A job description for the music minister.
Myths of what is loving vs unloving. Now apply this understanding to the claims of Nicholas Wolterstorff.
What are some of the dangers of apologetics? Good article.
Isaiah 29:11-12: Does it point to Mohammed or Joseph Smith? Of course not.
Is it okay to celebrate extra-biblical Christian holidays, such as Christmas and Easter? As I’ve said all along, YES it is.
What do you tell your children about Santa? That he’s just a fun fairy tale!
I have this booklet on my shelf, and someone pointed to the internet version so I’m sharing it. It demonstrates that abuse is a biblical reason for divorce.
What is included in sexual sin?
The bondage to sin from the entertainment industry.
Is It Sinful to Use Profanity? I wrote a post addressing this issue four years ago.
6 comments:
Hi Glenn,
Ralph's post on music minister, good job description!
The RBC booklet on abuse - excellent, and very needed. Unfortunately many believers hold to a "permanence at all costs", man-is-made-for-the-Sabbath, view of marriage, instead of seeing things the correct way. The Sabbath was made for man, and so was marriage. So many believers - mostly women - are put in horrible bondage to abusive marriages by terrible counsel from pastors, Christian counselors, and prominent ministries/Christian groups' teachings. I thank the Lord often that I have such a godly husband, but my heart is still rent when I hear of the horrors other women in the church have faced. The church heaps so many burdens on those poor souls, instead of allowing the truth to set them free!
Entertainment - good. Well said.
Profanity - good articles, good reminders.
Love the meme. Isn't that the truth?!
-Carolyn
Carolyn,
That pamphlet is just one of the sources I have on my shelf, and can highly recommend to anyone interested in the topic. (I got these books years ago when I was working on getting certified as a Biblical counselor, and my wife and I were also counseling a Christian woman seeking a divorce from a very abusive husband.)
What About Divorce?by Spiros Zodhiates, TH., D.
May I Divorce & Remarry? by Spiros Zodhiates
Divorce and Remarriage in the Church,by David Instone-Brewer
Divorceby John Murray
Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the Bible, by Jay E. Adams
Divorce & Remarriage, by Guy Duty
Divorce & Remarriage: What Does the Bible Really Say?, by Ralph Woodrow
That pamphlet is one of many from Radio Bible Class (RBC Ministries), which also include:
When Violence Comes Home: Help for Victims of Spouse Abuse
When Words Hurt: Verbal Abuse in Marriage
Divorce & Remarriage: What Does the Bible Teach?
Thank-you for your resources on spousal abuse and divorce. My personal library does not include any of these at the moment, but will hopefully in the future. There are many Christian women who have believed the lie of staying together for the Scripture verse "God hates divorce" from Malachi was used on me by a Baptist deaconess at one point in my marriage. She has recently confessed to me of her husband verbally and emotionally abusing her to the point of he accusing her of having an affair, which led to her quitting her job outside of the home to increase his wicked isolationist Baptist religion. My heart breaks for these women as well as myself.
On the topic of cursing/swearing....many a Christian husband swears and curses his wife in abusive marriages. Being called a 'slut,' a 'whore,' an f------ b---- when the husband (who also preaches sermons in his church) violates his testimony as a Christian man, husband, and disciple of Jesus Christ. How many Christian marriages are perfect on Sunday morning, and yet the rest of the week they resemble all of those other 'worldly' marriages out there.
And concerning the topic of swearing, I am amazed at those within our churches who correct those who actually do swear, but will then turn around and lie and slander their neighbor as if speaking the truth about someone behind their backs. I married into a family who does not swear other than using the words 'crap', 'geez', 'golly','OMG', and correct others for using curse words, and yet, the lies they speak of others just boggles my mind, and they have absolutely no guilt inside of them for speaking these slanderous things. And when one points this out to them, oh boy, is there ever much anger in the air!
Anonymous,
Thank you for those observations. We, too, know of a family who condemns any sort of swearing or "minced oaths" but are major gossips!
A couple follow up thoughts:
For those who may think the RBC booklet is too "liberal", they were clear that casual divorce is sin. Marriage is a covenant that is supposed to be for life. Divorcing someone because "it just didn't work out" is sin. Period. However, it is abundantly clear that the RBC booklet was not addressing casual divorces. What they were providing is compassion and wise counsel in situations of abuse, including correctly applying the Malachi verse and other Scriptures on divorce.
I have also heard pious sounding arguments that marriage isn't to make you happy, but to make you holy... yet that's a false dichotomy. God did not design marriage to be the trial of a lifetime. It was given to mankind to be a blessing. For BOTH the husband and wife, as well as for their children, and even for society.
Related, I have heard the argument that the book of Hosea is a model on how to handle adultery in a marriage. Hosea is a book about God's covenant relationship with the nation of Israel. To take it any farther is to wrest into Scripture a meaning that isn't there. Think about it. Does the book of Hosea mean Christians should advise their sons to marry harlots, and give "meaningful" names to the woman's children? I think not.
Second, per anonymous 12/5/16, a man that beats his wife, calls her names, etc (and those are some downright wicked names to call a woman!!!), that man is not a Christian. That's pretty clear.
Anyhow, is real repentance (not crocodile tears and manipulations, so the abuser can maintain power/control and continue abusing), forgiveness, and reconciliation ideal? Yes. Of course! That is the heart of the Gospel. However, we do not live in an ideal world. Many people do not repent, and many situations cannot be reconciled. Again, we're not talking about causal, sinful divorces here. We are talking about shattered covenants, and shattered lives. Let us not affix Scarlet D's on those poor souls who desired the ideal, and got the opposite.
-Carolyn
Hi Glenn,
Be sure to check out my brief post on observing holidays:
https://rationalchristiandiscernment.blogspot.com/2017/02/mandatory-observance-of-special-days.html
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