Tony Pursley

@pudicat11 No worries. We're all learning, friend.

@RAPursley76 I'm sorry, Tony. I mistakenly thought that Baptists, Anabaptists, non denominational, Enthusiasts.. were all free will, decision theology folks.

I liked the Baptist church I went to today. It was a lot different from the Catholic church. less formal, Lots of singing and preaching. The people were really nice. I like both, but they are way different!

@pudicat11 Steve...many Baptists repudiate the enthusiasts. They were/are firmly confessional and catholic. Protestant. Some even Reformed. Just not Lutheran. The anabaptists and certain kinds of Baptists were/are a different story. Don't lump us all together. 😉 Sola fide. Sola gratia.

The only thing that is very similar is that they both hold to a 'Jesus plus something that you need to do' theology. That's why Luther called the Catholics and the Enthusiasts (the forerunners of today's Baptist/non denominational churches) "Two wolves tied together at the tail." Outwardly they snarl, bite and claw one another..but their theology is basically the same.

@Haveaverse @mustardseed63 @pudicat11 I see a difference between aspiration and admission. As a new creation, I aspire to walk as Jesus walked. At the same time, I admit that I fall short of God's glory. He is changing me. The Spirit's power is real, not theoretical. But my ground of assurance is always, only Jesus.

@mustardseed63 @pudicat11 @RAPursley76 I think that's the point Steve hounds on. We will never have it together. But eveyone change, some slower than others. Even non-believers. So, our hope ultimately isn't in how much we change, but in Christ's righteousness and God's mercy toward sinners, like you and me.

. Anyone who actually believes that they are loving (doing for) their neighbors (which includes everyone, including those we can't stand) in the same way that they love (are doing for) themselves, is delusional. I don't know of a better way to put it.

@DrJTPennington Looking forward to listening and to reading the book!

Here's a podcast interview I did about my new Gospel of Matthew book -- youtube.com/watch?v=LmGvtU….

@Aserbtt @pudicat11 @JeffreyPerry09 @justin_perdue @GraceRefNet I think Paul and Jesus were in agreement. The unity of Scripture is a thing. Paschal, new exodus theology is Biblical theology. Jesus and the Apostle's agree on this.

@pudicat11 @JeffreyPerry09 @justin_perdue @GraceRefNet What you're saying isn't even what Jesus himself taught. You're preaching Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul.

Jesus is a better Moses @justin_perdue at @GraceRefNet GA 26 #GRNGA26

@jasonkovacs This is the way.

David Powlison and Ed Welch on the nature of discourse and disagreement among biblical counselors - and integrationists. I appeal to my brothers and sisters - let us aim for this kind of humble and edifying dialogue👇

@SteveMeisterVDM Who then can be saved?

The rich young ruler (Matt 19:16-22) did not walk away from Jesus because he failed the “test of faith” and didn’t obey enough.

@MusingsOnChrist Both/and in my view. Christology is far more important. However, clarity on the pastorate is not unimportant. Just not damnable.

@markdtooley @ThomasSKidd Agreed. It likely means we're not engaging in robust member to member discipleship. We're no longer the family of God. We're a den of consumers. A consumeristic church leads to consumeristic Christians who leave to find the latest and greatest thing.

@ThomasSKidd This is true for Mainline & all denominations that try to keep meaningful counts. But the membership drop especially if continuous across decades does mean something.

Some good news but still nearly 400,000 members lost.

@DavidReinker @ScottAniol I think the point is that forsakenness means the Father did not rescue the incarnate Son from his sin-bearing death on the cross. But His oneness with the Father (according to his divinity) did not cease. Some speak of forsakenness in such a way that God is at odds with Himself.

@ScottAniol @RAPursley76 You're not really making an argument, you're just stating things that don't make much sense. He was allowed to be tortured and nailed to a cross, and then allowed to die. Of course he was forsaken, for a time, so he could bear the sins of the world.

Anyone who thinks the Father forsook the Son because Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 on the cross hasn’t considered the rest of the psalm. God didn’t forsake David, and God didn’t forsake his Son.

@DavidReinker @ScottAniol Yes. The incarnate Son isn't saved from death in that moment. Yet before he breathes his last he commends his spirit to the Father, who does not allow his Holy One to see corruption but raises him on the third day. No Trinitarian rupture. Not ultimately forsaken.

