7:7 and 15:18-19, kosmos refers to the fallen system that hates Christ and His people.

In John 17:9, Jesus explicitly distinguishes those the Father has given him from “the world,” for whom He does not pray.

In John 3:16, kosmos refers to God’s love for humanity in a redemptive sense — but not necessarily every individual without exception.

If we follow your method of forcing a rigid, univocal meaning, we quickly collapse into contradictions. Is Christ not interceding for anyone (John 17:9)? Did the world that He created not know itself (John 1:10)? Do believers hate themselves (John 15:19)?

You are committing the word-concept fallacy, assuming that a word must always carry the same concept wherever it appears, rather than allowing context to govern meaning. But words, including kosmos, operate within semantic ranges that shift depending on authorial intent and surrounding context.

Now to 1 John 2:2 specifically, you assume that “the whole world” means “every individual universally.” But the text does not say that Christ propitiated the sins of every person; it says He is the propitiation for (περὶ) the sins of the whole world. John’s point, in continuity with his Gospel, is not that Christ effectually propitiates every person, but that His atonement is not limited to one ethnic group (Jews), but extends to people from every tribe, tongue, and nation (cf. John 11:51-52; Revelation 5:9). This universal scope does not entail universal application.

This distinction between the provision of atonement and its actual application is central to theology, and it accounts for all the data without flattening the text.

Limited atonement does not rest on redefining kosmos to always mean “the elect.” It rests on the nature of propitiation itself. If Christ truly propitiated God’s wrath for someone’s sins, then their salvation is secure, because propitiation by definition fully satisfies divine wrath. To say otherwise is to empty hilasmos (propitiation) of its meaning and ultimately unravel assurance itself.

So the real question is not simply “What does world mean?” The real question is, “What does propitiation accomplish?” If it actually removes wrath, then either all are saved, or Christ’s propitiation was particular and effectual for those given to Him by the Father (John 6:37-39; 10:14-15; 17:9, 24).

This is why your argument does not overthrow limited atonement but rather bypasses its actual foundation.

[Joshua @JoshuaAndrews26]

giveaway by https://t.co/b5qW2kX0hI

[Josh Barzon @JoshuaBarzon]

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Picking winner in 4 days!

[Joshua @JoshuaAndrews26]

#BiblicalMarriageMonth

[Wasson Watch Co. @WassonWatch]

Yo, this "Pride Month" let's start off strong by making #BiblicalMarriageMonth go trending.

It's easy. Just quote post this with #BiblicalMarriageMonth in your post.

If everyone does it we win, and the homosexuals have to surrender.

Jesus Christ is King 👑

[King’s Domain @KingsDomain333]

Banger quote here from pastor @tomascol that is worthy of much reflection.

“You cannot properly ‘love’ people while acting unlawfully towards them.”

Love is defined by God’s law, not sentiment or feelings. Yes and amen.