Category Archives: teaching

Office and Vocation in the Local Church

Thus, we come to the point where we understand that both pastors and elders teach Biblical Law. Pastors (AKA New Testament priests) emphasize the mysticism angle in their ritual leadership. Elders emphasize the practice of the Covenant. They work together … Continue reading

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The Lonely Calling

Our only ambition is to walk faithfully in our covenant of faith. Just a reminder: “covenant” in the Bible is synonymous with “law” until we get to the New Testament where the whole thing is deeply perverted by the legalism … Continue reading

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Bridging the Two Realms

Of all the pernicious teachings I confront so often is the foul doctrine of false unity. The preacher thrusts his finger in the air and with grave assertion says, “Until the church unifies on the gospel truth, the world will … Continue reading

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This We Must Defend

The Tower of Babel stands in Scripture as the ultimate example of how bad things can be in this fallen world. It was a government that preyed on people to enslave them to impossible dreams, to pull humanity down to … Continue reading

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Pastoral Psychology and the Heart 07

Where do you suppose the term “pastoral” comes from in pastoral psychology? It’s that shepherd thing again; the word “pastor” means someone who tends to sheep out in the pasture lands (pastoral means “out in the pasture”). In faith life, … Continue reading

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Pastoral Psychology and the Heart 06

Dominion is love and vice versa. A critical difference between the Ancient Near East (ANE) and the West is that in the former, even slaves were regarded as having some dignity. It arises from the way the ANE approaches life … Continue reading

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Pastoral Psychology and the Heart 05

If you filled your memory with the knowledge about God, you would still not know Him. If you explored the entire universe and could analyze every detail, and all cause and effect, you would still not know reality. If you … Continue reading

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Pastoral Psychology and the Heart 04

Moral truth was firmly established before Creation. The fatal flaw in choosing the Forbidden Fruit is that the human intellect is utterly incapable of being objective. Reason leading to objective truth is just a myth. Inevitably the traffic feeding into … Continue reading

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Pastoral Psychology and the Heart 03

Making a deity of any part of yourself is a poor substitute for reaching out to eternity. Some of you may have heard of B.F. Skinner and his theory that human personality is nothing more than the net result of … Continue reading

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Pastoral Psychology and the Heart 02

The issue is building out the ego without building it up. This image is another of those parables, because the human ego has no physical dimensions. However, we are aware of people whose ego has become monumentally large. To some … Continue reading

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