GROW BY LEARNING

Welcome Back 2025

2025-05-03T15:10:00.002-05:00

I can not believe after a few years I was unable to recover by Blogger.I need to get ridde of what is not letting be in to my blogger L

Understanding God’s Attributes

2024-08-03T14:30:00.002-05:00
1) Understanding Gods attributes as revealed in His Word is essential for your spiritual well being.

You must know God, not as you may conceive Him to be or wish Him to be, but as He has revealed Himself in the Bible. I’ve heard professing Christians say, "My God is not a God of judgment; He’s a God of love." That’s nice, but your God is not the God of the Bible! He is a figment of your own imagination! The God of the Bible is both a God of judgment and of love. Or, there are Christians who dodge a difficult chapter like Romans 9, where Paul says of God (Ro 9:18), "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." They don’t want to conceive of God as having the sovereign right to save whom He chooses and to harden others in their sin. But to dodge what the Bible says about God is to make God in your own image, which is idolatry.

January 2024

2023-01-03T18:28:00.001-06:00
January 01 2024

Sermon Notes From Luke 14 Who Is Coming To Dinner

2022-07-24T19:09:00.003-05:00
Finally July 24, 2022 I was able to be back on my blog. From my Bible Lesson today: Luke 14 Luke 14:8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, KJV Luke 14:8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him JESUS CONTINUES TO CONFRONT SELFISH PRIDE When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast - Jesus is going to point to a "danger" in making a mad dash for the places of honor.
Humbles (5013) (tapeinoo) is in the present tense signifying that pursuit of a humble attitude to be our continual practice (as alluded to in Paul's example above). The active voice signifies that humbling ourself is a choice of our will. We willingly accept humility. He who humbles himself will be exalted - The paradox that seems foolish to the unregenerate mind is that the way "up" in God's Kingdom is first "down!" It is only the humble man or woman who will acknowledge their inability to earn God's favor, and seeing that they fall short, they reach out by grace through faith to lay hold of Christ's perfect righteousness. "The true way to be humble, is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature."

2022-07-24T19:03:00.000-05:00

the study of the doctrine of sin

I. SIN IS AGAINST MAN'S PRESENT GOOD, IN THIS LIFE, against the good of his body and the good of his soul. For on both it has brought a curse and death.

(1) Against the good of man's body.

(2) Against the good of man's soul.

(1) In a natural sense

(i) It is against man's well-being in this life.

a. Sin is against man's rest and ease, of which man is a great lover; and, indeed, he needs it as a great part of the well-being of his life.

b. Sin is against man's comfort and joy. In sorrow shalt thou eat all the days of thy life (Genesis 3.17). Not one whole merry day!

c. Sin is against man' s health. From it come all diseases and sicknesses; till sin there were no such things.

d. Sin is against the quiet of a man's natural conscience.

e. Sin is against the beauty of man

f. Sin is against the loving and conjugal co-habitation of soul and body.

g. Sin is against man's relative good in this world.

Thus sin sets itself to oppose man's well-being,
(ii) Sin is against the very being of man.

(2) Sin is also against the good of man in a moral sense

(i) It has degraded man, by defiling him,

a. To his body, for the flesh is filthy (2 Corinthians 7.1),
b. This defilement also cleaves to the soul, which is the principal subject of it.

(ii) Sin has darkened man's understanding.
a. By his groping, which, in the Scripture, is constantly attributed to blindness and darkness. Peruse Deuteronomy 28.29; Job 5.14, and 12.25; and Isaiah 59.10.

b. Though the light shines, yet man's darkness comprehends it not (John 1.5).
c. By his walking in all kinds of wickedness, which are called the works of darkness (Ephesians 5.11).

d. Man knows not whither he goes. (John I2.35; 1 John 2.11).
e. He stumbles, and does not know why (John 11.9,10; Proverbs 4.19).
f. Man knows not his time, nor how to order his thoughts, words and actions.
g. He can be content to be led, even by a dog.

(iii) Sin has depraved man' s understanding, and made him a fool, a sot, a very brute; ignorant, foolish and beast are joined together in Psalm 73.22.
Man's folly is shown to be great in three ways a. In relation to his chief and ultimate end,

Three things, among many others that might be named, that man's happiness cannot be made up of any or all creature-enjoyments, of having the world for a portion, even all of it. For, beside what has just been said:
(1) It was not so when man was in paradise
(2) That cannot be our happiness which is below us
(3) That cannot be our happiness which is not so much as a token of the love of God b. Man's folly appears to be great in relation to the means and way leading to happiness, as well as in relation to his end and happiness; he mistakes them both.
(1) Idolatry is man's folly. To worship no God, or that which is not a God, but an idol, is folly.
(2) Superstition is man's folly, also, as to religion This must suffice to show man's folly, and how sin has duped man, as to his end, happiness, and the means to it, religion. I now proceed to show
c. Man's folly as to the non-improvement or mis-improvement of means, when made known in truth and clearness
Let us consider some examples, and only some, of man's folly:
(1) Man is so heady, hasty and rash in his undertakings. Nothing more becomes a man than deliberation and consideration.
(2) Man laughs at, and sports himself in his sin and misery.
(3) Man says, It is vain to serve God
(4) Man is so ungrateful to God, who has put him under an infinite obligation.
(5) If God corrects man, or afflicts him for his sin and folly, he soon grows angry with God.
(6) Man's folly is apparent in that he is unteachable.
7) Some men are such fools as to apostatize, even after they have received the truth and have gone far in the profession of it, which is no small folly. 'As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly' (Proverbs 26.11 compared with 2 Peter 2.20-22). (iv) Sin has degraded man and made him a beast
a. Sin has made man like a beast, and not only like one, but, indeed, a very beast!
(1) Sinful man is like the beasts in ignorance and stupidity. 'So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee' (Psalm 73.22).
(2) Sinful man is like the beasts in sensuality, as if he were only belly-wise, and had no soul to mind, or a soul only to mind his body.
(3) Sinful man's likeness to the beasts consists in, and is apparent from his unfitness and unsuitableness for society and communion with God and man b. Sinners are like the worst of beasts
c. Sin has made men worse than the beasts; more beasts than the beasts themselves and worse than the worst of beasts.
(1) The beasts do not transgress the law of their nature, but man has done and does so over and over again
(2) Sinful man is worse than the beasts in the very quality for which he is likened to them. The ox and ass have no understanding, and sinful man is compared to them for ignorance and stupidity; but they are more knowing than he (Isaiah 1.3).
The wicked tyrannical rulers of the world are compared to a roaring lion and a ranging bear (Proverbs 28.15): they have no pity, but make a prey of all to whom they come near. Hypocrites are like vipers (Matthew 23.33). Herod was called a fox, not only for his craft and cunning, but for hunting after the life of the Lamb, Christ Jesus. Thus some sinners are like some animals and some like others, but there are two animals to which all sinners are likened: the goat and the dog.

a. Sinners are called goats (Matthew 25.32,33):

(1) Goats are very lascivious, wanton and lustful. Sinners are so too: the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye are the things they are taken with (1 John 2.16). To these they give themselves up. The Apostle says, Among whom we all had our conversation in the lusts of the flesh (Ephesians 2.3), and served divers lusts (Titus 3.3). In this they are like goats.

(2) Goats are stinking animals. A goatish smell is a stinking smell, and to smell of or like the goat is to have a very strong, unsavoury and stinking scent. Likewise the wicked are in abomination to the Lord, a very stink in his nostrils.

(3) Goats are very bold and adventurous animals. They climb rocks and precipices to browse and feed on what they can get with hazard. In this sinners are like them too; they run risks and many dangerous adventures for a little, indeed, no satisfaction. They venture peace, conscience, life, soul and all, to get that which is not bread (Isaiah 55. 2).

b. Sinners are likened to dogs. I shall not make divisions in this nor pursue the metaphor into details, of which a little was said before. I will only show that though it was more usual with the Jews to call the Gentiles dogs, and our Saviour spoke in their language when he told the woman that it was not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs (Matthew 15.26), yet it is a common name for sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles, to all without God and Christ; for without are dogs (Revelation 22.15).

(v) Sin has separated man from God in a moral sense

a. From the sight of God. Man could talk with God face to face, as a man converses with his friend, but alas! man cannot see his face and live

b. From the life of God. Sin has separated man not only from living to God and with God but from living the life of God, that is, such a life as God lives, which is a life of holiness and perfection

c. From the love of God.

d. From communion with God.

e. From the covenant relationship in which he stood to God.

The Bible is God's Word for Mankind

2022-02-24T08:31:00.002-06:00

The Word from God is in the 66 books in the Bible. We read and study the Bible in order to know God.

Today I finally was able to log in to this website that I have since 2006. As to date I have posted 3,075 post. Yes. But the last few years so very few. May be I can be better at this.

Tools for Ministry of Teaching the Bible

2022-02-24T08:23:00.001-06:00

Charles e Whisnant, Ministry

2021-05-25T05:57:00.002-05:00

May 25, 2020
My first post since January , goodness where have I been and what have I been doing.
Well you will need to find my Facebook page to find out.
I hope to start using Blogger more now.

1968 Bible Baptist Seminary

Charles e Whisnant 2015

1965 At Jefferson Senior High School Roanoke Va

Greetings January 2021

2021-01-28T13:13:00.002-06:00

My first post for January 28, 2021.
The Bible: The Inerrant Word of God

“The Invincible Power of the Inerrant Word.”

Charles e Whisnant, Pastor/Teacher

We understand what the word inerrant means. It means that it is without any errors as it was recorded in its original autographs. This is a flawless book in all that it states.

Psalm 12:6-7 , Psalm 119:140: Proverbs 30:5 Jesus prayed in John 17:17, In James 1:25, In 1 Peter 2:2, Hebrews 6:18, Titus 1:2

Spurgeon said, Because the Word of God is inerrant, it is, by necessity, invincible. Because the Word of God is absolutely pure, it is therefore absolutely powerful.

The Bible is so invincible that it requires many different symbols to communicate the whole of its power.

1. The Word of God is a Sword that Pierces (Heb 4:12–13)

Hebrews 4:12 and 13 Four things the Bible is

What the Bible is

1. It is the Divine Word

2. It is the Living Word“The word of God is living.” Psalms 95:7. John 6;63

3. It is Active "quick" ""living" “Energēs,” from which we get the word energetic. The Bible is full of energy

4. It is Sharper than Any Two-Edged Sword Revelation 1:16; 2:12, Psalms 59:7;64:3

What the Bible Does

1. It Pierces the bible is the sword that pierces Verse 12: “. . . piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow. . . .”

2. It Judges “. . . and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

It is a Mirror that Reveals (James 1:23)

Listen: no one will ever be saved until they see themselves for who they are and what they are. And no one will ever be sanctified without looking to the prefect law of liberty and see where there needs to be improvements and corrections.

You can talk about the culture, and society, and give book reviews, and quote poems, and talk about TV shows and movies. And it is has the opposite effect. When you hold up the Word as a mirror, your people see themselves and they see their dire need for grace, and they come to Christ.

3. It is a Seed. that Germinates, and Regenerates, and Reproduces (1 Pet 1:23)

Hebrews 4:12, John 11:25; It would be easier to plant a oak tree with marbles then to see a person come to Christ without the Bible. Without this planting seed into the soul of man.

