See that you do not despise one of these little ones… What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? (Matthew 18) #goodshepherd
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From the sixties, billions of abortions have been done by hormonal birth control. Stats are not kept on this slaughter. Christians been all-in with hormonal birth control. Pro-lifers are silent about these babies murdered in their first week of life.
It’s time to change this. Read “Abortion and the Church” Amazon.com
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It’s never time for God’s sheep to despise God’s shepherds, yet it’s always time for God’s sheep to learn to discern who are true shepherds of God and who are hirelings and wolves; then to tie themselves to those true shepherds.
Agreed. What is often happening in practice, though, is that the sheep look for what I call “makeshift shepherding” - not the elders, the proper shepherds of the flock, but older experienced laypeople who do have a heart for that flock. It works, more often than not; but pastors & elders need to be aware that it is happening. Perhaps that also explains the enthusiasm in many quarters for “mentoring”. Thoughts?
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My guess is these “older folks” aren’t ordained (the husband) because they don’t have the power and status to be. So that, often in these situations, the older “mentoring” couple is actually eldering while the ordained elders are holding the reins of power. As to pastors knowing what’s going on, they likely are the ones who sent people to the older couple (assuming it’s not a divisive older couple seeking disciples) because they can’t send them to their rich and proud elders and their wives. Love,
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Wyze now has facial recognition for their cams @ $95 p/yr. Church members could smile at cam to keep track of worship attendance each Sunday. Cams at communion table could set off siren when excommunicated come forward.
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My friend, Keith LaMothe, presented me with a gift of Admiral Bacon’s 1929 bio (2-vol) of John Arbuthnot Fisher. Great read. Thought of Fisher today reading “Transforming the military for the AI age requires ‘a certain ruthlessness,’” at Breaking Defense. THE LIFE OF LORD FISHER OF KILVERSTONE, Admiral of the Fleet by Fisher, Admiral Sir John Arbuthnot; Bacon, Admiral Sir R. H.: (1929) | Kay Craddock - Antiquarian Bookseller
A shorter less expensive version: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1947/march/portrait-progressive-lord-fisher-admiral-fleet
Scripture’s style is direct & plain. Rulers/elders/scribes of Jerusalem listened to Peter’s sermon (Acts 4). They exclaimed over Peter and John’s confidence. Although they were “uneducated and untrained men,” they had “been with Jesus.”
Be with Jesus. Then be direct & plain. #goodshepherd
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LATimes dying. Good. Journalists had authority but betrayed trust. Forevermore pro baby slaughter. Pro big tech’s censorship. Force 4 evil—not good. Hope NYT/WaPo next.
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“Phillips says challenging Biden has made him an enemy of the mainstream media. He says his campaign has depended on alternative media platforms to get his message across after being stonewalled”
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It’s nice to have some cheery news on a winter’s morn. Thank you.
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We who are pastors need to learn the difference between a retreat action with skirmishers facing the foe while we run, and standing and fighting. Complementarians are skirmishers. #goodshepherd
Modern apologists style themselves evangelists.
No. Evangelists preach repentance. #goodshepherd
Which begs the question: do we still need apologetics ministries, or have they largely had their day? Quoting CS Lewis, who I think gets it right:
… Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realising that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor — that is the only way out of a “hole.” This process of surrender — this movement full speed astern — is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means undergoing a kind of death.
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“The public Christian father is not stingy, limiting his love/care/protection to those near/dear. He’s liberal/openhanded w/his love. For him being “in the city & for the city” is no cheap promotional tool for his church plant.” If you are a father: Amazon.com
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You’re right, Ross. Lewis also. Our philosophers and experts in contextualization have been deplorable and utterly failed at the very thing they claimed to be their gift. But the Church is filled with their acolytes. Why?
Because the church loves cowardly Christian leaders who make a good public show that convinces credulous Christians he’s a Goliath while also making private deals that convince the destroyers he’s not going to kill anyone. It’s all just drama.
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Keep saying over and over again what we have and present do need are men who will preach the law, the fear of God, repentance, and faith, and do so as pastors of churches. The Church is God’s plan of evangelism. Not wannabe (or even true) intellectuals.
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