In the last three verses of Sunday's text Christ speaks of being a eunuch. His comments are in response to the disciples who have reacted to his difficult teaching on marriage with the (comical? exasperated?) observation that it would be better to remain single. It's an extreme observation, since voluntarily remaining single was culturally very unusual and suggested a refu...
Keep ReadingWe Finished an Amazing Week Teaching Hebrews to Rwandan Pastors!What a week!From Monday, Nov 30 - Friday, Dec 4, I team taught with Dave Forbes and Todd Bradly. We got up by3:15AM each morning(Todd rose at 2AM Nashville time) to begin team teaching at 4AM.My body screamed for more sleep but serving Jesus is worth infinitely more than a warm bed.The conferences went extreme...
Keep ReadingLast week I introduced the three acts of discipline a Session can take with an unrepentant member: Admonition, Suspension from the Sacraments, and Excommunication. This week we'll consider these in more detail.Admonition is simply a formal statement from the Sessioncalling you to repent and turn from your sin. This is sometimes administered to one who has already repented ...
Keep ReadingLast week, we started considering the right motives for church discipline. This week, we'll finish that list.A second proper motive is a genuine love for Christ, whose honor is diminished by the sin of his people. We have seen this all too vividly in the scandals of the Roman Catholic Church over the past 15 years. It is scandalous enough what some priests have done to tho...
Keep ReadingFew subjects create more anxiety, confusion, and even anger than the subject of church discipline. For most people, they have either never seen it done, or they've seen it done poorly. Mix in some rugged American individualism and the heart's natural dislike of being called to repentance, and you get a very thorough dislike and mistrust of church discipline on the part of ...
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