—“Seed,” in the beginning of the clause, is more literally the act of sowing, or engendering, which sowing is carried on “through the living and abiding word of God,” this “word of God” being the actual seed sown. The “seed” of all existence is the spoken Word of God, the expressed will and meaning of creative thought (Psalm 33:6); and so here, even when spoken mediately, through the lips of men (as explained in 1Peter 1:25), it is that which begets men afresh

A seed is a remarkable thing. A seed contains an embryo of a plant within it, ready to be germinated for propagation. Within a seed there is the ability to reproduce. It is capable of germination. What is this seed? That is, through the living and enduring Word of God. A supernatural life comes only from a supernatural seed. Eternal life comes from a seed that is living and enduring. It would be easier to grow oak trees by planting marbles than for someone to get saved without the planting of this seed in the soil of their hearts. The seed is the Word of God

4. It is Milk that Nourishes (1 Peter 2:2–3)

As we minister the Word of God, we must be feeding our people the milk of the Word. No one’s spiritual development will advance beyond their intake of the Word of God. None of us will be advance beyond the measure of the Word of God that is flowing into us like milk. Psalms 34:8

5. It is a Lamp that Shines Symbols of the Bible. Sword, Mirror, Seed, Milk, Lamp

“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”(Ps 119:105)

1. We live in a very dark world.

The Word of God is a lamp giving necessary light for all the travelers. Proverbs 6:23, Psalms19:8; 2 Peter 1:19

3. It says, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet.”

Boice writes, “We don’t know how to live our lives, but the Bible shines on the path before us to expose the wrong dangerous ways we might take and light up the right way.” It is the inerrant Word that gives infallible guidance.

6. It is a Fire that Consumes

“‘Is not My word like fire?’ declares the LORD.”(Jeremiah 23:29)

This is a red-hot book. The Scriptures are sizzling. It is the hottest message this world has ever heard. And when you’re called to preach, you’re called to play with fire.

7. It is a Hammer that Shatters (Jeremiah 23:29)

Its a rhetorical question here: “Is not My word like fire?’ declares the LORD, ‘and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

This is the invincible power of the inerrant Word. I call you this day to wield the word, to hold forth the mirror, to scatter the seed, to serve the milk, to hold up the lamp, to spread the flame, to swing the hammer. And stop with the secular wisdom in the pulpit! Cancel the entertainment in the church! Fire the drama team! Get rid of the shtick! Unplug the colored lights! Put the pulpit back in the center of the building! Stand up like a man, open the Bible, lift it up, let it out, and let it fly!

The church is dying with a knowledge of God. Lack of discernment It has spiritual aids. Its dying with 100 of diseases We just don't know who God is.

Our doctrine of God: The character and nature of God. Trinity of God.

Why there are so few reformed churches: So few understand the truth.

Evangelical, evangelicalism as defined there's a dominant segment of evangelicalism that is wrapped up in what we would call the experiential charismatic kind of movement they're completely adrift in terms of theology the hermeneutics that are necessary to rightly interpret the Word of God, that movement starts in 1900 and Topeka Kansas and explodes into what we know as the charismatic room today. There's a parallel to that , there is a sentimental movement that the largest volume booksellers in America are sentimentalist i.e. homespun gosel.

Writings of Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, and Max Lucado wit which are the defining writers in what is a sentimentalist view . This is a fast moving kind of evangelicalism and Sentimentalist and the Charismatic

It seems as if God is the poorest teacher that ever was because everybody seems to want to improve upon His message and improve upon His way of Salvation but He has invested the power of His Gospel in His word. We are to be about being ambassadors for Christ that's the ministers task is to the Word of God and clarity and in boldness in an urgency of the word.

Christology is one of the pressing needs for the church to understand today but the person and work of Chrdist.

What is the Gospel: Some would say the Gospel is the good news that we can live a Purpose Drive Life, for the good news. Is that we have our sins forgiven those are good news that is the good news.

No.

The gospel is basically objectively the person and work of Jesus Christ subjectively, its how the benefits of the person and work of Jesus Christ are appropriated by the believe in faith alone.

If you want to know what the gospel is you've hear John's sermon on what is the gospel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCd4yYfxB6k John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul.

It is Christ what He has done, who He is and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrLL2rtHLYQ John MacArthur: Our Redeemer Lives. Proclaiming the Gospel.

The gospel is basically objectively the person and work of Jesus Christ subjectively, its how the benefits of the person and work of Jesus Christ are appropriated by the believe in faith alone.The gospel is basically objectively the person and work of Jesus Christ subjectively, its how the benefits of the person and work of Jesus Christ are appropriated by the believe in faith alone.

Homespun Gospel: The Triumph of Sentimentality in Contemporary American Evangelicalism

In popular evangelical literature, God is loving and friendly, described in heartfelt, often saccharine language that evokes nostalgia, comfortable domesticity, and familial love. This emotional style has been widely adopted by the writers most popular among American evangelicals, including such celebrity pastors as Max Lucado, Rick Warren, and Joel Osteen. Todd M. Brenneman provides groundbreaking insight into the phenomenon of evangelical sentimentality: an emotional appeal to readers' feelings about familial relationships, which can in turn be used as the basis for a relationship with God.
Brenneman shows how evangelicals use tropes of God as father, human beings as children, and nostalgia for an imagined idyllic home life to provide alternate sources of social authority, intended to help evangelicals survive a culture that is philosophically at odds with conservative Christianity. Yet Brenneman also demonstrates that the sentimental focus on individual emotion and experience can undermine the evangelical agenda. Sentimentality is an effective means of achieving individual conversions, but it also promotes a narcissism that blinds evangelicals to larger social forces and impedes their ability to bring about the change they seek.
Homespun Gospel offers a compelling perspective on an unexplored but vital aspect of American evangelical identity.

THE ARGUMENT IN A NUTSHELL

First let me explain what the author means by sentimentality, then sketch out how he believes it functions in American evangelicalism.

He uses sentimentality to describe a kind of emotion or way of feeling. Within evangelicalism, it refers to feelings of love inspired by three main images: God as (doting) Father, humans as helpless but adored children, and the nostalgic home of a blissful nuclear family. According to Brenneman, “these three metaphors pervade evangelicalism and form the basis for the sentimental appeal” (6).

Though this sentimentality definitely doesn’t come off well in Brenneman’s account, he insists we shouldn’t take it as a pejorative term. It is an effective style of persuasion in its own right, and a powerful way of engaging with the world. The goal of the book is to reveal the power of this pervasive but overlooked feature in evangelical rhetoric.

To show how the “sentimental appeal” works, Brenneman chose to focus on three best-selling mega-church pastors from three different branches of the evangelical tree. The central figure is Max Lucado, Church of Christ pastor and bestselling author who was the subject of Brenneman’s dissertation. Then there’s church-growth strategist turned spiritual-life guru Rick Warren. And finally, there’s Joel Osteen, America’s big-smiling, stadium-filling, prosperity-promising pastor-at-large.

The first chapter introduces the images at the heart of evangelical sentimentality. Brenneman argues that these pastor-authors appeal to God-as-adoptive-Father to make individual Christians feel better about themselves. God is the type of Father who puts your drawings on his fridge and never misses a ball game. All the resources of his power and knowledge are aimed at meeting the smallest needs and solving the smallest problems of his helpless children. In summary, Brenneman writes, “The biblical symbol of adoption serves as a foundation for emotional exploitation in contemporary evangelicalism” (36).

In his second chapter, Brenneman illustrates how sentimentality replaces careful intellectual engagement with critical issues. That is to say, sustaining the power of sentimentality means avoiding doctrinal discussions that could be divisive. But Brenneman also argues sentimentality insulates evangelicalism from intellectual challenges like those associated with evolution. It cultivates a different way of knowing where,“Purveyors position the emotions as being more reliable than the intellect and as a trustworthier source of truth” (53).

The third and fourth chapters suggest how sentimentality—ostensibly at home in the private world of individual feeling—confers authority and influence in the public world of economics and politics.

Brenneman’s distaste for his subjects and their methods comes through most clearly in these chapters, and his argument would be stronger without so many undeveloped claims as to the “real” motives of these pastors (e.g., 109-11, 126, 129). But underneath it all, the book’s basic claims are sound. Sentimentality sells. That holds true from popular Christian music to evangelical children’s literature to the complex of “Jesus junk”—my words, not his—surrounding the best-selling books of these pastors.

And in the world of politics, Brenneman argues, the power of sentimentality helps explain why evangelicals have rallied to issues surrounding children (abortion) and the home (marriage). The irony, he claims, is that the focus on individuals and their needs may end up undermining any evangelical attempt to transform society, since their leaders are more comfortable appealing to individual emotions than speaking truth to power.

WHAT DO WE DO WITH SENTIMENTALITY?

At the end of the day, though, as an account of modern evangelicalism, this book is unconvincing. Brenneman’s brush is just too broad.

There’s no doubting Lucado, Warren, and Osteen have a wide-ranging influence. But there is a large and growing segment of evangelicalism in which these figures and their marketing empires are more often the butt of bad jokes than taken very seriously. Their books aren’t read. Their methods aren’t followed. Their rhetorical style comes off kitschy and foreign.

Folks in my corner of the evangelical world don’t want to be defined in their light, and there’s room for fair criticism of Brenneman’s book on this front. He does acknowledge a counterculture—in particular the signers of the Evangelical Manifesto (144ff). But I believe he underestimates how large this segment is.

That said, I don’t know any evangelicals for whom the fatherhood of God or promise of adoption aren’t central themes. I don’t know any who aren’t interested in helping people connect with God’s loving, providential care for their individual lives. And I think we’re at our best when we’re trying to get the hearts of our people engaged with the doctrines that fill our heads. By Brenneman’s definition, that makes us sentimental. Should we be okay with that? Is sentimentality a problem?

To answer that question, I think we need a far more nuanced understanding of sentimentality and its role than this book provides. Brenneman’s study is a starting point. We should take it as a call to greater self-awareness and an opportunity to think carefully about what we’re doing when we aim for the heart. In what follows I want to present at least a few qualifications toward a healthy use of sentimentality.

Sentimentality isn’t necessarily new. In Brenneman’s account, any celebration of God’s fatherly care is treated as innovative and merely therapeutic. He believes this sort of sentimental appeal “has integrally changed evangelicalism from the nineteenth century to the present” (159).

I’m not disputing that emotional engagement with the fatherhood of God is central to evangelicalism. I’m not disputing that some of the language used these days can be over the top. But I don’t believe the emphasis itself is uniquely modern. I’d say it’s basic to Christianity.

Granted, the Scriptures don’t promise that God has my birthday circled on his calendar. But there’s certainly an “appeal to tender feelings” (5) in Hosea’s image of God teaching Israel to walk, holding them up by their hands, bending over to feed them (Hos. 11:1-4). And isn’t there a tad of nostalgia when Jesus longs to gather Jerusalem “as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (Luke 13:34)? Brenneman may be right to suggest Paul’s language of fatherhood was influenced more by the Greco-Roman pater familias than by the romanticism of the 19th century (6). But Paul’s cry of “Abba! Father!” and his talk of the spirit of adoption leads straight into the promise that all things—even the mundane things—work together for the good of his children and that nothing can separate them from his love (Rom. 8:14-15, 28-39).

