JRR Tolkien hated Dune because its ethics are fundamentally wrong.
The Lord of the Rings is a profoundly different take on Good and Evil — and how to live a moral life.
Here's why… (thread) 🧵
"The reason that we come together every sunday morning is because sometimes we forget. We get away from Christmas and away from Sunday morning and by Monday or Tuesday some hard things have happened and we forget that Jesus is real."
- @ryaneross
“A new commandment I give to y’all, that y’all love one another. Just as I have loved y’all, so y’all must love one another.”
- John 13:34
https://t.co/WAesXegRJL
Still true today.
Online “church” is at best a temporary bandaid, not a replacement for true community. Our need is not merely for spiritual content but for each other.
Theology 101: I’m convinced the obsession with debated issues, matters of preference, and unanswerable questions is a deception of the enemy to distract churches from the foundational truths of the faith—the truths that save souls, redeem lives, heal families, and transform nations.
As an astrophysicist, I first came to recognize God through the design and sheer awesomeness of the universe. But the more I learn about biology, particularly of human beings, the more I stand amazed.
Galaxies are incredible and awesome structures, but in terms of complexity and design, they don't even come close to the awesomeness of human bodies. I don't understand why some atheists are so down on humankind and think we're nothing compared with the universe. It's not about size or even number, y'all.*
A universe filled with stars, galaxies, and black holes may be immense and grand, but I can simulate a lot of it with a relatively simple Fortran program. It's got nothing on the sheer wonder contained within a single human body, which is its own biological universe of unbelievable complexity and purpose.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. – Psalm 139:14
* There have been an estimated 100 billion people who've walked the face of the Earth. That's roughly equivalent to the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. We may live on a tiny little chunk of rock, but it has hosted as many people as there are stars in the galaxy.
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
Galatians 4:4–5 (ESV)
Physical Presence Matters
How do I know? You know when you have a conversation with someone, and then you get an advertisement right after?
It's not because the microphone is on.
It's because of the geocode data.
Marketers know what churches believe.
Let's make presence matter.
Tim Keller’ life and ministry - and especially *how* he faithfully finished his race - was the strongest possible testament that for those in Christ Jesus, the best is yet to come.
Theology 101: Good grief, all you who keep saying the deity of Christ was invented at Nicaea. Please, please, please, for the love of all that is true, read a pre-Nicene church father or two. Better: all of them. Then repent and stop lying.
Do you want to war against ancient and malevolent powers, slay dragons, push back the dark, kill the wraith within, and take another step towards an eternal weight of glory beyond compare?
Go to church tomorrow.
The worship of the saints is a potent thing.