Truth is Still Truth

I've had a few requests lately for a collection file and I suddenly remembered that back in March Graham had created the very collection file needed. It contains all the PBB's which were available through the PBB updater as of 3/7/2008. So with a huge wave of gratitude towards Graham I've uploaded the collection file right here.

To use it, just download it to "My documents/Libronix DLS/Collections/" and reload Libronix.

Thanks Graham!

There's a post on the Logos Blog about Logos in the Classroom. Actually it's a commercial for a 15 minute talk by Senior VP Dale Pritchett, which itself is basically a commercial aimed at Seminary professors to convince them to replace their single classroom textbooks with the full Logos Digital Library. If you have the 15 minutes you should listen. If you only have about 7, do a quick read of the PDF transcript.
I have two simple observations to make.

Upgrade the audio please

The audio is probably over compressed. It's either that or the audio is the result of several takes and a bad patch job. Dale comes into various sentences sounding completely different and it seems with different breathing patterns; almost as if they've taken two or more clips and sliced and diced them into one speech. The only reason I mention this is because I found it annoying to listen to. I'm tempted to say it's over compressed because I've experienced the same phenomena with other Logos media. Michael Heiser's excellent lecture "The concept of the Godhead in the Old Testament" was plagued in it's Camtasia format with horrible over compression that introduced all sorts of nasty audio artifacts into the speech. It's worth downloading the MP3 on that one instead of listening to the stream.

Yes, But...

I agree wholeheartedly with the principle message of Mr. Pritchett's speech. But I also see a problem

I don't think I've laughed so hard in quite awhile. Michael Heiser has started up a new blog, well actually seven new blogs. Personally I'm in awe. I have trouble being a pastor and posting on one, and If Dr. Heiser can pull it off so much the better! Incidentally if you haven't heard of or read the SuperUFOConspiraSciFiJudeoChristoReligious thriller The Façade. Than you should. I'm hoping to start and finish it next week, but the first chapter and my previews are promising.

Sorry, I'm babbling. Still dealing with the aftereffects of sleep deprivation I think. The reason I was laughing was from reading PaleoBabble, Michael pulls out a word which perfectly describes so much of the blather that passes for serious study - but isn't. Are you ready for the word?

archaeoporn

It has nothing to do with the raunchy pictures on ancient Greek urns. But has everything to do with the latest discovery and the bogus conclusions drawn by the supposed experts.
Welcome to the blogosphere Michael, I can't wait for what's next.

Church 101: Slaves and masters / Workers and Employees.

Most of us have been exposed to bad workers. I could list off a number of bad work habits I've had to deal with.

First of all there is “always late Leroy” you can almost set your watch to five minutes after by the way he peals into the parking lot and runs to the time clock to punch in, only to stand around for a few minutes tucking in his shirt and putting his stuff in order so he can report to his workstation fifteen minutes after he should have. Then of course there is “Geraldine the gossip queen” you can always count on Geraldine to be neck deep in a conversation about all of the latest dirt while simultaneously managing to ignore her responsibilities. You get the feeling that if she put ½ the effort into her job as she did her jaws that she would outperform everyone else on the job. Don't forget “Long lunch Leonard”, “Early to Exit Edgar” and the closely related “Sometimes Sick Sylvia”. They've always got an excuse not to finish their task, or call off, quit early or just plain not come in. The list could go on but you get the point.

Now take any of those people – call them a Christian and call their boss an unbeliever. What happens then? A recipe for disaster, because there is more at stake than a bad performance review or a pink slip. That boss is going to look at the behavior of his “Christian” employee and have opportunity to curse God and to malign the gospel. And worse than that – a man may be kept out of the Lord's kingdom because someone calling themselves a Christian is lazy, mouthy and inconsiderate.

This has been my fifth year teaching Principles of Spiritual Warfare at the Emmaus Biblical Seminary in Haiti. [links: 1 2 3] I'd like to invite you into the classroom and let you experience the adrenaline rush of teaching and the outrageous Joy of learning.

It seems to happen every year (five years running now). The class starts a little slowly as I try to feel my way around to determine where the students are and what they know. But in this instance slowly is nearly catastrophic. As the first week progresses I find myself increasingly behind schedule. And the farther behind I get, the faster, it seems, the end of the module approaches.

As of now I'm at least one full day of hard study behind. I don't like being behind though not nearly as much as I dislike being ahead of schedule. Being ahead of schedule gives me the distinct feeling that my students aren't "getting it" perhaps because they're not engaging me with questions. While being behind makes me realize I'm going to have to skip something and potentially something that may be very important in the long term.

The New Testament reflects an elder based church government. Three interchangeable terms are used to describe the position of elder-leadership in the church. “Elder” (Presubteros πρεσβυτερος) describes spiritual maturity, “Pastor” (Poimen ποιμην) describes shepherding, feeding, guardianship and protection, while “Overseer” (Episkopos επισκοπος) describes authority, oversight and leadership. The general title of the leadership appears to be the elder and the general picture of leadership in the church is that of a plurality of elders who are responsible to guide and care for the church.

On the flip side, the church also has responsibilities to her elders. The church must properly provide for, protect the reputation and holiness of elders and select her elders properly.

How Should The Church Choose Her Elders?

Instantly we have to ask the question, “How should the church choose her Elders?” The answer to that question is the purpose of our text today. Please turn to 1 Timothy 5:22-25 . While you're turning there I'll remind you of some of the background.

Early on in the church the Apostles (Acts 14:23 ) then the apostolic delegates (Titus 1:5 ) and finally the elders in the churches (1 Tim 4:14 ) were responsible for the actual ordination of elders in the church. The selection of Deacons, we can see in Acts 6 was done by the entire body of believers and their acceptance and subsequent ordination was performed by the Apostles.

When it comes to the care and feeding of that elusive creature: The Elder – the church has some specific responsibilities. The first is to provide which we covered last week. The second is to protect.

In 1 Timothy 5:19-21 we have a few simple guidelines for protecting the reputation and holiness of an elder. Church discipline is never a fun topic – but it is a necessary one.

The principles of Church discipline are laid out in Matthew 18:15-20 . Let's read that text again for a refresher. <read it> The quick principles then are:

1. Go talk to a sinning believer in private to urge them to repent.

2. If he refuses to listen, take one or two witnesses with you for another private meeting.

3. If he refuses to heed all three of you, inform the entire church.

4. If he refuses to heed the church – have nothing to do with him until he repents.

I feel the need for a brief rabbit trail here to motion to Matthew 18:19-20 there and ask you to pay attention to this church discipline context. This is not a gang up on God and you'll get what you want prayer formula. This is a confirmation that in the midst of the distress of church discipline the Lord is there to confirm his word of holiness.

The question of our text in Timothy is whether or not the procedures are somehow different for an elder. The answer to that is “NO”. The principles of Matthew 18 are brought to bear on the pastor/elder as well as any Christian. The focus on this passage however looks at the first aspect with a desire to protect an elder's public integrity.