Sentimentality isn’t necessarily narcissistic. There is certainly a man-centered way to talk about God. And without question, narcissism remains a prominent problem in American evangelicalism. But it seems to me that Brenneman projects Osteen’s prosperity teaching onto anyone who celebrates God’s providential care for individuals (e.g., pp. 30-31). I agree we ought to be careful in how we tell people God loves them, but not more careful than Jesus.

When Jesus told followers they were more important than many sparrows, or that even their hairs were numbered by God (Matt. 10:29-31), he was drawing on the power of sentiment as Brenneman defines it. But he wasn’t fostering narcissism. He was glorifying the grace of God. He was drawing from one of the Bible’s consistent themes: the beauty of God’s love shows up in the particularity of his care for us, not because of how awesome we are but because of how gracious he is.

Sentimentality isn’t necessarily anti-intellectual. I agree with much of what Brenneman claims about the way sentimentality is used to avoid careful theological discourse. But he often assumes a dichotomy between emotional engagement via sentimentality and intellectual engagement (e.g., 31). It’s either constructive, apologetic theology or emotional obfuscation and exploitation. I believe Brenneman’s account misses a nuance at the heart of evangelicalism, one also rooted in the Scriptures. The goal of all Christian intellectual labor is worship. Doctrine and doxology go together. Doctrine is meant to inspire feelings of love, peace, gratitude and joy, and it’s emotional engagement that brings doctrine to life. We’re always aiming to make ideas sensible; this is the way to doxology. And sentimentality has a role to play.

But . . . sentimentality is dangerous. Perhaps the most useful takeaway from this book is its reminder that sentimentality is a rhetorical device of remarkable and often unrecognized power. Its power can be used for good. It can help us taste the sweetness of God’s truth. It can help revealed ideas come to life.

But if our appeal to sentiment is not clearly tied to truth, it will still be powerful and then it becomes dangerous. Brenneman’s book offers critical insight into how emotional experience can become the sole verification of authenticity and truth. If we aren’t careful, as pastors, we can all too easily build our people on a substitute foundation that won’t survive the shifting sands of what feels right.

We also can’t afford to underestimate the power of sentimental appeal in our preaching. It will usually be effective. It isn’t that difficult to move people, and it always feels good. But if not clearly tied to the point of the text, the power of this sort of appeal is a distracting power, an obfuscating and manipulating power. It’s a power that may draw us flattering attention as effective preachers—which is to say its power can be deadly.

God help us check our own hearts every time we aim at someone else’s.

THE ARGUMENT IN A NUTSHELL

First let me explain what the author means by sentimentality, then sketch out how he believes it functions in American evangelicalism.

He uses sentimentality to describe a kind of emotion or way of feeling. Within evangelicalism, it refers to feelings of love inspired by three main images: God as (doting) Father, humans as helpless but adored children, and the nostalgic home of a blissful nuclear family. According to Brenneman, “these three metaphors pervade evangelicalism and form the basis for the sentimental appeal” (6).

Though this sentimentality definitely doesn’t come off well in Brenneman’s account, he insists we shouldn’t take it as a pejorative term. It is an effective style of persuasion in its own right, and a powerful way of engaging with the world. The goal of the book is to reveal the power of this pervasive but overlooked feature in evangelical rhetoric.

To show how the “sentimental appeal” works, Brenneman chose to focus on three best-selling mega-church pastors from three different branches of the evangelical tree. The central figure is Max Lucado, Church of Christ pastor and bestselling author who was the subject of Brenneman’s dissertation. Then there’s church-growth strategist turned spiritual-life guru Rick Warren. And finally, there’s Joel Osteen, America’s big-smiling, stadium-filling, prosperity-promising pastor-at-large.

The first chapter introduces the images at the heart of evangelical sentimentality. Brenneman argues that these pastor-authors appeal to God-as-adoptive-Father to make individual Christians feel better about themselves. God is the type of Father who puts your drawings on his fridge and never misses a ball game. All the resources of his power and knowledge are aimed at meeting the smallest needs and solving the smallest problems of his helpless children. In summary, Brenneman writes, “The biblical symbol of adoption serves as a foundation for emotional exploitation in contemporary evangelicalism” (36).

In his second chapter, Brenneman illustrates how sentimentality replaces careful intellectual engagement with critical issues. That is to say, sustaining the power of sentimentality means avoiding doctrinal discussions that could be divisive. But Brenneman also argues sentimentality insulates evangelicalism from intellectual challenges like those associated with evolution. It cultivates a different way of knowing where,“Purveyors position the emotions as being more reliable than the intellect and as a trustworthier source of truth” (53).

The third and fourth chapters suggest how sentimentality—ostensibly at home in the private world of individual feeling—confers authority and influence in the public world of economics and politics.

Brenneman’s distaste for his subjects and their methods comes through most clearly in these chapters, and his argument would be stronger without so many undeveloped claims as to the “real” motives of these pastors (e.g., 109-11, 126, 129). But underneath it all, the book’s basic claims are sound. Sentimentality sells. That holds true from popular Christian music to evangelical children’s literature to the complex of “Jesus junk”—my words, not his—surrounding the best-selling books of these pastors.

And in the world of politics, Brenneman argues, the power of sentimentality helps explain why evangelicals have rallied to issues surrounding children (abortion) and the home (marriage). The irony, he claims, is that the focus on individuals and their needs may end up undermining any evangelical attempt to transform society, since their leaders are more comfortable appealing to individual emotions than speaking truth to power.

WHAT DO WE DO WITH SENTIMENTALITY?

At the end of the day, though, as an account of modern evangelicalism, this book is unconvincing. Brenneman’s brush is just too broad.

There’s no doubting Lucado, Warren, and Osteen have a wide-ranging influence. But there is a large and growing segment of evangelicalism in which these figures and their marketing empires are more often the butt of bad jokes than taken very seriously. Their books aren’t read. Their methods aren’t followed. Their rhetorical style comes off kitschy and foreign.

Folks in my corner of the evangelical world don’t want to be defined in their light, and there’s room for fair criticism of Brenneman’s book on this front. He does acknowledge a counterculture—in particular the signers of the Evangelical Manifesto (144ff). But I believe he underestimates how large this segment is.

That said, I don’t know any evangelicals for whom the fatherhood of God or promise of adoption aren’t central themes. I don’t know any who aren’t interested in helping people connect with God’s loving, providential care for their individual lives. And I think we’re at our best when we’re trying to get the hearts of our people engaged with the doctrines that fill our heads. By Brenneman’s definition, that makes us sentimental. Should we be okay with that? Is sentimentality a problem?

To answer that question, I think we need a far more nuanced understanding of sentimentality and its role than this book provides. Brenneman’s study is a starting point. We should take it as a call to greater self-awareness and an opportunity to think carefully about what we’re doing when we aim for the heart. In what follows I want to present at least a few qualifications toward a healthy use of sentimentality.

Sentimentality isn’t necessarily new. In Brenneman’s account, any celebration of God’s fatherly care is treated as innovative and merely therapeutic. He believes this sort of sentimental appeal “has integrally changed evangelicalism from the nineteenth century to the present” (159).

I’m not disputing that emotional engagement with the fatherhood of God is central to evangelicalism. I’m not disputing that some of the language used these days can be over the top. But I don’t believe the emphasis itself is uniquely modern. I’d say it’s basic to Christianity.

Granted, the Scriptures don’t promise that God has my birthday circled on his calendar. But there’s certainly an “appeal to tender feelings” (5) in Hosea’s image of God teaching Israel to walk, holding them up by their hands, bending over to feed them (Hos. 11:1-4). And isn’t there a tad of nostalgia when Jesus longs to gather Jerusalem “as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (Luke 13:34)? Brenneman may be right to suggest Paul’s language of fatherhood was influenced more by the Greco-Roman pater familias than by the romanticism of the 19th century (6). But Paul’s cry of “Abba! Father!” and his talk of the spirit of adoption leads straight into the promise that all things—even the mundane things—work together for the good of his children and that nothing can separate them from his love (Rom. 8:14-15, 28-39).

Sentimentality isn’t necessarily narcissistic. There is certainly a man-centered way to talk about God. And without question, narcissism remains a prominent problem in American evangelicalism. But it seems to me that Brenneman projects Osteen’s prosperity teaching onto anyone who celebrates God’s providential care for individuals (e.g., pp. 30-31). I agree we ought to be careful in how we tell people God loves them, but not more careful than Jesus.

When Jesus told followers they were more important than many sparrows, or that even their hairs were numbered by God (Matt. 10:29-31), he was drawing on the power of sentiment as Brenneman defines it. But he wasn’t fostering narcissism. He was glorifying the grace of God. He was drawing from one of the Bible’s consistent themes: the beauty of God’s love shows up in the particularity of his care for us, not because of how awesome we are but because of how gracious he is.

Sentimentality isn’t necessarily anti-intellectual. I agree with much of what Brenneman claims about the way sentimentality is used to avoid careful theological discourse. But he often assumes a dichotomy between emotional engagement via sentimentality and intellectual engagement (e.g., 31). It’s either constructive, apologetic theology or emotional obfuscation and exploitation. I believe Brenneman’s account misses a nuance at the heart of evangelicalism, one also rooted in the Scriptures. The goal of all Christian intellectual labor is worship. Doctrine and doxology go together. Doctrine is meant to inspire feelings of love, peace, gratitude and joy, and it’s emotional engagement that brings doctrine to life. We’re always aiming to make ideas sensible; this is the way to doxology. And sentimentality has a role to play.

But . . . sentimentality is dangerous. Perhaps the most useful takeaway from this book is its reminder that sentimentality is a rhetorical device of remarkable and often unrecognized power. Its power can be used for good. It can help us taste the sweetness of God’s truth. It can help revealed ideas come to life.

But if our appeal to sentiment is not clearly tied to truth, it will still be powerful and then it becomes dangerous. Brenneman’s book offers critical insight into how emotional experience can become the sole verification of authenticity and truth. If we aren’t careful, as pastors, we can all too easily build our people on a substitute foundation that won’t survive the shifting sands of what feels right.

We also can’t afford to underestimate the power of sentimental appeal in our preaching. It will usually be effective. It isn’t that difficult to move people, and it always feels good. But if not clearly tied to the point of the text, the power of this sort of appeal is a distracting power, an obfuscating and manipulating power. It’s a power that may draw us flattering attention as effective preachers—which is to say its power can be deadly.

God help us check our own hearts every time we aim at someone else’s.

THE ARGUMENT IN A NUTSHELL

First let me explain what the author means by sentimentality, then sketch out how he believes it functions in American evangelicalism.

He uses sentimentality to describe a kind of emotion or way of feeling. Within evangelicalism, it refers to feelings of love inspired by three main images: God as (doting) Father, humans as helpless but adored children, and the nostalgic home of a blissful nuclear family. According to Brenneman, “these three metaphors pervade evangelicalism and form the basis for the sentimental appeal” (6).

Though this sentimentality definitely doesn’t come off well in Brenneman’s account, he insists we shouldn’t take it as a pejorative term. It is an effective style of persuasion in its own right, and a powerful way of engaging with the world. The goal of the book is to reveal the power of this pervasive but overlooked feature in evangelical rhetoric.

