Missionary Gas

It is argued that the institution of marriage is important for the good of society. Therefore even gay marriages should be viewed as a good thing. This is a reasonable view but has significant flaws when compared with the Bible. According to the Scriptures, marriage is heterosexual in order that children might be born: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it’” (Gen 1:28).  Romantic and passionate marital love is illustrated in Scripture as a heterosexual experience. The Song of Songs, the emotions of David and the marriage of Ruth are indicative of this.  Single people, such as Christ, Mary of Bethany and John the Baptist enjoyed a fulfilling life without being married.  There were severe warnings against homosexual practices. Male rape and male prostitution were condemned (Gen 19:5; Deut 23:17-18) Judg 19:22) as were homosexual practices (Lev 18:21-22; Rom 1:26-27).  Outside of what is ...

Nowadays the most hotly debated issue in theology is justification by faith.     Last week St Andrews University hosted a 3 day conference on Galatians.   About 150 scholars and wanabees attended.    Since I fitted into the last category along with a Croatian,  a Norwegian and a one-legged lady from Texas,  I went along.   The New Perspective on justification,  ably communicated by Tom Wright,  is taken as gospel by  academics.    So there was little fighting type debate,  until,  the last keynote address. This was given by Richard Hays,  Dean and George Washington Ivey Professor at Duke Divinity School,  who spoke for an hour on "Apocalyptic Poiesis in Galatians".    An excellent speaker and erudite,  he convinced me of the dramatic narrative of the epistle.    And I was about to go home and reshape my sermons. That was unti...

A bit like Stirling Uni but less suicidal,  Nottingham University is scattered through an undulating green campus.  I recently gathered with 70 Thiseltonians for a Conference honouring the 75 year old star of modern Biblical Hermeneutics,  Prof Anthony Thiselton.   He's a likeable John Stott type figure who broke down in tears when mentioning the support of his wife and family.  During the day seven academics presented papers looking at different angles of the subject.   Now hermeneutics deals with how we communicate and understand things:  a film,  an Ibrox sign or a Pauline epistle.  It's currently the most important subject in Divinity.    Unfortunately the presentations were models of bad communication being papers read from manuscripts and not readily understandable.      But the chatting in-between was brilliant:   "We live not according to the calendar but according to t...

Next question is Ayuda Pastoral is: Should a Christian observe Sunday as God's day?  Does a New Testament believer still keep a day of rest,  or is it just a matter of personal preference? A day of rest is a gift from God God himself rested "from all his work" on the seventh day (Gen 2:2).  This indicates that not only the family and work are part of the pattern of creation,  but so is a weekly rest day.(Ex 20:8-11 cf Gen 2:14-15).  As such it is a gift from God from the time of creation for the benefit of humanity: "the LORD has given you the Sabbath; (Ex 16:29). And in New Testament times Christ stated:   "The Sabbath was made for man"  (Mark 2:27).    Ceremonial laws about the Sabbath belong to Judaism God gave to the nation of Israel moral, civil and ceremonial laws.    The civil laws concerned the ordering of society,  for example about slavery (Ex 21:1-11) and the protection of property (Ex....

Next topic in Ayuda Pastoral (Help for Pastors) Should a congregation have one main preacher?   If there is a team ministry , what biblical principles indicate who should occupy the pulpit?     To answer this a brief overview of church leadership in the New Testament would be helpful.  Flock with its pastor.    Over 24 times in the New Testament we read of pastor or pastoring.    And it is always with the idea of one flock cared for by a pastor:  "there shall be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:16 cf 1 Pet 2:25).  So it is to be expected that the church will have one pastor or minister looking after the needs of the congregation. Plurality of elders.      Paul left Titus in Crete in order that he might "appoint elders in every town" (Titus 1:5).  So in the New Testament there was  also the practice of having a team  of elders in each congregation.   As the cas...

Next entry in Ayuda Pastoral  (Pastoral help) According to the Bible what ministry can women have within the church? Strengthener of the work.    The woman's ministry in the church is particularly to accompany, support and provide for others.  This has been the case since creation:   "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him" (Gen 2:18).  It is seen in the work of couples:   "Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus" (Rom 16:3).  Christ and the apostles received material help from women:  " Joanna...Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means" (Luke 8:3). Diaconal ministry.   Although it might appear that the diaconate is just for men we do read of Pheobe who was " a servant of the church in Cenchrea". (Rom 16:1 cf 1 Tim  2:11-13) .   In some versions the word servant is translated "deaconess"....

Next issue addressed in Ayuda Pastoral : What biblical principles deal with the use of instrumental music in worship? Dealing with the following questions helps to answer this: 1.  What was the most important part of New Testament worship? Probably the form of 1 st century Christian worship was similar to that of the synagogue.    James even uses "synagogue" to describe the meeting place of Christians (Jas  2:2).    Such worship was directed to the Lord with particular emphasis upon his Word.   Jesus was “teaching in their synagogues…” (Luke 4:15-30) and Paul wrote to Timothy:  “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture,  to preaching and to teaching”  (1 Tim 4: 13 cf Col 4:15-16). 2.  How did the first Christians sing? The early Christians would have sung Psalms and probably some Christian hymns:  “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns,  and songs from the Spir...