Mark Jones at Reformation 21 wrote a tremendously uplifting essay. Tremendous. Christ’s Entrance into Heaven speculates on the scene in heaven, after Jesus ascended to heaven. Here is how it begins:
Have you ever wondered what it must have been like when Christ entered heaven after having ascended? This was a unique moment in redemptive history, and one that we should probably meditate upon a lot more than we do. At the risk of being occasionally speculative, here are some thoughts on Christ’s entrance into Heaven as the glorified God-man.
The effect upon those in heaven must have been incredible. We are told that there is much joy in heaven when a sinner repents (Lk. 15:7). But what about the joy when Jesus, who saves all who enter heaven, arrived to take his seat at the right hand of the Father?
Please read his short piece. You will be glad you did.
A reader sent the following, JC Ryle on 8 Symptoms of False Doctrine. Here it is in its entirety. It was posted at the link in 2013 but written in 1967 and published in the excellent Banner of Truth. His list is as true or truer today than ever.
Many things combine to make the present inroad of false doctrine peculiarly dangerous.
- There is an undeniable zeal in some of the teachers of error: their ‘earnestness’ makes many think they must be right.
- There is a great appearance of learning and theological knowledge: many fancy that such clever and intellectual men must surely be safe guides.
- There is a general tendency to free thought and free inquiry in these latter days: many like to prove their independence of judgment, by believing novelties.
- There is a wide-spread desire to appear charitable and liberal-minded: many seem half ashamed of saying that anybody can be in the wrong.
- There is a quantity of half-truth taught by the modern false teachers: they are incessantly using Scriptural terms and phrases in an unscriptural sense.
- There is a morbid craving in the public mind for a more sensuous, ceremonial, sensational, showy worship: men are impatient of inward, invisible heart-work.
- There is a silly readiness in every direction to believe everybody who talks cleverly, lovingly and earnestly, and a determination to forget that Satan often masquerades himself ‘as an angel of light’ (2 Cor. 11:14).
- There is a wide-spread ‘gullibility’ among professing Christians: every heretic who tells his story plausibly is sure to be believed, and everybody who doubts him is called a persecutor and a narrow-minded man.
All these things are peculiar symptoms of our times. I defy any observing person to deny them. They tend to make the assaults of false doctrine in our day peculiarly dangerous. They make it more than ever needful to cry aloud, ‘Do not be carried away!’
From J. C. Ryle’s Warnings to the Churches [Banner of Truth, 1967], ‘Divers and Strange Doctrines’, pages 76-77, with slight editing.
As someone whose profession is education and whose specialty is literacy, I appreciated this post from The Christian Pundit regarding Reading As Parenting
When we think about parenting, the word “books” probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But reading to our children is a fundamental aspect of parenting little people, though we rarely talk about it in the context of raising children.
Here is something I’ve posted before but am doing again. Todd Pruitt at the Mortification of Spin, on Beth Moore, A Prophet for an Un-discerning Church
But those who don’t much care about popularity or physical safety have in recent years been willing to challenge some of the outrageous claims and troubling teachings coming from Beth Moore. It would be one thing if Beth’s claims of direct revelation, sloppy exegesis, and squishy ecumenism were confined to a small corner of the church. The trouble is that Beth Moore is hugely popular which means she has a lot of influence.
What is your worldview?
Barna noted that substantial numbers of Christians believe that activities such as abortion, gay sex, sexual fantasies, cohabitation, drunkenness and viewing pornography are morally acceptable. “Without some firm and compelling basis for suggesting that such acts are inappropriate, people are left with philosophies such as ‘if it feels good, do it,’ ‘everyone else is doing it’ or ‘as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, it’s permissible.’ In fact, the alarmingly fast decline of moral foundations among our young people has culminated in a one-word worldview: ‘whatever.’ The result is a mentality that esteems pluralism, relativism, tolerance, and diversity without critical reflection of the implications of particular views and actions.”
This Barna study quoted above was conducted in 2002, thirteen years ago as of this writing. He noted that the study and survey was aimed partly at young people, and it is to be strongly noted that the young people who expressed such a world-view thirteen years ago are now the adults of today. And these adults are having children of their own, and passing the worldview on to them.
the-end-time.org 