To show how the “sentimental appeal” works, Brenneman chose to focus on three best-selling mega-church pastors from three different branches of the evangelical tree. The central figure is Max Lucado, Church of Christ pastor and bestselling author who was the subject of Brenneman’s dissertation. Then there’s church-growth strategist turned spiritual-life guru Rick Warren. And finally, there’s Joel Osteen, America’s big-smiling, stadium-filling, prosperity-promising pastor-at-large.

The first chapter introduces the images at the heart of evangelical sentimentality. Brenneman argues that these pastor-authors appeal to God-as-adoptive-Father to make individual Christians feel better about themselves. God is the type of Father who puts your drawings on his fridge and never misses a ball game. All the resources of his power and knowledge are aimed at meeting the smallest needs and solving the smallest problems of his helpless children. In summary, Brenneman writes, “The biblical symbol of adoption serves as a foundation for emotional exploitation in contemporary evangelicalism” (36).

In his second chapter, Brenneman illustrates how sentimentality replaces careful intellectual engagement with critical issues. That is to say, sustaining the power of sentimentality means avoiding doctrinal discussions that could be divisive. But Brenneman also argues sentimentality insulates evangelicalism from intellectual challenges like those associated with evolution. It cultivates a different way of knowing where,“Purveyors position the emotions as being more reliable than the intellect and as a trustworthier source of truth” (53).

The third and fourth chapters suggest how sentimentality—ostensibly at home in the private world of individual feeling—confers authority and influence in the public world of economics and politics.

Brenneman’s distaste for his subjects and their methods comes through most clearly in these chapters, and his argument would be stronger without so many undeveloped claims as to the “real” motives of these pastors (e.g., 109-11, 126, 129). But underneath it all, the book’s basic claims are sound. Sentimentality sells. That holds true from popular Christian music to evangelical children’s literature to the complex of “Jesus junk”—my words, not his—surrounding the best-selling books of these pastors.

And in the world of politics, Brenneman argues, the power of sentimentality helps explain why evangelicals have rallied to issues surrounding children (abortion) and the home (marriage). The irony, he claims, is that the focus on individuals and their needs may end up undermining any evangelical attempt to transform society, since their leaders are more comfortable appealing to individual emotions than speaking truth to power.

WHAT DO WE DO WITH SENTIMENTALITY?

At the end of the day, though, as an account of modern evangelicalism, this book is unconvincing. Brenneman’s brush is just too broad.

There’s no doubting Lucado, Warren, and Osteen have a wide-ranging influence. But there is a large and growing segment of evangelicalism in which these figures and their marketing empires are more often the butt of bad jokes than taken very seriously. Their books aren’t read. Their methods aren’t followed. Their rhetorical style comes off kitschy and foreign.

Folks in my corner of the evangelical world don’t want to be defined in their light, and there’s room for fair criticism of Brenneman’s book on this front. He does acknowledge a counterculture—in particular the signers of the Evangelical Manifesto (144ff). But I believe he underestimates how large this segment is.

That said, I don’t know any evangelicals for whom the fatherhood of God or promise of adoption aren’t central themes. I don’t know any who aren’t interested in helping people connect with God’s loving, providential care for their individual lives. And I think we’re at our best when we’re trying to get the hearts of our people engaged with the doctrines that fill our heads. By Brenneman’s definition, that makes us sentimental. Should we be okay with that? Is sentimentality a problem?

To answer that question, I think we need a far more nuanced understanding of sentimentality and its role than this book provides. Brenneman’s study is a starting point. We should take it as a call to greater self-awareness and an opportunity to think carefully about what we’re doing when we aim for the heart. In what follows I want to present at least a few qualifications toward a healthy use of sentimentality.

Sentimentality isn’t necessarily new. In Brenneman’s account, any celebration of God’s fatherly care is treated as innovative and merely therapeutic. He believes this sort of sentimental appeal “has integrally changed evangelicalism from the nineteenth century to the present” (159).

I’m not disputing that emotional engagement with the fatherhood of God is central to evangelicalism. I’m not disputing that some of the language used these days can be over the top. But I don’t believe the emphasis itself is uniquely modern. I’d say it’s basic to Christianity.

Granted, the Scriptures don’t promise that God has my birthday circled on his calendar. But there’s certainly an “appeal to tender feelings” (5) in Hosea’s image of God teaching Israel to walk, holding them up by their hands, bending over to feed them (Hos. 11:1-4). And isn’t there a tad of nostalgia when Jesus longs to gather Jerusalem “as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (Luke 13:34)? Brenneman may be right to suggest Paul’s language of fatherhood was influenced more by the Greco-Roman pater familias than by the romanticism of the 19th century (6). But Paul’s cry of “Abba! Father!” and his talk of the spirit of adoption leads straight into the promise that all things—even the mundane things—work together for the good of his children and that nothing can separate them from his love (Rom. 8:14-15, 28-39).

Sentimentality isn’t necessarily narcissistic. There is certainly a man-centered way to talk about God. And without question, narcissism remains a prominent problem in American evangelicalism. But it seems to me that Brenneman projects Osteen’s prosperity teaching onto anyone who celebrates God’s providential care for individuals (e.g., pp. 30-31). I agree we ought to be careful in how we tell people God loves them, but not more careful than Jesus.

When Jesus told followers they were more important than many sparrows, or that even their hairs were numbered by God (Matt. 10:29-31), he was drawing on the power of sentiment as Brenneman defines it. But he wasn’t fostering narcissism. He was glorifying the grace of God. He was drawing from one of the Bible’s consistent themes: the beauty of God’s love shows up in the particularity of his care for us, not because of how awesome we are but because of how gracious he is.

Sentimentality isn’t necessarily anti-intellectual. I agree with much of what Brenneman claims about the way sentimentality is used to avoid careful theological discourse. But he often assumes a dichotomy between emotional engagement via sentimentality and intellectual engagement (e.g., 31). It’s either constructive, apologetic theology or emotional obfuscation and exploitation. I believe Brenneman’s account misses a nuance at the heart of evangelicalism, one also rooted in the Scriptures. The goal of all Christian intellectual labor is worship. Doctrine and doxology go together. Doctrine is meant to inspire feelings of love, peace, gratitude and joy, and it’s emotional engagement that brings doctrine to life. We’re always aiming to make ideas sensible; this is the way to doxology. And sentimentality has a role to play.

But . . . sentimentality is dangerous. Perhaps the most useful takeaway from this book is its reminder that sentimentality is a rhetorical device of remarkable and often unrecognized power. Its power can be used for good. It can help us taste the sweetness of God’s truth. It can help revealed ideas come to life.

But if our appeal to sentiment is not clearly tied to truth, it will still be powerful and then it becomes dangerous. Brenneman’s book offers critical insight into how emotional experience can become the sole verification of authenticity and truth. If we aren’t careful, as pastors, we can all too easily build our people on a substitute foundation that won’t survive the shifting sands of what feels right.

We also can’t afford to underestimate the power of sentimental appeal in our preaching. It will usually be effective. It isn’t that difficult to move people, and it always feels good. But if not clearly tied to the point of the text, the power of this sort of appeal is a distracting power, an obfuscating and manipulating power. It’s a power that may draw us flattering attention as effective preachers—which is to say its power can be deadly.

God help us check our own hearts every time we aim at someone else’s.

http://9marks.org/review/book-review-homespun-gospel-by-todd-brenneman/

Book 27.95 got for Kindle for 10.00

Visit a Christian bookstore in America today, and you won’t have to search hard to find sentimental language. This reality is partly what led Todd Brenneman, Assistant Professor of Christian History at Faulkner University, to write his book, Homespun Gospel: The Triumph of Sentimentality in Contemporary American Evangelicalism (Oxford University Press, 2014). In Homespun Gospel Brenneman seeks to plot the influence of nineteenth-century sentimentality on American evangelicalism today.

Much of Brenneman’s study is driven by the sense that “most evangelicals have abandoned the life of the mind in favor of a religious life of emotion” (4) and thus that scholars have overemphasized categories of belief in their discussion of evangelicals. That is, Brenneman suggests that definitions of evangelicals (e.g., the Bebbington quadrilateral) rely too heavily on trying to identify shared doctrinal commitments and instead should look at practice and emotion.

To tackle this concern, Brenneman focuses his study on the writings and sermons of three prominent evangelicals: Max Lucado, Joel Osteen, and Rick Warren. He supplements his exploration of their works with selective reference to other writers such as Bruce Wilkinson (of The Prayer of Jabez fame), Joyce Meyer, and T. D. Jakes; to contemporary Christian music lyrics; to political figures such as Mike Huckabee; and to institutions such as Chick-fil-A.

He probes this question of sentimentality from four angles. First, he explores what he calls the “therapeutic culture” of evangelicalism, a culture that reinforces narcissistic tendencies in the individual, boiling down Christianity to dealing with personal problems and blinding evangelicals to broader societal concerns. This narcissism is supported by three common motifs in popular evangelicalism: God as father, human beings as God’s children, and the home and family as a seat of nostalgia. Lucado, Osteen, and Warren loom large in this discussion as Brenneman shows from their writings how they use “syrupy” language to appeal to the individual’s emotions. The emphasis falls on having “a personal relationship with God,” painting a picture of an emotional connection with the deity and downplaying the intricacies of theology (49).

That leads to a second angle: anti-intellectualism. Brenneman argues that evangelical anti-intellectualism emerges from a reliance on an outdated model of science driven by a Baconian–Common-Sense view of facts and a sentimentality that brushes aside detailed engagement in intellectual difficulties. Pastors like Lucado and Warren minimize doctrinal differences—and even their own denominational affiliations—in an attempt to appeal to larger numbers of people, and they use sentimentality to discuss a unity that hides differences. Brenneman describes the result of this tactic: “[c]entering emotion as the core of people’s religious identity lessens their need to be bound to specific doctrines” and “discourages the intellectual exploration of their faith” (81).

In the third angle, Brenneman examines how evangelicals use sentimentality in media and marketing to spread their message and, more importantly in Brenneman’s view, establish their brand or authority. Again, sentimentality allows them to downplay doctrinal differences and appeal to larger audiences through a smattering of products centered around a known quantity. Thus, for example, the Purpose-Driven Life brand has spawned Purpose-Driven journals, CDs, devotionals, pocket planners, and a line of greeting cards. From a media standpoint, contemporary Christian music and praise songs often glide over theological intricacies and even Christian particularities to appeal to broader audiences, so much that their simplified theology and emotional language were instrumental in the rise of megachurches and the expansion of Christianity in the late twentieth century. Sentimentality has also allowed for a focus on providing products for children such as VeggieTales movies, products that focus on broad messages like “God loves you” without exploring the details of biblical narrative.

The fourth angle, somewhat unexpectedly, explores evangelical involvement in politics. Brenneman argues that sentimentality defines the political concerns of evangelicals—specifically, their focus on family issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. At the same time, sentimentality blinds evangelicals to the deeper problems in political issues found in social structures and corrupt powers. Rather, Brenneman argues, relying on sentimentality causes evangelicals to come up only with “simplistic solutions,” and thus “they face difficult challenges in shaping this world into the kingdom of God” (143).

