Ron Willour

Follower of Jesus. Husband, father, and grandfather. Retired pension actuary. Author of five books about the Bible.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@GuntherEagleman While we’re at it, cut off federal spending for every state.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@AntiLeftMemes Open the drain.

[Sheep Suit @SuitSheep]

I can't speak for everyone, but only for myself, but likely for a lot of people.

We do not live in medieval times any more.

We can all read.

We have instant access to vast information.

The gap between "clergy" and "laity" that existed for most all of church history doesn't exist anymore, at least with regard to knowledge and the ability to obtain information and learn from it.

The professional Christian preacher/pastor at the church is not the village person of books with the cache of sacred scrolls, or the only printed bible in the village, and the only person who can read it.

He (or she, sorry Baptists) is not a superior class of being with special access to God that you, the "lay" Christian can never have.

The gap in knowledge or commitment to God is as large as YOU, the "lay" Christian decides it is. If you want to be an intellectual and spiritual baby and pretend that "your pastor" is some unique mystical source of information, and you can only hear bible and Christian stuff from one person, well that's on you.

It's in infantile, dependent state that offers psychological security but can have real downsides. It may serve well for a time, for someone new to Christianity, but it's not that great a way to spend one's entire life.

You can learn as much as you can, as fast as you can, and whatever you want. It's all out there. We have access to information that I couldn't imagine as a child. That's how fast the world has changed.

But so many professional Christian preachers and pastors pretend that this isn't the case. They craft sermons every week and preach with great oratory authority as if they are the only sources of knowledge in the world, and that they discover everything on their own, every week.

This gets old. I've gotten old. I don't play the game anymore. I visit churches, but for several reasons. I've taken several years of vocal lessons and I like to sing, and I know two churches where I get an opportunity. So, sometimes I go to those.

There will likely always be those who learn faster and better than others, and those who can teach better than others, and there will be a teaching function in Christian churches, but so much of "church" is based on a reality that no longer exists.

Live oratory, and worship of the orator, was the thing for learning in centuries past, but not so much going forward. Live people, I predict, will be a thing going forward from now on, more and more, as anything on a screen could be real, or AI, and the blur between the two will get fuzzier and fuzzier until nobody will know for sure whether or not something on a screen is real. Only real will be real.

I wish churches would "get real" but I don't expect to live to see that.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

Mark 9:19 And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”

John 2:24-25 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

Jesus felt the same way as you, but still loved people.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@NEWSMAX Who says it is supposed to be? He’s a government leader, not a Christian leader. Two totally different spheres.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@libsoftiktok It is discrimination. It is discriminating between evil and common sense.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@khoingo @SacrdCowTipping That’s how I see apostles also. I think you’re right on.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

I agree that Andronicus and Junia were not necessarily apostles, just of reputation among the apostles. They cannot validly be used as an argument that there were other apostles than the 12. However, the scripture plainly shows that at least Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, and James the Lord’s brother were apostles. So there were apostles other than the 12.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@docpresley2020 Being unbiblical.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

Not only is being the senior pastor of a church unbiblical, being part of “a church” is unbiblical. The Bible does not teach we should divide into different groups with different leadership, finances, belief statement, and mission statement. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 3, it it very strongly condemns dividing into different groups. The Biblical mandate is to have a group of older men in each city who would be among the people and jointly shepherd and watch over them.

For example, see Acts 20:17 and 28.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@khoingo I believe it began very early with asceticism and monasticism due to the reference to forbidding to marry and of foods.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@khoingo That’s pretty much what I see.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@khoingo @CandyFujiApple And, just a couple verses later:

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

Everyone who is a child of God has a supernatural revelation from the spirit of God that he is. So, the scriptures are not the only way that God speaks to us.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the  knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13

Be encouraged that this scripture does not just refer to a theoretical goal, but is something that God will actually accomplish. Do not become weary in your striving.

20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 ​to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

The idea of being divided into separate churches with separate leadership within a ciey is not in the Bible. In the Bible, there were a group of elders in each city who together shepherded and watched over all the believers in that city, including each other. There was therefore no "your church" or "my church" in the sense people use it today.

​From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. Acts 20:17

​Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. Acts 20:28

​For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, Titus 1:5

​Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the  saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: Philippians 1:1

​And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. Acts 15:2

​When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Acts 14:23

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

Sometimes, "word" in the Bible refers to the spoken gospel.

1 Peter 1:22-25:
22 ​Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a  sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 ​for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 ​For,
“ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS,
AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS.
THE GRASS WITHERS,
AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,
25 ​BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.”
And this is the word which was preached to you.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@khoingo @newkingej @Solextwit Most, if not all,of the men considered church fathers were in the unbiblical position of being the bishop over a city. That is a huge red flag regarding whether their writings can be trusted.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@AndrewKolvet It is not mental illness, it is an evil heart. We need Jesus.

[Ron Willour @ron_willour]

@C_3C_3 Less straight white men to be even more exact.