@MelchizedekShem@ThoughtfulSaint The plea to read credibly published books pertains to those engaged in public apologetics.
You can have a salvific encounter with Christ by reading one of the Four Gospels.
@ThoughtfulSaint I would practically have (ensured by Providence) and do spiritually have in Christ (by the Holy Spirit) communion with genuine saints in every continuous era since Adam.
@ThoughtfulSaint That’s because I’m not omniscient.
I can’t name a single Christian church *today* in India, Australia, Pakistan, or Rode Island, but I know they are there and that, if saved in that (or any) environment, God would ordinarily lead me to one for fellowship.
@ThoughtfulSaint Repeating my plea: read some credibly published Protestant literature, and familiarize yourself with the historic Protestant confessions.
The prolonged ignorance of post-literate apologetic demagoguery has become humdrum.
@ThoughtfulSaint “Christ always has had, and ever shall have a kingdom in this world, to the end thereof, of such as believe in him, and make profession of his name.”
https://t.co/z3fUJwo1As
God does not judicially punish Christians:
“It is one thing to speak of punishments properly so called and satisfactory, inflicted by a judge for the satisfaction of justice; another to speak of punishments improper and castigatory or medicinal.
We do not deny that the latter are often appointed to believers, not by God, the Judge, but by God, the Father;
not from hatred, but from love;
not for vengeance, but for healing;
not for destruction, but for correction.
… Thomas Aquinas says: ‘Before remission they are the punishments of sin, after remission they are the struggles and exercises of the saints.’”
- Francis Turretin, Institutes, 2:443.
One day, every person will be naked and exposed in the “Great Doxxing” of the Lord.
There will be no Anons at the Bema of Christ. Fear God.
“Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Lk 12:2-5).
Young men,
Whenever you meet an old fool, remember that he was once a young fool. And whenever you meet a wise old man, you are meeting someone who confronted his foolishness years, perhaps decades, before.
So look into the mirror of Scripture. See where you are foolish and confront it today. The years pass more easily than you think. If you will not deal with your folly now, time will only harden it. But if you face it honestly and repent of it, the years can turn a foolish young man into a wise old one.
NOT taking a picture can also be an act of thanksgiving and trust.
“Lord, a picture can’t do this moment justice. I trust you to bring to my memory everything needed for my greatest joy. You alone remember everything. And your word outlasts every photograph.”
Young men, learn to distinguish between an overflowing love for truth (which opposes error) and performative truth-telling (provocateur demagoguery).
"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good." (Romans 12:9)
A “card-carrying dispensationalist” pastor was the first to make me see that the whole Bible fit together and that every word was true.
An anti-Calvinist Arminian showed me to how to do personal evangelism while in college.
An ERAS/EFS-teaching theologian introduced me to systematic theology with his best-selling single-volume systematic.
These are but a few examples of saints the Lord has used in my life to help me grow in my love for God and his word.
Today, I depart from each of them on important subjects—even strongly in some regards.
But I cannot be anything but grateful for the way that the Lord has used all kinds of faithful, Jesus-loving believers to bring me where I am today.
How could my posture toward such saints, even in disagreement, be anything but one that reflects the Lord’s kindness to me through them?
A new discourse analysis tool just dropped. Oh, and it's free!
Tracing the logical flow of a text is crucial to exegesis, so I'm thrilled to see another app that supports this method.
https://t.co/MXkGmNnvRE
Just received a phone call from nearby faithful pastor who I’ve known for a long time and with whom I share secondary disagreements on ecclesiology.
He said, “Jeff, I’ve got a family here who is conscientiously convinced contrary to our polity, and after many discussions, I’m sending him your way. A great family and a blessing to any church they’re a part of.”
Then we shared stories of God’s faithfulness in our lives and ministries, and committed to seeing each other again soon.
This is how local, cheerful, “for-Christ’s-kingdom-above-all”catholicity is done, folks.