A couple of interesting conversations going on on the web...on is at The Boar's Head Tavern.

When tragedy strikes, how do you minister to those affected? Is it wrong to point to the sovereignty of God?

I think it depends on a few things

• whether you're talking to a believer or an unbeliever
• how you handle the conversation with a believer depends on the maturity of the believer
• your own history of hardship

I can say that, from my own history, when I was holding my dying husband's hand; when I listened to his last breath, that it was a great comfort to me to know that my God held my future.

I took solace in the knowledge that I could see only what happens to me in this lifetime; God sees eternity. And even now, in looking back on all that has happened in my life, things work - even really bad things work - in ways that we cannot see in that moment.

It is no small thing to tell a spiritual sibling, "I don't know why this happened...but I trust that God knows."

To an unbeliever, that is nonsense.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

How do you explain the tragedy of the Minneapolis bridge collapse to an unbeliever? Whether you chalk it up to the sovereignty of God or not, the end message should be: Life is short. There are no guarantees. Repent and be saved.
We live in a fallen and sinful world. Mankind started out in Eden, perfectly protected. Through choice, we are now fallen.

Is there grace in this? Yes! The grace is that we are fallen and sinful creatures - and that the way out of this fallen and sinful world is found in Christ. Period.

And my official (most likely weekly or close) beverage of the day is upon us...

(my icky class of the semester is Spanish) I typically stop at Martha's on the way home from class and try a different beverage every week...since I still have a "G rated" blog, here's an image, not the text:

Founder's is a local brewery - this Scotch style ale is heavy and hoppy. I like bitters and this has it. There are other beers I prefer and I probably won't buy this one again.
Along with my other "vice", one of these: ...Spanish is enough to make me want to kick back and relax...

From our backpacking trip: a view from my tent. You can see the edge of the door.

More links to "outside" here.

(see comment from "lunes Linkage, 8/27") - the request was to address the "Top Ten Bible Verses Which Protestants Cannot Adequately Explain?"
The website that was referenced is "Scripture Catholic" - "my top ten"

The first passage(s) are Matthew 16:18-19 and Isaiah 22:22

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

There are a couple of issues here:

1 - What did Jesus mean by these Words?

2 - What did Jesus mean by these Words?

Yes - it's the same issue, but two different twists.

1 - what did Jesus mean by these Words? - What was He saying to Peter at this time?

2 - what did Jesus mean by these Words? - Do these words that Jesus was saying to Peter at this time necessarily mean that He was giving the current pope in Rome and the Magisterium the sole authority to rule over Scripture?

Taking the consequences first, a person (or church) must prove that these words meant Rome and the Magisterium, not the entirety of the body of Christ, or not the Orthodox Church.

In an interesting article by Alex Anatole, on Rome's split from the Orthodox Church, that the church was in unity until after the first 400 years or so, at which time the bishops in Rome began lusting for more and more political power.

The Bishops of Rome (Popes) started lusting after more and more political power. Unhappy with being recognized as "first among equals" by their fellow Bishops in Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople (and also Ephesus,) the Bishops of Rome began to demand that we recognize them as the "supreme Bishop" of the whole Church.

Toward the end of the 6th century, a council of Western Bishops (under Rome) changed the Nicene Creed to read that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father AND THE SON ("Filioque" in Latin.)

We objected that this destroyed the doctrine of the Trinity by undermining the Personhood of the Holy Spirit. It made the Holy Spirit merely a force generated by the interaction of the Father and the Son.

Rome would not listen.

Their faith in the Holy Spirit began to erode, and it showed in their doctrine.

Unsure of the Holy Spirit's ability to guide the Church, Rome continued to falsely boost the centralized power of the Papacy. In time they came to believe the Pope to be infallible in matters of doctrine.

Unsure of the Holy Spirit's ability to pray with us and for us, they elevated Mary and the Saints to almost be a means of "getting around Jesus."

We objected.

Rome would not listen.

In 1054 the crisis came to a head. A Papal legate, in a fit of anger over our "refusal" to acknowledge the Pope's inflated claims and warped doctrine, excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Patriarch then excommunicated the Pope.

Efforts were made to reconcile. But the Pope would not give up his claims to power, and we would not compromise our doctrine.

Rome went independent.

Unchecked by any kind of "peer review" by the Eastern Patriarchs, Rome's theological innovations proceeded unchecked.

Within 500 years after the Great Schism, they had become so warped that they incited a revolution - the Protestant Reformation.

*************

What happened to the other centers of Christian activity, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople?

We're still here, and still united in faith and doctrine.

These days we go by the name "Orthodox."

**************

Rome still retains some external customs which identify them as a former member of the Orthodox community.

But at their core, they departed from us long ago.

Taking the consequences first, it cannot be proven from Scripture that Jesus' Words to Peter meant that it was Rome (given her exit from the unity of Orthdox) that would be given authority over Scripture.

I always have...lichens, moss, fungi...some of the most interesting looking "stuff".

Here is a blog that gives us photos of all sorts of interesting things...

"Dark Roasted Blend" has a post with Moss, Lichens and Fungi. (Warning, there's a little "PG" here and there, but the vast (VAST) majority is stuff just like this...or scary roads...or vintage album covers...)

sorry for the unexplained grossness...

Meijer Garden

Grand Rapids, MI

There may a couple more...but I'm backpacking in the wilderness today...

Where I am today...South Manitou Island.

A new page on my website (The Page of Pages)...along with my latest photos from Meijer Garden.

"Before You Convert to Roman Catholicism...(Top Ten List)" from Reformation Theoiogy

Thinklings Bird's new blog, "Mind's Eye"

From ESV.org - their take on Malachi 2:16.

"Difficulties with Roman Catholicism" - from 1829. HT Beggers All.