I took notes on the all the intro material but instead will cut straight to the chase. Michael Spencer spent a lot of time over a period of years defining post-evangelical. But he never suggested that we as Christians should stop evangelizing and he was was never more clear about that than in this podcast. There are a lot of discussions that we should have among believers but our call to share the gospel must remain at the front of who we are and what we do.
This episode has a new opening theme and some chit-chat about international students, teaching Bible and meeting blog friends in real life. Hang in there, the good stuff is after that.
It’s a corny joke and I apologize for repeating it but when we see the word “therefore” in the Bible we need to stop and consider what it’s there for. At the end of Hebrews 5, we find a warning against those that have failed to mature. The writer laments that believers who should be on solid food (of God’s Word) still need to be given milk like infants. So 6 begins with a call to move on to maturity, leaving the elementary things behind.
Climate change, get it? So yes, that’s a single frame comic and this is not Happy Monday. But I wanted to write commentary. The first thing someone is going to say is that pennies falling from great heights, such as perhaps the top of the Empire State Building, would kill people standing on the ground. Here is just one article describing the science of falling pennies. In an airless environment pennies would reach a velocity of 200+ miles per hour. Pretty much any object would, and be lethal. But pennies fall more like sheets of paper, tumbling over and over, than like bullets which are aerodynamically designed to be stable in flight. A bowling ball might kill you because its weight gives it a higher terminal velocity even in an atmosphere. A ball point pen might be dangerous, even lethal, if it fell straight down like an arrow shot from a bow. Pennies from heaven would be safe. Since actual climate change is a political issue, I will move on without further comment.
Mike’s visit to Tate’s Creek Presbyterian leads to some thoughts on traditional music. A conversation on the Boar’s Head Tavern begs the question “What is the purpose of Sunday a.m. worship?” Then a discussion on New Testament church membership. Part of that discussion includes how missions become churches.
The end of Hebrews 4 informs us that Jesus is our Great High Priest and then the chapter ends. Hebrews 5 tells us why he is a better high priest than the Levitical priests of the Old Covenant. The high priests called by God to the priesthood were human beings and had the same shortcomings as the people they ministered to. They had their own sins to confess and be forgiven before they could attend to the sins of others. The Christ is God’s own Son and also a priest forever after the order Melchizedek. Abraham was blessed by Melchizedek in Genesis 14 and Abraham gives him a tenth of everything he has. This is centuries before the Law was given to Moses. The Levitical priesthood had not been established and there was no commandment, at least none recorded, to give a tithe. Genesis will not answer all of our questions. There is no recorded beginning nor ending of Melchizedek’s priesthood and this little detail is used to show what kind of high priest Jesus will be. There is no beginning and no end to his priesthood. He does not have his own sins to sacrifice for, and he is not called by God but is God’s own Son. Although he was the only begotten Son, through suffering in his mortal flesh he learned obedience.
The final verses of chapter 5 is a chastisement to an audience that should be eating “spiritual food” as mature believers but must still be given milk as infants. Hebrews will get to comparing Jesus to Melchizedek in a couple of chapters and list more ways in which he is greater.
Whatever it is, we hope that a few verses of scripture, a couple of inspiring quotes, a cartoon or two, maybe some cute animals and a good pun help you through it. And coffee, I mean we started with coffee.
I first thought this was a parody, then I really hoped it was a parody. But no, this is a real product. You can cover your flute, saxophone, oboe and more. Click here to visit McCormick’s Instrument Covers and “hold the germs, not the sound.”
In this episode, Michael plugs The Theology Program from Reclaiming the Mind Ministries. If you are familiar with Credo House Ministries or the Parchment and Pen blog then you will recognize the name C. Michael Patton. He does all those things and more and is not hard to find online. Michael then responds to “Why all the Lutheran stuff?” The short answer has to do with getting the Gospel right. Then a segue into a discussion of The White Horse Inn which leads to the thrust of this podcast episode which is the post-evangelical experience. Is post-evangelicalism focused on individualism? Does post-evangelicalism work in a church based setting or will always look like one vs. the world?
The key to understanding Hebrews 4 is to have read Hebrews 3. The basic concept presented in chapter 3 is that Jesus is greater than Moses. The chapter ends with God’s people not entering the rest they were promised because of disobedience:
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:16-19
The Master's Table 