@ScottAniol The Father allowed him to be humiliated, whipped and nailed to a cross and allowed him to die. Earlier, Jesus was able to just walk through a crowd before they could throw him off a cliff. It's not hard to argue that the Father forsook him because he didn't save him.

@drantbradley So, he's not pretending to be Jesus. But it's hard not to see the imagery portraying him as divine or at the very least semidivine. That's still pretty bad. Nebuchadnezzar, anyone?

Can someone help with this? I was raised in the black church, so is this a re-imaging of a famous painting or something? It’s silly but I’m trying to see how it’s “blasphemous.” Is there an original painting this is based on? Help! Haha!

@pudicat11 @expositcllctv In the best light, getting far enough with Christ may simply mean that they have uncovered the riches of wisdom and grace found in him. They have come to know the depth of their sin AND the depth of His love . . . simul justus et peccator.

Like we all aren't half hearted. Every last one of us is and will remain a mixed bag our entire life on earth. Thanks be to God for making us aware of that fact so we don't have to spend our lives as religious phonies pretending we are all in for God and our neighbors when we know we are not.

“Half-hearted Christians are the most miserable people of all. They know enough about God to feel guilty, but they haven’t gotten far enough with Christ to be happy.” - Ray Ortlund Sr.

-The Apostles' Creed 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 the 3 persons: I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. -The Nicene Creed 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 the 3 persons: begotten, proceeding. -The Athanasius Creed 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 possible errors about the 3 persons (one God, 3 persons).

Those of us who have been engaged in retrieval conversations for the last 10-15 years need to take note of Protestant conversions to Orthodoxy and Catholicism and why they happen. There are obviously a million reasons why people change church traditions, and they’re often not merely intellectual, but I think it’s part of it. I’ve been convinced the last few years that we need to talk a lot more about Protestant methodology when it comes to retrieval. The whole church tradition absolutely belongs to Protestants too (and the Reformers constantly said this). But mistake I made, at least early on, was introducing students and pastors to the Christian tradition without helping them think through how to do it in a way that is Protestant (biblically regulated and critically appreciative) versus some sort of narrative about unity and historical purity going back to the apostles. This is where theological interpretation (or choose whatever phrase you want to replace that with) can be so helpful. We need to have a hermeneutic and methodology that roots doctrine in Scripture, rather than merely tradition. We need to affirm the Trinity, for example, because we think the Bible clearly teaches it, not merely because it is a good doctrine of necessary consequence hashed out in later centuries or because we think the Nicene Creed is important. I have been much more intentional in my church history classes, for example, of showing students how different traditions receive church history, and why it matters. If people are going to leave Protestantism, we want them to actually know what they’re leaving and what they’re headed to. It can’t be merely on vibes, grievances, or buying false narratives. Ad fontes! Semper reformanda! Etc!

@pudicat11 It is indeed messy to help another. Also true that Jesus died for your sins. Confession is good. No condemnation. You're free. May the reality of such grace and mercy teach you (and me) to renounce evil and be zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)

. I'm driving home. A couple of hours in traffic. Tired. Want to get home and relax a bit. I pass at 45 mph a man walking towards my direction on the side of the road. Big man, disheveled, look of anguish on his face. I pray, "Lord please help that man." I hear a voice in my head, God, conscience, whatever, "You stop and help him." Then my own thoughts, "I don't want to. I just want to get home." And then I go over all the reasons why I don't need to take on the problems of another person's messed up life. And I remember all the cost and trouble it was in previous times that I did stop to try and help. This is why I need a Savior. I just am not up to washing the filthy feet of others. I don't want to.

Christian Zionism collapses the architecture of the Pactum Salutis. In Scripture, the Father promises a people to the Son by covenant, not by ethnicity; the Son secures them by obedience, not by geography; and the Spirit gathers them by Pentecost, not by 1948. The covenant of redemption creates a new humanity, not a revived nation-state. #MGKline #Zionism

@mitchellchase I do.

Show of hands: who believes Jesus, after his death on the cross, descended to the realm of the dead to proclaim his victory?

@JamesDueck @calvinrobinson I respectfully disagree. It's time for the RC to come home to Christ and Christ alone. To the assembly of the firstborn gathered at the heavenly Jerusalem. The true Church, built not on your damnable traditions (innovations!) but upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets.

I became Catholic last year. Here’s my perspective: The “Reformation” protest is over. 500 years was enough. Time for everyone to come home.