Searching for The Third Way: Predestination, Part 2

Posted on February 20, 2008 by Jay F Guin

three-thumb.jpgSpace-time and God

The answer to the question posed in the last post is found in a deeper understanding of the nature of God and his creation. God’s choice of a word to describe his existence is “eternal,” or aionios in the Greek. This does not mean everlasting, which is a different word, but rather duration that is undefined.[4] This is for good reason. To explain this better, I will have to go into an area that is foreign to most Bible books — cosmology, the scientific study of the nature of the universe. Continue reading →

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Leading Change for Elders, Part 3

Posted on February 18, 2008 by Jay F Guin

change.jpgThis is the final part of this series — for now.

* Talk to the members. Make a point of getting to church early and leaving late. Be generous with your time. Listen to what people say. And don’t fool yourself into thinking that your friends are representative of the entire church. Sometimes, the only people who think that way are your friends. Continue reading →

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Quail Springs Church of Christ “Disfellowshipped”: Proud to be a Campbellite

Posted on February 18, 2008 by Jay F Guin

quailsprings.gifI’ve been reading a lot of literature from the right wing of the Churches of Christ lately — just wondering where they are in their thinking nowadays. The notorious ad in the Oklahoman is, of course, one example of right-wing thinking, and I earlier posted a series on Dave Miller’s A Plea to Reconsider. I’ve lately been reading Frank Chesser’s The Spirit of Liberalism and Phil Sanders’ blog as well.

And I’ve come to realize just how very, very far we’ve drifted from the original vision of the Restoration Movement — as well as the scriptures. And this drift is built on certain false understandings regarding human nature, two of which I want to address here.

They are lies — not that these men are liars. Rather, they’ve been deceived by the Father of All Lies regarding how real people act and think.

Fortunately, we have a truer, deeper, better understanding of human nature as revealed in the scriptures, available to us by reading the writings of Thomas Campbell. Campbell was right because, well, he was a better Bible student and student of human nature than many of today’s preachers.

Read both understandings and decide for yourself: which better reflects the human condition and a gracious God?

Continue reading →

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Searching for The Third Way: Predestination, Part 1

Posted on February 17, 2008 by Jay F Guin

three-thumb.jpgFinally! I’ve been wanting to post about predestination for a long time, and it just happens to be a great example of how Third-Way thinking can shed new light on a longstanding dilemma.

You see, the commentaries have gobs of theories about predestination, and they’re pretty much all wrong. Well, I’m not the only one who sees things this way. Lots of theologians agree. But because they are Third Way thinkers, their views get overlooked and ignored. You see, it’s just really, really hard to think outside your paradigm. If you’re trained to think one way, you are likely to miss the truth even when you see it.

The problem is simply this: how can God know the future and not cause the future? Philosophers have wrestled with this one for centuries.

The following material comes from my book The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace — except it was never published. The publisher had me cut it for space. Call this HSRG — “The Director’s Cut”! (And I’ve finally figured out how to do footnotes in HTML!)

Continue reading →

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Quail Springs Church of Christ “Disfellowshipped”: A Proposal for Reclaiming Unity

Posted on February 15, 2008 by Jay F Guin

quailsprings.gifDavid Guin commented,

But I think [the churches] do need to consider how to clarify that the ad-buyers spoke falsely when claiming to speak for them. Perhaps a joint service with Quail Springs as a demonstration of shared love for Christ regardless of each congregation’s views regarding instruments (and invite the ad-buyers), or a demand for a retraction from the ad-buyers. That would be a good test of their character.

I’ve moved to this the level of a post in hopes that the Oklahoma Churches see it. A joint church service is a good idea — indeed, a necessary idea. Let me expand on it.

Anybody can buy an ad. Anybody can write a letter to the editor. But actions speak louder than words. Continue reading →

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Searching for The Third Way: Once Saved, Always Saved, Part 3

Posted on February 14, 2008 by Jay F Guin

[The following shares some material from a similar lesson under Amazing Grace in the Index, but has some new material.]

three-thumb.jpgThe two-kinds-of-falling-away mistake

Some teach two levels of falling away – (1) a temporary, easily fixed falling away where you go forward, confess your sins, and receive forgiveness and (2) a permanent, impossible to fix falling away described in Hebrews. But my reading of Hebrews is that there is no in between. A Christian is either still saved or else fallen, never to repent.

Romans 8:1 says there’s no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. It’s the same thought. If you’re a Christian at all, you’re saved.

As taught throughout 1 John. You either have faith and love, and live righteously or else are not a Christian at all. John leaves no room for lost Christians or even temporarily lost Christians. All Christians are saved all the time. Continue reading →

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Searching for The Third Way: Once Saved, Always Saved, Part 2

Posted on February 14, 2008 by Jay F Guin

three-thumb.jpgAs I mentioned in the last post on this topic, I think Hebrews provides the solution to the great Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate regarding once saved, always saved. After all, Hebrews contains many of the great verses promising confidence and security, but Hebrews also contains many of the direst warnings against falling away. Clearly, the author considered it entirely possible to be confident in our salvation despite the real possibility of falling away.

We start with one of the most difficult verses in the New Testament —

(Heb 6:4-6 ESV) For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

The teaching is not complicated. It’s just hard to accept. The passage seems to plainly declare that for those who’ve been saved, if they fall away, they will never repent. Continue reading →

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Amazing Grace: Our Heritage of Wonderful Slogans

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Jay F Guin

grace2.jpgWe don’t teach Restoration Movement history as much or as well as we should. For purposes of this series of lessons, I thought it might be helpful to cover a small but very important part of our heritage — one of which I’m particularly proud.

You see, Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott, especially Scott, were great sloganeers — and the slogans they coined defined the Movement for generations. Sadly, we’ve forgotten or misinterpreted nearly every one of them. Continue reading →

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The Humility Bubble Lesson (expanded)

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Jay F Guin

TeacherThis is a Sunday School class I’ve taught that explains how our humility affects our views on grace. The Humility Bubble Lesson.pdf

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Amazing Grace: Does God Forgive Doctrinal Error? (expanded)

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Jay F Guin

grace2.jpgThis is the big one–the very question that causes the Churches of Christ to repeatedly divide over countless issues.

Introduction

Just to give a flavor of the tragedies caused by our unrelenting insistence on dividing over every disagreement at all, consider the current efforts of “Dub” McClish, editor of the Gospel Journal, to treat elder re-affirmation as a doctrinal issue that requires us to disfellowship those who disagree with us! Read this and then this. Continue reading →

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