Chrysostom wrote about the importance of allowing the Spirit to enlighten the things of God, as we need the Spirit to understand spiritual things.
But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually. (1 Corinthians 2:14 CSB)
I am a little bit of a perfectionist. Maybe I have a touch of OCD. I like to get things right and it kills me a little every time I find out that I have it wrong. This leads me to pick at details.
It is interesting to note how both God and the devil are attributed to being “in the details.” I do not know if there is any psychology behind which phrase you utilize, but the main point is the value and virtue of getting details right. So, honestly, I can get a little nitpicky when it comes to God and the Bible, or life in general. It is one of things my wife and daughters love about me.
Do you ever get that feeling where you know something and you have to get it out? That is where these “Nitpicky Pastor” posts are going to come from. They are kind of soap-boxy and may elicit strong feelings. Hopefully they encourage us to think about these concepts more. Like this first post…
Are you familiar with John 3:16? It is a staple of Bible memorization. “For God so loved the world …” Can you finish the quote? In this verse we find God’s unfathomable promise to those who choose to put their faith in Jesus.
I learned this verse in the mid-1980s from the King James Version. It was probably close to my first exposure to “thee” and “thou” and verbs ending in “eth”. I guess my brain dropped the King James-ness of the verse as I assumed my memory was of the New International Version (NIV1984) or New King James (NKJV). All three of these make use of one important word which newer versions swap out. Can you guess what it is?
Continue reading “The Nitpicky Pastor: Eternal vs Everlasting Life”
I have one of those online accounts to document and explore my family tree. It seems like a lot of people do. As of 2023, Ancestry.com boasted to have 25 million users.[1] That is an enormous amount of people looking to connect who they are today, to who has gone before them, and combine all of their “branches” into one story.
It is a fun, though not always easy pastime. And it can come with some pricey expenses, whether it’s a monthly website subscription or trips to far away places in an effort to track down information and documentation.
As a Christian, I am also part of a spiritual family tree. Thankfully the greatest “price” was paid by Someone else, and the “documentation” is rather handy. But just like researching a physical family tree, as we dig through and consider the information available, we may find out we have some branches missing or connected in the wrong places.
Continue reading “Am I Living on the Wrong Branch of the Family Tree?”
Paul told Christians to use the Armor of God to fight against the “evil tricks” of our spiritual enemy: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11, CSB).
It is always interesting to see how far preachers and teachers will go with their illustration of the armor. Will be it Medieval or Roman in style? Are they going to put it on piece by piece, or have someone else model it for us? I recently thought a preacher could use a Minecraft type of “armor stand” to help us see each element for more than a few seconds.
If we walked around, dressed in a visible set of the Armor of God, we would be an impressive sight. But what good will the Armor do us if we do not know how to attack or defend? What if we are short-circuiting the power of our primary weapon?
Continue reading “The Weakness in Our Weapon (Sword of the Spirit, Part 2)”
I first read The Hobbit when I was twelve years old and in 6th Grade. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and I dove head first into the world of Middle Earth.
A very cool element of that world is its swords (or “letter openers”), which often held significance and influence in the story. (I was going to name a few, but there are so many!)
The story of Christians includes a sword as well: the Word of God, the Bible. It is included in the “armour of God” described by Paul in Ephesians 6.
But this incredible collection of God’s messages to us is a bit like a hobbit trying use William Wallace’s sword. How do we wield it without making a mess or being ineffective?
Continue reading “Training with the Sword of the Spirit (Part 1)”
Once upon a time, in an creative writing or English class, you probably learned about the eight parts of speech. These are the building blocks of how we communicate, both verbally and in writing.
One of these parts of speech has garnished a lot of attention in the past few years, discussing the use of pronouns. This post is not about that topic. There is actually a much more dangerous class of wording we should consider using less and less.
Continue reading “Christians Need to Stop Using these Words”
Chris MacKinnon 