The Good - For Education and/or Edification

I’m looking for my life to settle down eventually so I can start writing articles again vs just sharing links to other articles.  Now, I do think it is important that these links are shared so more people can be educated not only on the bad stuff happening in the church, but also on the good teachings available for edification.

I’m still doing lots of medical tests and within the next two weeks I will be finished with tests and then wait for surgery to fix a torn tendon in my rotator cuff. So it seems as if we are not home much, which can be easily seen in the weeds over-taking the gardens!

Well, with all that intro, here is another collection of links to interesting articles. I hope you will find the articles to be worth the read.

Is the Gospel No Longer Enough for Black Christians?  “Social Justice” has no place in the Christian Church.

Thought-provoking political article — How socialism violates all Ten Commandments. Although I disagree about violating the law of the Sabbath, because Christians don’t have a Sabbath, and Sunday isn’t the Sabbath anyway.

Are the commands of Acts 15:20 still applicable today?

The Battle Against Heterodoxy

Proper, correct church discipline!

Jesus is Lord.

What is a cult?  Signs to look for.

Is the Apocrypha Scripture? NO!  There are errors. There are other good reasons to reject it. Three early church “fathers” had things to say about it.

Psychiatry — told ya so!

“Sexual Orientation” is a psychological concept and not reality. Analogous to “alcoholism” instead of drunkenness.

Was Jesus tempted by homosexuality?  Of course not — but the LEFTISTS defending homosexuality wants you to think so.

The Fictions and Facts of the Enneagram.

Purgatory and 2 Maccabees 12:39-45.

Angels Unawares.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Biblical Love and Sin

Biblical love does not mean that I ignore things that people do that are wrong and injurious.  This is true both in the physical and spiritual realms.  For example, to love a murderer, in a biblical sense, does not mean that we ignore his crime.  It means that we put him to death for his horrible trespass against the image of God (Genesis 9:5-6).  Likewise, to love a false teacher does not mean that I turn a blind eye to his error and strive to have unity with him regardless of his doctrine.  It means that I obey the Bible and mark and avoid him (Romans 16:17), that I expose his error publicly to protect those who might be led astray by his teaching.

David W.  Cloud, Contemporary Christian Music Under the Spotlight, pg.168

Discipline and Instruction of the Lord

Too many Christians abuse the Scripture about using the “rod” to discipline, either claiming that the culture of the Bible was different and we don’t use the “rod” now, or else they determine that the use of the rod must be severe.  Proper discernment should lead one to see that both extremes are wrong.  

I’ve put together some Bible passages to contemplate, as well as some supplemental thoughts.  

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.  Prov. 1:7 NIV

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.  Prov. 22:6 NIV

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  Eph. 6:4 NAS

There is a distinction between training (discipline) and teaching.  Many teach their children the way they should go, but are neglecting to train them in the way they should go.  A child can be trained to respond to his parents in willing obedience and trust.

The dictionary gives the meaning of the word train: "to mold the character, instruct by exercise, drill, to make obedient to orders, to put or point in an exact direction, to prepare for a contest."  This is what God wants us to do with our children.

How can we train our children to obey us?  God has given us directions.  The passages below give a more contemporary translation of traditional verses about the use of the “rod,” but I think they are good for helping our understanding of the intent. (GWN is God’s Word to the Nations [or just God’s Word], while CEV is Contemporary English Version.)

Foolishness is firmly attached to a child's heart.  Spanking will remove it far from him.  Prov. 22:15 GWN.

Whoever refuses to spank his son hates him, but whoever loves his son disciplines him from early on.  Prov. 13:24 GWN.

Do not hesitate to discipline a child.  If you spank him, he will not die.  Spank him yourself, and you will save his soul from hell.  Prov. 23:13,14 GWN

A spanking and a warning produce wisdom, but an undisciplined child disgraces his mother.  Prov. 29:15 GWN

Correct your children before it's too late; if you don't punish them, you are destroying them.  Prov. 19:18 CEV

Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.  Prov. 29:17 NIV

Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.  Prov. 20:30 NIV

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Heb. 12:11 NIV

The use of the “rod” (spanking, paddle, etc) is not to be in anger or abusively, rather it is loving discipline for correcting errors.  While some people/cults (e.g. Mike and Debi Pearl) teach the physical “rod” for just about any infraction, our family used other disciplinary measures unless the infraction was very serious — and then the “rod” (we spanked with open hand) was to help them thoroughly understand the serious nature of what they did!

Finally, God disciplines us as His children.  As he tells us in Hebrews 12:5-11, children who are not disciplined are illegitimate and not true sons.