In the end, Brenneman’s study leads him to suggest a new definition of evangelicalism: “‘Evangelical’ refers to an aesthetical worldview fashioned by belief in the truthfulness of the Bible, by experience of new birth into the Christian community, by emotional relationship between individuals and God through Christ, by concern to share the message of Christ with others, and by interest in shaping human society into the kingdom of God” (16–17). For Brenneman, sentimentality is the “core” of evangelicalism (87), and it helps explain both the success of evangelicalism today and its inherent weaknesses and failures.

Evaluating Homespun Gospel

Brenneman makes several important observations in his book, observations that historians and evangelicals do well to consider. He illuminates aspects of evangelicalism that evangelicals have trouble seeing because they are in the culture. His volume is especially helpful in thinking about popular forms of evangelicalism, forms that minimize the role of theology in the church, that elevate the individual to narcissistic levels, and that tap into the power of marketing in ways that create personality cults rather than cultivating faithful devotion to Christ.

For example, he notes that the three popular evangelical ministers he studied have often fallen into the mode of basically saying that “the universe revolves around the practical problems of day-to-day life,” leading to “an individualistic gospel that encourages readers of works like these to consider that God has nothing better to do than make sure he fills his children’s lives with blessings” (48–49). Surely, the gospel is larger than this.

Again, Brenneman notes, “[w]hether it is asserting that one should be God’s best friend or should try Jesus instead of the church, many evangelicals are moving away from the doctrinal aspects of Christianity” (74). Certainly, if evangelicals are going to stay connected to historic Christianity in any real sense of the term, I would argue that they must gravitate toward, not away from, Christianity’s doctrinal distinctives.

Brenneman’s discussion of contemporary Christian music is particularly revealing. He shows how evangelicals have at times replaced names for the divine with generic pronouns and then set their songs in romantic settings that sound much like love songs played on secular radio. These are the songs that evangelicals play over and over and drill into their minds, songs with a simple message that he (Jesus) loves you without necessarily exploring a full-orbed theology for life.

Observations like these about sentimentality and its prevalence in popular evangelicalism are instructive not only for understanding the nature of popular evangelicalism, but also for evangelicals to consider constructive ways forward. Though many of the ideas Brenneman presents in his book make for a hard pill to swallow, evangelicals can benefit from thinking carefully about how sentimentality has affected popular evangelicalism in significant ways.

Bearing these important challenges in mind, I nonetheless had a few concerns about the book’s arguments. First, Brenneman’s methodology leaves me wondering about some of his broader conclusions. He does a good job of identifying themes of sentimentality in the pastors he examines, but does not offer a full assessment of the individual pastors. For example, while he points out the sentimental stream in Rick Warren’s writings and preaching, he does not offer a complex understanding of Warren’s theology or ministry as a whole. That leads to a potential misperception of Warren’s (and others’) thought.

In addition, Brenneman also draws selectively on other writers and elements of contemporary evangelicalism, such as lyrics from Christian praise songs, to highlight his themes. While this allows him again to identify sentimental language in various forms of the broader movement, it also means that his study misses other elements in evangelicalism that might qualify his thesis. For example, simply showing that a handful of praise songs has romantic language in them does not explain how that language is nuanced by other themes in those songs. Nor does it show how prevalent—or not—such sentimentality is in praise music.

Relatedly, while Brenneman rightly pinpoints a heavy emotionality in much of popular evangelicalism today, he does not explore how the many evangelicals who are devoted to intellectual endeavors might temper his argument. As one example, Tim Keller’s broad appeal as an intellectually engaged evangelical pastor speaks against Brenneman’s claim that “[t]he ordinary, the sentimental, and the anti-intellectual are combined to remove authority away from a life of the mind to the emotions evoked by everyday life” (65).

Again, I think this book is helpful in pointing out how contemporary popular evangelicalism is significantly influenced by sentimentality. But while Brenneman concludes that in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries there have been “relatively few preferring the rational [strand]” of evangelicalism, I think he downplays the presence of intellectually engaged evangelicals, even if they don’t sell as many books as Joel Osteen. Said another way, Brenneman’s methodological approach to the topic allows him to identify the theme of sentimentality in popular forms of evangelicalism, but fails to show that sentimentality is essential to evangelicalism as a whole.

Second, in some ways he overplays the discontinuity between contemporary American evangelicalism and historic Christianity. One must be careful here. I am not suggesting that no discontinuity exists. It most certainly does, and Brenneman brings out that discontinuity well by focusing on the influence of Victorian sentimentality on contemporary evangelicalism.

But in seeking to argue his thesis, I think he may overemphasize the sentimental theme. Christians have used some of the very language he identifies as sentimental long before the Victorian era. Language of God as father and Christians as children of God stems back to the Bible itself. While he makes a convincing argument that modern psychology has affected the way Christians talk about God as father, I’m concerned that he overstates the discontinuity of this theme between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and earlier eras when theologians also spoke of God as a loving Father. It would have been helpful to see more of the continuity between sentimental themes in the Christian tradition and in the contemporary evangelical scene.

Third—and this is a minor point, but still relevant—Brenneman selectively uses Jonathan Edwards to display an eighteenth-century theologian whose God is “angry” and who will burn unrepentant sinners in hell (20, 76). As Edwards scholars know, though, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” does not represent the quintessential Edwards. Using Edwards as a hellfire-preaching foil to sentimental Lucado minimizes important nuances—especially since Edwards had so much to say about human affections.

Defining “Evangelicalism”

Finally, we must consider Brenneman’s suggestion for a new definition of evangelicalism. He rightly encourages us to think about practice in our definition of evangelicals, but I wonder whether the specific emotional elements he incorporates into his definition really identify something distinctive about evangelicals.

First, he says evangelicals’ worldview is fashioned “by emotional relationship between individuals and God through Christ.” But wouldn’t liberal Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Orthodox Christians all recognize that they are shaped by emotional relationship in these ways? If you remove God from this statement, even atheists would have to agree that they are shaped by emotional relationship between individuals. That is to say, I don’t see that this phrase is distinctive of evangelicals.

Second, Brenneman argues that we should define evangelicals as having an “aesthetical worldview.” Here he seeks to highlight “the fluidity between belief and practice that exists in evangelicalism” (160). Underscoring the relationship between belief and practice certainly has merit, and yet again, I’m unsure how this is distinctive of evangelicals.

As an alternative, I find that Doug Sweeney’s definition offers an understanding of evangelicalism that incorporates an element of practice and emotion in a way that shows the distinctive heritage of evangelicalism in historical perspective: “Evangelicals comprise a movement that is rooted in classical Christian orthodoxy, shaped by a largely Protestant understanding of the gospel, and distinguished from other such movements by an eighteenth-century twist” (The American Evangelical Story, 23–24). He goes on to define key terms in this definition, connecting “classical Christian orthodoxy” with the ancient Christian creeds and “Protestant understanding of the gospel” with the solas of the Reformation (sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus, sola Scriptura). Most importantly, the eighteenth-century twist is a “renewal movement” that emerged out of the Great Awakening in the eighteenth century, and this movement shaped the practice of evangelicals in service and missions and the emotion of evangelicals in the emphasis on heart religion and Christian renewal. This definition allows us to make good on linking practice with belief while still speaking in terms that are distinctive to evangelicals.

Ultimately, I find in Brenneman’s book many beneficial observations about contemporary evangelicalism. He rightly identifies a number of sentimental themes in popular forms of the movement that help us understand it better.

My sense, however, is that he pushes his thesis farther than the historical evidence can bear by identifying evangelicals’ “dependence on emotion—especially sentimentality—as the sine qua non of religion” (19). He defines “the core of the evangelical message” as “the sentimental connection between the human being and God” (87), declares that “the core of evangelicalism” is “sentimental emotion” (90), and argues that “[f]rom the middle of the nineteenth century, sentimentality became a core part of evangelical practice” (111). In Brenneman’s analysis, sentimentality is essential to evangelicalism, and this core sentimentality in evangelicals “renders them unable to answer the intellectual challenges that evangelicalism faces in the contemporary period” (19).

To say that sentimentality is “the core” of “the evangelical message” is a stretch. Few evangelicals today would articulate the “core” of their faith as a sentimental emotion. Brenneman justifies this approach by reading “against the grain,” but even with the influence of sentimentality on evangelicals in the modern era, such emotional appeals do not fully distinguish them from the broader Western culture which also relies heavily on emotional appeals in its popular forms. And evangelicals clearly form a distinct group from the broader culture.

So what differentiates them? At the very least, they are distinguished by their belief in and commitment to the gospel, the euangelion (Greek for “gospel”) from which they derive their name. Brenneman has done evangelicals and historians a favor by showing us how sentimentality has influenced evangelicals in their popular religious expressions, but has failed to convince this reader that sentimentality forms the “core” of the evangelical movement.

Have you any interested in having all your sins forgiven affiliation

Charles Town Sport Compendium Room 2021

2021-01-01T10:55:00.001-06:00

Holy Spirit Filled

2021-01-01T05:42:00.000-06:00

  If one has to go to a class to learn words to say, when they think they need to speak in what they have been taught is tongue. How is that from the Spirit ?

Ways You Can Know You’re in Step with the Holy Spirit

As soon as you put your trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your life. He is always with you, and his power is always available to you. Here are 3 ways you know you are tapping into the supernatural power that Jesus has given to you through the presence of his Spirit.

1. You are growing in love. One of the key markers of the Holy Spirit’s work in your life is the way that you love others. This is one of the last things that Jesus told his disciples before going to the cross.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. – John 13:35

The world will know that we follow Jesus not by how we vote or how many Sundays out of the year we attend church. The world will know about Jesus by the way we show his love.

2. You are becoming more like Jesus. Another key aspect of walking in the Spirit is that your life will begin to look more and more like Jesus. You will begin to step away from things like bitterness, jealousy, greed, lust, and anger. You’ll step toward things like love, kindness, generosity, justice, and purity. And that’s because following Jesus revolutionizes everything about your life.
Paul puts it this way:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17

3. You are living with purpose. We all want to live with purpose. In fact, it’s a desire that God has put within you. David puts it this way in one of his psalms:

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. – Psalm 57:2

The thing about walking with the Spirit is that he gives your life so much meaning and purpose. He fulfills his purpose in you. He causes you to become the person you were always meant to be. You fulfill your purpose when you use your unique passions, gifts, and skills to love and serve others in the name of Jesus. And that’s exactly the work that the Holy Spirit will do within you if you walk with him and listen to his voice.
And that’s what it means to be baptized with Holy Spirit fire.
Recommended for You:
The Baptism and Filling of the Holy Spirit
Does Someone Have to Pray in Tongues to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit?
What Are Pentecost and Shavuot? 10 Things Christians Should Know
Baptism: What Is It? Meaning and Definition
What Does ‘Worship in Spirit and Truth’ Really Mean?
What Is Speaking in Tongues? Is it Biblical and Still Relevant Today?

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Yes! Being filled with the Spirit of God has no connection with the speaking of tongues. The speaking of tongues already accomplished its purpose in eternity past at the Pentecost. God is more concerned of the transformed lives of persons redeemed by the blood of Jesus and who put their faith in Him. Speaking of tongues does not change a person it makes him proud and glorifies himself rather than God if every now and then that person commits sin and then becomes emotional thru speaking of tongues. I am a witness to people who are practicing it.

https://www.facebook.com/154851931305242/posts/2224577894332625/

I said .

