Matt:18:19-20
Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.

Hope you’re really blessed in you’re preparation mate.

Dave.

this is why i always pick my nose….

I know that if abortion had ever even crossed my mind, I would have regretted it. Sammy is such a blessing, and for only being 9 months old, has taught me so much and helped me to grow spiritually and emotionally.

I look around at the kids in my life; my son, Riley, Maddie, Gabe, and of course, the two little angels that just came to this world, and feel so grateful for what God has given us.

yes, maybe we aren’t supposed to persecute non-believers. and yes, there are many who speak strongly about abortion. but does anyone ever think that God is allowing us to do that for a reason?? how many lives have been changed because someone spoke out about it? how many children were given life because some told that mother that she had other options.

I don’t necessarily agree with people crowding around abortion clinics and such, because that seems like that wrong way to go about the issue. but sometimes, something HAS to be done.

Gah, this topic makes me so scattered and upset, I’m not really sure if what I am saying is making sense. but yes, we should speak out. (maybe not overbearingly) and yes, unmarried people SHOULD abstain. take it coming from me and my husband. we made some really bad choices, but God set us right, and now we have so much to show for it.

this was a ramble jake. I’m sorry to blog on your blog.

P.S. no, we should not play God. If God doesn’t have a plan for every child, then why would He allow them to come into existence??

I really appreciated your take though on how we need to be more loving though. Always good advice, as well as one of the harder things to do. I’d be very interested to hear if you have a different interpretation of 1 Corinthians 5. Not trying to be antagonistic, I believe your heart is in the right place in everything you do. I love and will be praying for you. Hope to hear back from you soon.

For instance, 2 Tim 4:2- “preach the word, … reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” Before that, Paul says he “charges” Timothy by Jesus and the resurrection itself, which is pretty strong.

So I think from verse like that it is hard to take out dialogue in a two-way conversation method. And the context is about preaching to Christians, not specifically evangelism. So I think I would agree with Chandler that if your main method for teaching comes from dialogue of many people and not from teaching and preaching the Word, it would be hard to say you are obeying that command of 2 Timothy 4:2, in my opinion.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am all for dialogue as a way of learning and growing as Christians/the Church. However, if you only have dialogue without a base of absolute truth rooted in the Bible, where correction and rebuke are brought from, then that is not the dialogue that can help, I would think. And as pastors/preachers/teachers, it would seem we have to also find a way to obey 2 Tim 4:2.

BTW .. Jesus or Paul never exegeted the Scriptures in the same way we do today. I’m afraid they’d garner a failing grade in our homiletics courses. What does that say?

What’s frustrating about that quote is the assumption that our teaching methodologies are “acultural” and set in stone for all times. Why is our current forms of teaching (preaching) held up as THE way to communicate God’s truth? Jesus told farm stories, the OT was passed on via stories via oral tradition until eventually it was written down, Paul contextualized his methods based upon his audience and yet today if we veer from preaching expositionally we’re viewed as having a low view of Scripture? That’s a rather myopic view of teaching methodologies.