The Reformation battle cry was about bringing the Word of God out of darkness as it had been hidden away in a dark dungeon by the Roman Catholic Church. Derek Thomas’ sermon titled, “Before Light, Darkness” is really good and worthy of your time.
Knowing God: A Biblical Understanding of Discipleship — The 2018 G3 Conference is open for registration and will be held once again in Atlanta, Georgia. Make your plans and reserve your seats (and hotel) for a weekend conference focused on the theological foundation and practical components of making disciples and following Jesus.
Three classic books every Christian should read — Yes, please take time this summer to read these books.
A Little Book on the Christian Life: A Live Interview with Burk Parsons — Burk Parsons talks about a little book that’s worthy of your time. Add this one to your summer reading list.
The Bee Explains: What Is Planned Parenthood? — The Bee is funny and accurately funny too.
Help Me Teach the Bible: H. B. Charles Jr. on Making Your Teaching Memorable —Nancy Guthrie interviews H.B. Charles Jr. on the subject of preaching memorable sermons.
Alistair Begg on God’s Faithfulness — Take time to read this letter by Alistair Begg.
Accountability and Para Church Ministry — Rich Pierce does a great job of explaining the role and boundaries of para-church ministries.
John 6:40 as a Proof Text Against Calvinism? — This is a classic example of reading out of context rather than in context.
How Do I Follow Big Sections of Scripture? — “As you study the Bible, study larger portions by looking for similarities in the sections that fit together.”
Do You Believe the Whole Gospel? — “Historically, before the outbreak of nineteenth-century liberalism, the church did not seem to struggle with this false dichotomy. For centuries, the church understood her task as both to proclaim the saving gospel of the atoning work of Christ and, at the same time, to follow Jesus’ example of ministry to the blind, to the deaf, to the imprisoned, to the hungry, to the homeless, and to the poor. The ministry of the church, if it is to be healthy, must always be firmly committed to both dimensions of the biblical mandate, that we may be faithful to Christ Himself. If we reject either the ministry of personal redemption or of mercy to the afflicted, we express ‘unbelief.'”
Theology Word of the Week: Homosexuality (μαλακός)
μαλακός, ή, όν (s. two prec. entries; ‘soft’: Hom. et al.; ins, pap, LXX, Philo; Jos., Ant. 8, 72 βύσσος μ.; Mel., P. 80, 594 στρωμνῆς μ.)
① pert. to being yielding to touch, soft, of things: clothes (Hom. et al.; Artem. 1, 78 p. 73, 10 ἱματίων πολυτελῶν κ. μαλακῶν; PSI 364, 5 ἱμάτιον μαλ.) μ. ἱμάτια soft garments, such as fastidious people wear Lk 7:25. (τὰ) μ. soft clothes (Sb 6779, 57; s. λευκός 2, end) Mt 11:8ab.
② pert. to being passive in a same-sex relationship, effeminate esp. of catamites, of men and boys who are sodomized by other males in such a relationship, opp. ἀρσενοκοίτης (Dionys. Hal. 7, 2, 4; Dio Chrys. 49 [66], 25; Ptolem., Apotel. 3, 15, 10; Vett. Val. 113, 22; Diog. L. 7, 173; PHib 54, 11 [c. 245 b.c.] may have this mng.: a musician called Zenobius ὁ μαλακός [prob. with a sideline, according to Dssm., LO 131, 4—LAE 164, 4]. S. also a Macedon. ins in LDuchesne and CBayet, Mémoire sur une Mission au Mont Athos 1876 no. 66 p. 46; Plautus, Miles 668 cinaedus [Gk. κίναιδος] malacus; cp. the atttack on the morality of submissive homoeroticism Aeschin. 1, 188; DCohen, Greece and Rome 23, ’76, 181f) 1 Cor 6:9 (‘male prostitutes’ NRSV is too narrow a rendering; ‘sexual pervert’ REB is too broad)=Pol 5:3.—S. lit. s.v. ἀρσενοκοίτης. B. 1065. DELG. M-M. [1]
- William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 613.