1. If one has to go to a class to learn words to say, when they think they need to speak in what they have been taught is tongue. How is that from the Spirit ?

2. Can you find another person who can interpret what is been said?

3. When speaking these words does those words glorify God?

4. Does God really need to hear those words that you could not even spell?

5. How are the unknown sound coming out of the mouth that is said to be from the Holy Ghost benefiting someone if they do not even know what is said?

New Year 2021

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Preaching Truth

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You never measure a man’s ministry by earthly measurements.

Carey, in India for thirty-five years; and only then did he see a convert. Would anyone question the virtue of his life? Let God be the judge. Let’s bow together in prayer.

Anybody can preach a whittled-down gospel.

Anybody can preach some kind of a deal where you take a little dab of biblical truth and slap it together with human wisdom, and contaminate it with your own cleverness and your own views.

But if you do that, you are a hawker and a huckster.

Any man is adequate for that.

But the man who preaches unmixed, divine truth, pure and clean, can only do that in power that is given from on high.”

So Paul found his way out of the gloom – didn’t he? –
out of the gloom of a broken heart, and he found his way back

to thanksgiving,

began to focus on God,

and realized that he had to go back to the privileges
and not to the problems

What a privilege

the privilege of being associated with the King of kings, and have Him as a leader;

the privilege of a promised triumph, all through his life He’s victorious;

the privilege of influencing men and women for eternity;

the privilege of being pleasing to God; the privilege, the great privilege of having power in proclaiming the truth.

Rivers of Joy Baptist Church, Minford, Ohio

2020-07-20T10:15:00.000-05:00

We begin our 13th year at Rivers of Joy Baptist Church in Minford Ohio. Started in July 2008,

From man's point of view, I would say it has been a failure. I know in the end God will be the final judge of the ministry of this church and how I have been the pastor.

What I can say is that I have to give an account of my preaching and actions to the Lord.

Charity has been a strong supporter of me since we came to ROJBC. She has confirmed that she has been blessed by the teaching of the Word of God. And not necessary all of the actions that I have tried to do as pastor.

Why do I stay? I am not real sure. If I leave that building will be closed for good. I don't believe there will be another church group there. If it were possible I would love to see it happen.

I love to preach and teach the Word, and as long as I can I will do it.

People in this area of Minford, have found the church one that they do not want to attend. There are some really good churches in the area that are doing great.

Over the last several years we have had a number of members to die and that their family would not attend.

I do not push our few to push others to come. Those few who come like my teaching of the Word of God. And those who have moved and watch on Facebook enjoy the teaching of the Word and when in town they attend the services.

Personally we like teaching and meeting with our few each week. It is a joy.

We invite people to come, but that has not happen much.

Alan and Angie Harris

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Just out of Seminary Alan came to First Baptist Church in Altoona, Kansas 1982

Alan has preached for us in every church we have passed

Three great boys

Rivers of Joy Baptist Church

Alan and Angie are a great team

Evangelist, Missionary, Gospel Singer and Friend

First Peter 2:24

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live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

The meaning of the cross First Peter 2:24

Read John 10:10-29 Charles e Whisnant Pastor/Teacher

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

The meaning of the cross First Peter 2:24

Read John 10:10-29 Charles e Whisnant Pastor/Teacher

WHO HIS OWN SELF BARE ^{399 OR}

AND HE HIMSELF BORE _{OUR SINS}:

Exodus 28:38; And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

Psalms 38:4; Isaiah 53:4-22 Matthew 8:17; John 1:29, 36; Hebrew 9:28)

He Himself - MacArthur comments that this phrase "is an emphatic personalization and stresses that the Son of God voluntarily and without coercion (John 10:15-18) died as the only sufficient sacrifice for the sins of all who would ever believe

John 1:10-29; 3:16; 10" 1Timothy 2:5, 6; 4:10; Hebrews 2:9 and 17.

The very name Jesus indicated that He would "save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

They shall therefore keep My charge, so that they may not bear sin because of it, and die thereby because they profane it; I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Peter presents the ultimate illustration of unjust suffering in the Cross of Christ.

Jesus shall Bare or bore (399)( literally means to carry, bring or bear up and so to cause to move from a lower position to a higher position. It serves as a technical term for offering sacrifices, offer up to an altar

Figuratively (as used here by Peter) means to take up and bear sins by imputation (act of laying the responsibility or blame for) as typified by the ancient sacrifices.

Hebrew 7:27 Read Isaiah 53 Read John 1:29

THIS CROSS (3586)is literally wood and refers to anything made of wood, including a tree or other wooden article or substance.

QUOTATIONS ON THE CROSS There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross-bearers here below. - C H Spurgeon We need men of the cross, with the message of the cross, bearing the marks of the cross. - Vance Havner

The race of Adam is under the death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear, or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him, and then raising him again to newness of life.

A little bit about the CROSS - tree

The suffering entailed in crucifixion naturally made the cross a symbol of pain, distress and burden-bearing. Thus Jesus used it Himself (Matthew 10:38; 16:24). In Paulinic literature the cross stands for the preaching of the doctrine of the Atonement (1Cor 1:18; Gal 6:14; Phil 3:18; Col 1:20). It shows the bond of unity between the Jew and the Gentile (Ephesians 2:16), and between the believer and Christ, and also symbolizes sanctification (Gal 5:24). The cross is the center and circumference of the preaching of the apostles and of the life of the New Testament church.

So why did Jesus have to go to the Cross

He came into the sinner’s world. — Himself sinless, he took our nature. Accustomed to the pure atmosphere of His own bright home, He allowed His ears and eyes to be set on by sounds and sight below. His blessed feet tread among the dust of death, the mounds of graves, and the traps that men laid to catch Him. And all for love of us.

THAT WE BEING DEAD TO SIN OR DIE TO SIN:

1Peter 4:1,2; Ro 6:2,7,11; 7:6; Col 2:20; 3:3; 2Cor 6:17; Heb 7:26)

Might die (581) means to be afar off, to be away from, to be removed from, to depart. It means to cease existing and implies a complete and abrupt change.

TO SIN (266)(hamartia) literally expresses the sense of missing the mark as when hunting with a bow and arrow (in Homer some hundred times of a warrior hurling his spear but missing his foe). Later came to mean missing or falling short of any goal, standard, or purpose.
True conversion is not just intellectual assent to the truth of the gospel. Saving faith always involves an exchange of masters, from self to Jesus Christ. While we spend a lifetime growing in our submission to Christ, if we are not seeking to live under His Lordship, our claim to faith is suspect.

BUT LIVE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS: (Matthew 5:20; Luke 1:74,75; Acts 10:35; Romans 6:11,16,22; Ephesians 5:9; Php 1:11; 1 John 2:29; 3:7)

Live (2198) refers to natural physical life but figuratively (as used here)is reference to how one conducts oneself. Ultimately Christ has opened the door for believers to enjoy life in its fullest, richest sense, as God intended it to be lived. And in context such a life is one that conforms to God's holy character (which equates with righteousness), for He is the essence of righteousness. When one lives to righteousness they will manifest rightness of character before God and rightness of actions before men. Both of these qualities are based on truth, which is conformity to the Word and will of God.

Righteousness (1343) Definition: Righteousness is the state of moral perfection required by God to enter heaven.However, the Bible clearly states that human beings cannot achieve righteousness through their own efforts: "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." (Romans 3:20.

MINISTER TO THE PEOPLE'S NEEDS

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MINISTER TO THE PEOPLE'S NEEDS

Luke 10:9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'

And heal those in it who are sick -

Notice this verse begins with and (kai) linking it to the previous thought. In other words those who receive Jesus' men is where healing of the sick can take place. Easterners are often more impressed by what people do than by what hey say, thus religious men are thus expected to have extraordinary powers. .

Luke describes the ministry of our Lord“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38)

Heal (2323)(therapeuo from therapon =

\ an attendant, servant) means primarily to care for, to wait upon, minister to.

It has two main senses in the NT, one speaking of rendering service (Acts 17:25) and the more common use describing medical aspects such as to take care of the sick, to heal, to cure (Matt. 4:24; 12:10; Mark 1:34; Luke 6:7; 10:9),

to recover health, to restore.

to heal miraculously in Matt. 4:23, 24; 10:1, 8; Acts 4:14. Providing care to improve a situation. is a command in the present imperative.

In the NT therapeuo never means “to serve” in a secular sense, and only once in Acts 17:25 does it denote worship. Paul's point here is that the true God has no cultic dwelling and does not need a cultic ministry, so that the therapeuÃein that is suitable for idols is inappropriate to him.

A much more common use is for “healing,” not merely in the sense of medical treatment, but in the sense of the real healing that the Messiah brings.

Jesus has power to heal the sick (Lk. 7:21ff.).

This is no less a part of his ministry than preaching (Mk. 4:23).

No sickness can resist him. He heals many (Mk. 3:10) or all (Mt. 12:15), whether they be ill, lame, blind, maimed, or deaf and dumb, and whenever the need arises even though it be on the sabbath (Mt. 12:10 etc.).

Driving out demons is one form of healing. This is done by the word in what is sometimes a violent struggle (cf. Lk. 4:40-41; Mk. 3:10-11).

The word also cures ailments or defects, though Jesus will often touch the sick (Mk. 1:41), take their hand (1:31), lay on hands (5:23), or perform acts like those of doctors (7:33; cf. Jms. 5:14).

The sick may simply touch him or his garment (Mk. 3:10; 5:28; cf. Peter's shadow in Acts 5:15 and Paul's clothing in Acts 19:12).

The healing is total as Jesus, initiating the age of salvation, takes away the sicknesses of the people (Mt. 8:17; cf. Is. 53:4).

The actual processes may have parallels in Greek and Jewish records, but the important point is the demonstration that with Jesus God's kingdom has already broken into our suffering world.

The real miracle, then, is not the breaking of natural law but victory in the conflict for world mastery.

Following up this victory, Jesus commands his disciples to heal the sick.

The command itself, received in faith, grants them the power (Mt. 10:1 etc.).

The risen Lord repeats the commission, and in Jesus' name the apostles heal the sick and demon-possessed (Acts 5:16; cf. Peter in Acts 3:1ff., Philip in Acts 8:7, Paul in Acts 28:8-9).

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The Kingdom of God - One must understand that there are two phases to the Kingdom of God.

The first phase is the invisible, internal Kingdom of God and which He later described as "in your midst” (Lk 17:21-note), the Kingdom in which the King reigns in the heart of the person who has accepted Jesus as Messiah

To proclaim the Kingdom of God is to preach the Gospel, to proclaim the good news of salvation, explaining how one can enter the Kingdom of God.

When the King returns on "the day that the Son of Man is revealed," (Lk 17:30- the heart of every person will also be revealed as to whether they sought the kingdom of "self" or the kingdom of the Savior!

The future phase of the Kingdom of God is known as the Messianic Age or the Millennial Kingdom.(See more detailed explanation of Jesus' meaning of the Kingdom of God in Luke 17:20-21).

