When I was a teenager, the church where I was baptized ran the pastor off, not because of misconduct or poor performance, but because he got on the wrong side of the wrong people. It's the kind of ugliness that can cause church splits (of course, Baptists can split over almost anything) and even make people walk away from the church entirely. It turns out this is nothing new in church history.
I've made it a goal to read the early church fathers, particularly the pre-Constantine writers. I hope to learn from their experience of trying to follow Christ and defend the faith in a pagan culture.
First up, "The Letter of the Romans to the Corinthians," also known as 1Clement*, probably written in the last years of the first century AD.
Sometimes the smallest things in the Bible can pack a lot of punch.
“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
The first verse of Matthew is easy to rush by. It seems like it’s a title or just introducing the genealogy that follows (that we also rush by). But it’s actually packed with meaning. The author is telling us quite a bit about the subject of the genealogy and the rest of the book.
I'm forgetful. Not that I have a bad memory. In fact, my memory is full of easily accessed trivia from decades ago. But when I really need to remember something, what's right in front of my face tends to overshadow everything else.
I don't think I'm alone in that. We easily lose sight of what's important because of what's pressing, so it's easy for us to forget important truth because of life. For that reason, I'd like to share something I observed in our small group over the last year.
CS Lewis' work is so timeless it's perpetually timely. When I read him, I frequently find myself saying, "This had to be written last year, not in the 1940s." I'd like to share one of his lesser-known essays that has a lot to say about our era.
