Calling all elderly stars

Also known as "here are a few religious articles that I found interesting."

As time passes, I have become more and more anti-Arminian, partially because I can find no Biblical evidence of anyone saving themselves. Therefore, I immediately gravitated to this True Discernment post that talks about how people are called. Excerpt:

The call of God comes with an insistence that will not be denied and can scarcely by resisted. Moses fought his call strenuously and lost to the compulsion of the Spirit within him; and the same may be said of many others in the Bible and since Bible times. Christian biography shows that many who later became great Christian leaders at first tried earnestly to avoid the burden of the ministry; but I cannot offhand recall one single instance of a prophet’s having applied for the job.

I believe that this not only applies to prophets (Jonah) and pastors (Luther), but to everybody. In my particular case, I have been called to be a believer, and have (in my view) been called to serve my church as an elder, which I have done for the past year or so. In another True Discernment post, Alexander Strauch's views on Biblical eldership are discussed.

[Strauch] uses the first section of the book to present five biblical observations about what eldership looks like, contending that biblical eldership is pastoral (or shepherd) leadership, shared leadership, male leadership, qualified leadership, and servant leadership. In the second section, he defends a Bible-based leadership structure, arguing that a plurality of elders is biblically modeled, apostolically mandated, and best suited to both the familial nature of the Church and the exclusive headship of Christ over her.

Which leads us to Epiphany. When even the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod produces a float that shows the wise men gathered at the manger, it's clear that better Christian instruction of Epiphany is in order. (Suffice it to say that Herod's actions indicate that the wise men may have met Jesus as late as two years after his birth.) This explains why so many churches spoke about "light" last Sunday. Mark Daniels' church was one of them:

You see, like Ann’s and my home pastor who had been attracted by a magic show and instead found the Lord of his life, the Magi had been attracted by what they thought was a portent of a birth in the Judean equivalent of Buckingham Palace. Instead, in a humble home in a tiny town, they found the God of all creation, come to save the world from sin and death!

You never can tell what might attract people who have never had anything to do with God before to come and worship Him! The unlikeliest people can be attracted to follow the Savior.

And magic shows and stars aren’t the only things that can attract people to Christ. Sometimes other people, even husbands and wives can do it.

[mrontemp business] | [mrontemp politics] | [mrontemp technology] | [mrontemp del.icio.us tags]

Sphere: Related Content