Jesus knew the Jews were looking for the future aspect of the Kingdom of God, but His preaching and that of His disciples was to explain how one could enter the invisible aspect of the Kingdom of God in the present and in that way they would be assured of experiencing the visible Kingdom of God in the future.

John MacArthur explains the kingdom of God has come near - The message the seventy proclaimed was that the kingdom of God had come near because the King, the Lord Jesus Christ, was present—the same message proclaimed by John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2), Jesus (Matt. 4:17, 23; 9:35; Luke 4:43), and the apostles (Matt. 10:7).

A kingdom is a realm, sphere, or territory ruled by an absolute monarch who functions with absolute authority. In the kingdom of God,

He is the “blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15). In a general sense, all creation is included under His sovereign rule in His universal kingdom (Ps. 103:19), but the kingdom of salvation is the theme of all gospel preaching.

Those who enter that aspect of His kingdom through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ submit themselves completely to His authority and receive all the benefits of eternal life.

The rest of humanity is in the kingdom of the world (Rev. 11:15), under the rule of Satan (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Acts 26:18; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2); there are no free agents.

a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20–21.

Luke 10:7

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Luke 10:6 "If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.

LET THEIR PEACE DICTATE WHETHER YOU GO OR STAY

Man of peace (son of peace) -

This was a Hebrew idiom meaning "a peaceful man." This describes a man whose character reveals that peace which he receives from God. Such a man would have been responsive to Christ's messengers.

In the Semitic sense of “one characterized by wholeness,” that is, “one who has been born of peace and is also destined for the peace of others”

Rest on (1879)(epanapaúō from epí = upon + anapaúomai = to rest)

means to rely, rest, repose oneself upon, finding comfort or inner security (Ro. 2:17 = only other NT use; Sept.: Mic. 3:11);

to rest with the sense of remaining upon (Luke 10:6)

Used in the Septuagint of the Holy Spirit resting on men (Nu 11:25, 26) and spirit of Elijah resting on Elisha (2 Kgs. 2:15).

- basic meaning = rest on;

(1) continue, remain with (Lk 10.6);

(2) as finding comfort through confident dependence on something rely on, trust in

Romans 2:17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God,

Numbers 11:25 (and Nu 11:26) Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again.

Micah 3:11 Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests instruct for a price And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on LORD saying, "Is not the LORD in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us."

return to you - Common verb anakamptō, to bend back, return.

The peace in that    Jesus instructs these men on what to when they entered a home.

They were to pronounce God's peace on that home. If that person was peaceful, he would enjoy the blessing of peace. If he was not, then God's peace would rest upon the disciples.

Those who greeted these men had an opportunity to be a blessing or to reject that opportunity.

If the people extended hospitality to these disciples, they were to eat whatever was set before them and be content.

Some of those homes may have included non-Jewish families that did not observe the Levitical dietary laws.

Jesus told them to willingly eat and drink what was before them and not be distracted by their meals.

Jesus also told his disciples to accept hospitality graciously because their work entitled them to it.

Preachers of the Gospel deserve to be supported, and it is believers' responsibility to make sure they have what they need.

2020-05-29T02:58:00.000-05:00

Charles Town

Sport Compendium Room

The McDermott Pond Creek Division

A room 25'by 25' filled with Sports

Sports cards, Hot Wheels, NASCAR,

Starting Lineup, Magazines, M2 Machine Cars.

Three tables of Trains
C.E Whisnant, Owner,

CHARLES TOWN SPORTS COMPENDIUM R00M

4324 D McDermott Pond Creek Division

DISPLAYING STEAM & DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES RAILWAY

1. Hot Wheels Cars      2. How Wheels "Character Cars.

3. Matchbox Cars       4. Wheaties Boxs

5. 1/64 M²Machine        6. 1/24 M2Machine Cars

7. 1/24 American Clasic, Fast & Fuprious, Bigtime Muscle, CC

8. 1/24 NASCAR cars        9. 1/64 NASCAR cars

10. Sports Cards: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Golf

11. Sport Magazines:
        11. Train Magazines

13. Starting Lineups Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey

14. Headliners Baseball, Football, Baskebetball, Hockey

15. 1/64 NASCAR Figures of drivers & cars

16. Open 1/64 cars      17. Train Posters

18. Trains Jigsaw Puzzles       19. Framed Pictures Trains

20. Pictures of Old Cars      21. Display of 1/18 G Trains

22. DVD and VHS's of Trains, Amtrak. model displays

The Wrath of God

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THE WRATH OF GOD - John MacArthur

Now, sometimes when you talk about God being a God of wrath, certain people get disturbed. And they don't understand how God can be a God of anger and God can be a God of wrath and God can be a God of fury, a God of terror. But that's because they don't understand God.

Let's see if we can't help ourselves to a deeper understanding of His wrath in perspective with all of His other attributes.

God's attributes are balanced in His divine perfection. And they are perfectly balanced. If God did not have wrath and God did not have anger then He would not be God.

God is perfect in love, on the one hand, and He is equally perfect in hate, on the other hand.

Just as totally as He loves, so totally does He hate. As His love is unmixed, so is His hate unmixed.

Of Christ, it says in Hebrews 1:9, "Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity." And there is that perfect balance in the nature of God. One of the tragedies of Christianity in our time is a failure to preach the hatred of God, the judgment of God. We're so sweet We're so sentimental.

We're so kind of mushy in our Christianity. When is the last time you heard a new song on the wrath of God? Heard one lately? I haven't.

Does God hate anyone?

by Matt Slick

The universalists repeatedly say things like, "God loves us all so much that He will save us all"; or "He hates the sin, but loves the sinner"; or "God is love, and will not send anyone to hell."

Universalists teach that God is so full of love, that He simply cannot send anyone to eternal hell fire. It is against His infinite love. They want God to forgive all, even those who openly reject Him and die cursing God.

I must admit, it is nice to think of God's love being so infinitely great that all will ultimately be saved. Hell is a terrible place and I don't want anyone to go there. But it does not matter what I think. It matters what the Bible says.

God is love (1 John 4:8), but God also punishes the sinner and hates all who do iniquity. God is not one sided. He is not simply an infinitely loving God. He is also infinitely just. He must deal with sin. He must punish the sinner.

In the truth of God's word, we find that the Lord has provided one way by which we may be saved. That single way is through Jesus' sacrifice. For all who trust in Him, salvation will come. But to those who turn away, God's wrath abides upon them: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him," (John 3:36).

Does God hate anyone?

Does God hate anyone? The answer is yes.

Psalm 5:5, "The boastful shall not stand before Thine eyes; Thou dost hate all who do iniquity,"

Psalm 11:5, "The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates."

Lev. 20:23, "Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them."

Prov. 6:16-19, "There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers."

Hosea 9:15, "All their evil is at Gilgal; indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more; All their princes are rebels."

Are these verses hard to read? Do they make you feel uncomfortable? They should. God hates sin. But, He does not punish sin. He punishes the sinner. Sin cannot be tied up and thrown into a fire. It cannot be put in a box or glued to a stick. It is rebellion. It is rebellion in the heart. It is breaking God's Law. Sin occurs inside the heart and mind of people.

Therefore, God must punish the sinner. Why? Because He is both Holy and Just and the person who sins offends God. God's Holy and Just character will not allow Him to ignore this offense. Why?....

2020-05-19T05:59:00.001-05:00
The couplet ascribed to Luther is one of his best known
‘Love God and sin boldly’.

For some, this is a call to a radical understanding of the Gospel.

For others, it’s a symptom of the excessive language of grace that can lead to Antinomianism. This slogan has served as the central feature of Catholic criticism of Protestantism and of ev                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        angelical criticism of neo-Lutheranism. It’s an important quote to get right.

When did Luther say ‘Love God and Sin Boldly’?

When Luther wrote ‘love God and sin boldly’, it was 1521 and it had only been several months since he stood trial for his reformation.

The quote occurs in a letter from Luther to Melanchthon, which Luther wrote in the Wartburg castle, hiding out to avoid execution.

Obviously, he had not worked out every issue of the divide between the old faith and the Reformation. And if it was hard for Luther, it was doubly hard for his advocates back in Wittenberg without their leader.

The letter in question is actually only a fragment. There is no salutation or much context, and so it drops into a conversation midstream. Melanchthon is the formal cause of Luther’s comments, as he was agitated about the radicalized ideas of some in Wittenberg, who wanted to burn all traces of Catholicism out of the church. The majority of church activities before Luther were now being said, not only to be misguided and wrong, but sinful for all who had participated. Melanchthon was, by nature, a man of weaker constitution and this language gave him heartburn.

So Melanchthon wrote a letter, now lost, asking Luther to comment on the sinfulness of Catholic practices: things such as celibacy, fasting, communion in one kind. Melanchthon seems to wonder if these things, though misguided in Catholicism, were themselves sinful. Couldn’t these practices be done faithfully for the Gospel?
The letter fragment from Luther, then, drops right into these subjects. In other words, the subject is not fundamentally about

Luther’s view of sanctification, but how the Gospel works its fingers into the traditional piety of former Catholics. Paragraph after paragraph deals with celibacy, monasticism, communion, and what Luther calls the ‘fictitious works’ of the pope. Luther also challenges the hardliners in Wittenberg for assuming they are achieving purity. So the message is not to ‘sin boldly’ in sanctification but to grasp the basic grammar of justification by faith: works contribute nothing to justification, so stop trying to add them.

Luther’s comment

If you wish to read the letter fragment in an English translation, you can here. I will quote only the crucial paragraph in question:

   If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners

. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong [or sin boldly], but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God’s glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.

A few things stand out in this paragraph. First, the slogan itself is placed in a wider reflection where Luther stressed to Melanchthon his sinfulness in order to grasp the cross. The statement is not: ‘Love God’ (justification) and ‘sin boldly’ (anti-sanctification).

Rather it is the same point Luther defended at the trial at Worms: the Law shows us our inability to contribute anything to justification.

The rest of the paragraph drives to this same conclusion. Of course, the hyperbole towards the end about sin being covered in Christ ‘even if we were to kill or commit adultery’ is arresting. But it should also be said that Melanchthon was not a murderer or an adulterer. He was an older brother, not a prodigal son. Luther’s point is that, even in the most inconceivable example of ongoing sin, Christ’s atonement covers the sinner. This is hyperbole about the old man who hangs on and still tempts us, not about how justified sinners will actually commit adultery and murder each day.
Lastly, the last line of the paragraph is a real gem, and gives us the final clue as to Luther’s pastoral concern for brother Melanchthon: you’re a sinner, man, get used to it. And the more you get used to it, the more the cross will make sense as the ground of your entire life.

Conclusion

So should we repeat the slogan ‘Love God and sin boldly’? My instincts are to be extremely cautious about this phrase, as we are not saying this in the same situation as Luther. \

In my experience, I have never heard this slogan where the meaning isn’t pressing folks to ignore the Christian life. (Your experience with this slogan may be different, of course.) The times I’ve heard this idiom quoted, the intention always seems to drive towards a justification-only view of salvation—no union with Christ, no Holy Spirit renewal, but rather easing us into the lukewarm water of cheap grace.

It is helpful, too, to notice that Luther never speaks in this hyperbole to layfolks in his preaching. Nothing comes close, though he is always clear to stress the inability of sinners to save
themselves.

