Threads from Henry's Web

Author: henry

  • Gifts to Build the Body

    T. C. Robinson has a post on the gifts of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:13.  He makes several points that I think are important, but I did not draw from that particular passage, though I did draw from Galatians 5:22-26 with the fruit of the Spirit.  T.C. points to the importance of 1 Corinthians 13 in connection with the purpose and use of the gifts.

    I wanted to connect this with a series of posts I wrote that make a similar point amongst others.  I think it is tragic that 1 Corinthians 13 is often disconnected from 12 & 14 in discussions of the gifts.

    Here’s the series:

    I illustrate the connection between the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts as follows:

    A B&W version of that slide is used in my book Identifying Your Gifts and Service (Workbook), designed for use in a classroom setting, and I discuss the issue in the Small Group edition of the same book.

  • Staying Alive in Seminary

    For many, cemeteryseminary is a difficult spiritual experience. That’s why many refer to it as cemetery. Danny at Boston Bible Geeks is on his second post of a three parter (I think) regarding improving seminary.

    I want to underline one of his points, which is his #1 in the second post of the series. It’s a student’s responsibility to keep up spiritual activities.

    That was my own problem in seminary. I attended church, as I remember, about three times in seminary and then left seminary and the church very close to the same time. I can’t blame my seminary professors for the deterioration of my spirituality. At some point one has to take responsibility!

    Seminary can be daunting, as can any educational or work experience, but if we give up the activities that keep our spiritual life going, then it can, indeed, be a cemetery.

  • The American Patriot Bible is a Bestseller!

    I gave my first impressions of this Bible last year.  You can probably guess my viewpoint from the title:  Another Reason to Hate Study Bibles.

    Today John Byron of The Biblical World comments on the American Patriot Bible reaching bestseller status on Amazon.com.  With the number of Americans these days who are effectively equating being a good American patriot with being a good Christian, this is not entirely surprising.

    Byron is quite correct when he says that “… Americanizing makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to use it be critical of ourselves. In the end the Bible will no longer be ‘God’s word to us’ but ‘God’s word about us.’”

  • Appealing to Grace

    While there is much violence in the Old Testament (and a certain amount in the New), the basic ideas of grace are still expressed regularly.  Nowhere is this clearer, in my opinion, than in the appeal to salvation history in passages of judgment and of exhortation.

    The Old Testament passage and the Psalm for Proper 17C both demonstrate this theme.  In Jeremiah 2:4-13, this starts in verse 5 with God asking just what problem the ancestors might have found with him.  This is to emphasize that God acted faithfully and brought them to his land.  The exhortation to right action comes as a response to (and I think enabled by, though this passage doesn’t focus on that) the grace that God has poured out.

    Wrong actions are actually shown to be more heinous when committed in the face of such grace.  That is also a New Testament concept, as in Hebrews 2:3 and 10:29-31.

    The same theme occurs in Psalm 81, where in verse 10 (English verse numbering) we get the appeal to God’s grace in the past and his willingness to extend grace in the present.

    I would submit that this “graceful” pattern is true of both testaments.

    I discussed this more in an earlier post on my Threads blog, which also has some links to other writing on the same topic.

  • Astonishingly Stupid

    From the New York Times editorial today:

    But many of Mr. DeLay’s actions remain legal only because lawmakers have chosen not to criminalize them.

    Such wisdom! This is obviously why we need the mainstream media to keep us all straight.
    (HT: Volokh and Pursuing Holiness)

  • Christianity by Force or Manipulation

    There is very little that offends me more than the idea of manipulating people into Christian events or trying to convert them by force.

  • Choosing a New Church

    No, I’m not choosing a new church. In fact, I really like my home church, First United Methodist Church in Pensacola. But today I received an e-mail from someone who asked me to share a blog post with my readers. I get few enough such e-mails that I normally at least read them, though I’m not going to link unless I feel there’s something worthwhile.

    In this case, while I think the post makes some interesting points, I have a major problem with the entire approach. The post is 10 Tips for Finding a New Church Home.

    The points are generally valid. I have some objection to the fact that “mission” is #9. But that is only the minor point.

    My major point is that the primary thing we should consider when choosing a church congregation is how we will be able to serve through our membership in that congregation. Now all of the other points in the article may well contribute to our ability to minister. For example, if your church does not have adequate ministries for children, or if you are not challenged and convicted by the sermons, you may find it more difficult to use that congregation as a base for your own ministry.

    Christianity is about serving others. When my wife and I have changed congregations, we generally ask first about the mission of the church. In fact, I have quite a “thing” about church mission statements. Most churches have one. What I’ve found in visiting churches is that if the members in general can tell you what the focus of their church is in ministry, you’ll find you have a vibrant church. If the members in general aren’t sure what they are there for, you’ll find the church is dead.

    So while this list of tips for finding a new congregation includes many things that should characterize a good church, it looks much too much like the way I’d choose a grocery store.

    This leads to point #10: Keep trying until it feels right. I’d suggest instead a prayerful process of selection that ends when you know you will be able to carry out your personal part of the overall mission of the body of Christ as part of that congregation.

  • Aiming Your Bible

    I discuss letting the Bible convict you first in my monthly devotional post for the World Prayr devotional blog.

  • Spong vs Mohler

    I found this video interesting, even though I don’t consider Spong one of the better advocates of a liberal approach to the Bible.  From my perspective he’s slipped off the far edge of the map.  I would suggest there is a position that does not affirm biblical inerrancy, yet maintains biblical authority.

    (HT: Exploring Our Matrix)

    Michael Dowd, also debating with Dr. Mohler (who seems to be keeping busy!) claims that biblical Christianity is bankrupt. I intend to respond from my “passionate moderate” viewpoint a bit later. For now I would just note that I see problems with the definition of “biblical Christianity.”

    (Another HT to: Exploring Our Matrix)

  • On the Ground Zero Mosque

    I’ve been thinking of writing something about this for some time. The problem is that I think it’s fairly clear. First, there’s no legitimate legal reason to prevent the building of this mosque. Second, I don’t think it is appropriate, nor does it send a good message, for Christians to oppose those of another faith having their place of worship where they would like, provided they fulfill other requirements of the law, such as property ownership and zoning requirements.

    But today Dave Black went a step further, and I think he has a good point about how Christians should behave in such situations. We should always bear in mind that our kingdom is not here, and that our primary call is to be witnesses of our true kingdom.

    …What is a kingdom mindset? It’s an attitude of gentleness that affirms the values and dignity of others, even those who are different from us. It’s an attitude of humility that considers others as better than one’s self. …

    Read the rest at The Jesus Paradigm.