My mother’s birthday is this month. I have the opportunity to share it with her to a degree that has been impossible for years — since I was in college, really. We are within easy driving range; popping over to Burnet for lunch is a real possibility. So I’m going to try to do it,…
Some people have five talents. They have all the skill, all the charisma, all the opportunities. It seems as though service in Jesus’ kingdom comes naturally to them. We are not surprised to hear when they have done great things in His name. We expect it out of five-talent people
Some people have two talents. They are not as privileged as the five-talent people, obviously. But we still admire them. They get the most out of what they have. They do not envy the five-talent people for their success and the glory that comes with success. They just do their job and do it well. Sometimes they even wake up to find they have become five-talent people themselves. And good for them. Good for us. And then there are those with only one talent.
In heaven you will find holiness; in hell you will find wickedness and impurity (Revelation 22:14-15).
In heaven you will find those who obeyed the gospel; in hell you will find those who did not (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).
In heaven you will find Jesus (John 14:3); in hell you will find the devil and his agents (2 Peter 2:4).
When a bunch of preachers gather in a single area, they tend strongly to discuss the things of the Spirit. Perhaps that is simply to “fit in.” Perhaps it is to demonstrate our credibility in spiritual matters. Perhaps it is simply because it is what everyone else is doing. In any case, we look more like preachers when preachers are the only ones in the room.
That can be a result of hypocrisy, and in some instances it probably is. Maybe some are just going through the motions to blend in with people they admire. Maybe that’s what I do. But I like to believe, …
One of the oddest parts of my brief exchange with Bro. Jesse Winn, to which I have made considerable reference over the last few weeks, was something he said about me personally. In my experience, “about me personally” is a prepositional phrase that is hardly ever a good thing in the context of brethren debating doctrinal differences. But this was an exception.
In this space last week, I made you aware of my brief exchange with Bro. Jesse Winn, whose website article entitled “The Church of Christ: Some Thoughts on Change” has gotten a bit of play lately. The article features 30 statements, each of then beginning with “I believe.” They represent his current thinking on a variety of subjects ranging from church music to congregational oversight to the resurrection. I do not have the inclination to respond fully to any of these points, let alone all of them. But I would like to address the tone of the article as a whole, and perhaps touch on a few specific points along the way.
After spending five football seasons in the heart of SEC country, I have a few suggestions for my brethren. I think they will give you a great deal of peace — and I guarantee they will give your brethren a great deal of peace. And let me beat you to the punch by saying I have been accused of being “as bad as anyone,” so these points are as much for me as for you.