When discussing the Christian life Luther never instructs someone to ‘sin boldly’, but instead tells them to focus on the cross and let the Spirit do the real work in us. He abhors those who think he is advocating active sin and rebukes Antinomianism. As a pastor,

Luther would never tell anyone to ‘sin boldly’.

Now to a former Catholic, like Melanchthon, he will hammer on them to stop hanging on to the cycle of penance of his youth. Be a sinner! Own it. Understand that even those who are not struggling with serious sins are still covenant breakers in need of the cross.

So the boldness of sin is the boldness that takes us to the cross. It’s the boldness to admit were really do need Jesus.

Ryan Reeve
=========================================
Let Your Sins Be Strong:
                     A Letter From Luther to Melanchthon
               Letter no. 99, 1 August 1521, From the Wartburg
_                        Dr, Johannes GeorgWalch,

    Of course, you can only know and absolve those sins which have been     confessed to you; sins which have not been confessed to you, you      neither need to know nor can you absolve them. That is reaching too     high, dear gentlemen."

        You cannot convince me that the same is true for the vows made by     priests and monks. For I am very concerned about the fact that the     order of priesthood was instituted by God as a free one. Not so that     of the monks who chose their position voluntarily, even though I have     almost come to the conclusion that those who have entered into that     state at an age prior to their manhood, or are currently at that     stage, may secede with a clear conscience. I am hesitant, however,     with a judgment about those who have been in this state for a long     time and have grown old in it.


John 3:16

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John 3:16
For God
So love the world
That He gave
His only begotton Son
That whosoever
Believes
In Him
should not perish
but have eternal life

Interpreting the Bible Responsibly

Now here is how it happens: every time I talk about the doctrine of Election, the first verse that gets thrown up to me is how about John 3:16.

"What about John 3:16?" And I would say what about John 3:16 I would say?

"For God so love the the world that whosoever..........rest of the verse.

And they would unline whosoever five times. and whosoever believe will have everlasting life?" they will read.

"And".... I would say:

They say "well that means everyone has the moral power to choose Jesus and anybody who choose Jesus out of that moral power will be saved."

I look at John 3:16 and I can't find that. Where is that in that verse?

"Well it is obvious?"

Well no it isn't.

You are drawing an inference (a conclusion reached on the basis of your reasoning, or you are inferring something on the text that is not there, or stated)

"No what the verse states explicit (stated clearly and in detail. leaving no room for confusion or doubt) all who do A will not receive B and will receive C."

"All who believe will not perish."

All who are in the category will not be included in the category of those who will perish. But will be included in the category who participate or share will have eternal life.

That is what the text teaches explicity. It tell us what happens to those who believe as oppose to those who do not believe.

Now what does the verse say to those who have the moral power to believe?

Do I need to translate that? Nothing.

What does the Bible say explicity about man's natural ability to incline himself to believe and do the things of God.

What does the Lord say explicity?

"No man (universal nagative) can come to Me unless it is given to him by the Father." John 6:44.

"This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." (esv)

Does the Bible teach that in our fallen condition man have the natural ability in his own power to bring himself to Christ? To choose Jesus when we want to.?

No it doesn't.

The Lord Jesus Christ said. we do not have the natural ability, none of has, unless God meets the necessary conditions for us to be able to respond to the Gospel.

That is what the Bible tells us explicity, (fully and clearly expressed and is demonstrated; leaving nothing mrerly implied. ) about our moral ability.

But that explicit teaching that Jesus gives in John 6 is trumped by an implication drawn (the conclusion that can be drawn from a verse although it is not explicity stated.) from John 3. Same author who said in John 6 only God can grant salvation .

Do not interpret the explicit by your inplicit. But you interpret the implication by what is explicit stated.

Luther said' You intereprete the obscure with the clear, not the clear with the obscure."

"No man can come unto me."

Unless the fields had been hpdrepared it was in vain to sow the seed. No effort on the sower's part could make them receptive.

The fact that they believed not, declared that their hearts were not prepared, but did not affect the goodness of the seed.

This defection did not surprise Him,s he ad alread used words whicdh anticipated it. (John 6:37, 44.)

The soul of man the flesh is of no value, so without the quickening Spirit of God all forms of religion are dead and worthless.

"except it were given him." John 6:65

"Plainly showing that by the Father's "drawing" (John 6:44) was meant an internal and efficacious operation, for in recalling the statement here He says, it must be "given to a man to come" to Christ. "

"that no man can come to me, except it be given him by my Father"

'Which is the same, as to be drawn by the Father; for faith in Christ is the gift of God, and coming to Him, is owing to efficacious grace, and is not the produce of man's power and free will." John Gill.

"Because many of you believe not, and therefore, though there is in them the outward appearance of

discipleship, they lack the inward divine preparation. " Myers.

"All that brings men to Christ is the Father's gift." John 6;65

"Therefore" (better to say:, "for this cause." (John 12:18; John 12;27) John 5:15; John 5:18; John 7:22 and John 8:47.

"Given" by the drawing of grace.

Christ has come completely round to the fundamental principles with which he sated.

The coming to Him, the believing on Him, the spiritual apprehension of His Divine humanity, the adoring acceptance of His precious blood, the reception of the spiritual life-giving energy which went forth from Him in word, depended on the Father's "drawing" - on those fundamentnal characteristics of appetite and capacity to receive the grace of Chdrist which are subjective and are referrible to the Father's good pleasure.

Christ does not give the hunger, but the bread. From the beginning He saw the presence of the appetite after that which He came to bestow.

Sometimes a morbid cessation of all hunger, a moribund cessation of thirst, may be and is transformed into passionate and life-saving eagerness by The sight of food.

The Father gives both the hunger and the food, the sense of need and the heavenly supply.

The love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, is ethe drawing of the Father through the Son to Himself.

The drawing of the Father is the giving of souls to the Son: A fresh thought is here added, This drawing, thus interpreted, is God's gift also to the human soul.

Landscaping

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When came to our current house in 08 03 2012 the back of the house look like this. While it was need to see, the tress was right up to the back deck.

Today 05 2020 we have done a lot of work.

What Does It Mean That God is Sovereign in SALVATION

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What does it mean when we say that God is sovereign in salvation?

Charles H. Spurgeon has said it about as well as can be said by men:

"First, then, DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY AS EXEMPLIFIED IN SALVATION.

If any man be saved, he is saved by divine grace and by divine grace alone; the reason of his salvation is not to be found in him, but in God.

We are not saved as the result of anything that we do or that we will, but we will and do as the result of God’s good pleasure and the work of His grace in our hearts.

No sinner can prevent God; that is, he cannot go before Him, cannot anticipate Him. God is always first in the matter of salvation. He is before our convictions, before our desires, before our fears, and before our hopes. All that is good or ever will be good in us is preceded by the grace of God and is the effect of a divine cause within."\

"Again, the grace of God is sovereign. By that we mean that God has an absolute right to give that grace where He chooses and to withhold it when He pleases

He is not bound to give it to any man, much less to all men; if He chooses to give it to one man and not to another, His answer is,

‘Is thine eye evil because mine eye is good? Can I not do as I will with mine own? I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.’"

^{Scripture says the same thing, just as clearly and emphatically:

44 "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day (^{John 6:44}^).

65 And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father" (^{John 6:65}^).

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed (^{Acts 13:48}^).

14 And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul (^{Acts 16:14}^).

34 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? 35 Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen (^{Romans 11:34-36}^).

30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD" (^{1 Corinthians 1:30-31}^).

6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (^{Philippians 1:6}^).

5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit (^{Titus 3:5}^).

2 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (^{Hebrews 12:2}^{). Those who are saved are saved because God has chosen them for salvation. The Holy Spirit has given life to a dead spirit and understanding to a mind blinded by sin and by Satan. Those who are saved may be said to choose God, but only after God has first chosen them for salvation:}

16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you" (^{John 15:16}^{).The other side of the equation is also true. Those who are eternally lost are lost because God has not chosen them for salvation:}

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!" 9 And He said, "Go, and tell this people ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ 10 Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, and their eyes dim, Lest they see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed" (^{Isaiah 6:8-10}^).

3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; 4 and they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?" 5 And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain" (^{Revelation 13:3-8}^).

8 "The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come" (^{Revelation 17:8}^{).Do not misunderstand what is being said here. In order to be saved, men must trust in Jesus Christ as God’s provision to save lost sinners. And when they do so, it is because God has given them the heart to do so. Men exercise faith out of the heart God has given them to believe:}

6 "Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live" (^{Deuteronomy 30:6}^).

33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (^{Jeremiah 31:33}^).

^{Jeremiah 31:33}^).

Likewise, when men are eternally lost, it is because they have chosen to reject God’s revelation (^{Romans 1:18}^{ff.) and His provision for salvation in Jesus Christ. Why do lost sinners go to hell? They perish because they have not chosen God. They also perish because God has not chosen to rescue them from their sin and rebellion. In the simplest terms, men go to hell not only because God decreed it, but because they deserve it (see}^{Revelation 16:4-7}^).⁶¹} ^{Many texts like those cited above clearly reflect that salvation is not our work but God’s, and that we contribute nothing to it which He has not already given to us by His grace.

We will turn in this lesson to a text which establishes even more forcefully than the previous texts the sovereignty of God in salvation.}
The sovereignty of God in salvation can be inferred from a number of biblical texts, and it is claimed or clearly stated by other texts.

But the ninth chapter of Romans is devoted to establishing the sovereignty of God in salvation. I

t is the issue in view and the conclusion of the entire chapter. It is not merely implied, or even stated; it is declared, proven, and even defended against some of the popular objections to this truth. For this reason, we shall trace Paul’s inspired logic through the first 24 verses of ^{Romans 9}^.

Israel’s Pitiable Plight
(^{Romans 9:1-5}⁾
1 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, 5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

In the first eight chapters of the Book of Romans, Paul sets down the most detailed and reasoned explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In 1:18–3:20, Paul establishes the doctrine of man’s depravity—that sinful, fallen condition of every human being, without exception—which places sinners under the sentence of divine condemnation with no human hope of salvation apart from divine intervention.

In 3:21-5:21, Paul explains the divine provision whereby sinners may be justified by faith in Christ.

In chapters 6-8, Paul speaks of the present and future implications of this justification by fa

The X Ray of a Good Pastor

2020-05-08T06:39:00.001-05:00

The sermon is one my facebook page from 2 Corinthians 1:15 to 2:4.

I have never pastored a church where there were not someone or a group that was not trying to undermined my character or preaching.

Well was the same for Paul. There were those who would come into the church and try to undercut his preaching or character.

And so very early here in the first chapter, very early in the epistle, he tackles this crucial issue.

In this case they could only find a small silly reason to change him with.

And in these verses Paul gives a defense of this position.

"In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, that you might twice receive a blessing; that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea.

Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or that which I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time?

But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us – by me and Silvanus and Timothy – was not yes and no, but is yes in Him.

For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; wherefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.

And He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

"But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.

But I determined this for my own sake, that I would not come to you in sorrow again. For if I cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad

but the one whom I made sorrowful?

This is the very thing I wrote you, lest when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all.

out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you."

In this passage we will see seven attitudes that every pastor should have .

Well you need to listen to the message.