Arguing is Good - Greg Koukl

Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). Loving God with the mind is not a passive process. It's not just having thoughts about God. Rather, it's coming to conclusions about God and His world based on revelation, observation, and careful thinking.

Both a process and a skill are involved. There is a way that thinking works. It’s a tool that needs to be employed properly. What is the tool we use in our observations of the world that help us separate fact from fiction? That tool is reason, the ability to use our minds well to sort through observations and draw accurate conclusions about what is true. Rationality is the tool God has given us to acquire knowledge.

Generally, this is not a solitary enterprise. It's best done in the company of others who can challenge our claims and offer competing ideas, forcing us to think deeply and thoroughly. In short, we argue. Sometimes we are silent partners, listening, not talking, but the process is going on in our minds just the same.

The ability to argue well is the essence of all clear thinking. That's why arguments are good things--arguing is a virtue because it helps us discover what's true.

This is not rationalism, a kind of idolatry of the mind that places man's thinking at the center of the universe. Rather, it's the proper use of the faculties God has given us to understand Him and the world He's made.

And that’s why arguing when properly understood and practiced is a good thing, not a bad thing.


Resource: str.org

How to Slay Sin, Part 4 - GTY Blog

Tommy Clayton

Content Developer and Broadcast Editor, GTY.org/blog

Monday, February 28, 2011

We’ve been considering some of the necessary steps toward killing sin. That’s a binding command for every believer. No one is exempt from slaying sin (Col. 3:5), but no one is powerless against it either (Rom. 8:13). God has equipped and empowered all those who abide in Christ (John 15:5) with the necessary wisdom and weapons to succeed. Here are the steps we have considered:

First, understand your true position as a Christian. You are in Christ, united to Him through faith. He already triumphed over sin and His victory becomes your victory.

Second, weaken sinful habits and strengthen righteous behavior. Starve out sin, cut off all provision. Lay it aside like an old, worn out garment and replace it with righteous, godly behavior.

Third, fill your mind with Scripture. Let it saturate your mind, control your affections and determine the course of your life. Unleash the Word of God on your sins.

And now for the fourth and final step: Prepare for battle.

Defining Discernment - John MacArthur

John MacArthur, GTY Blog
November 09, 2009

In its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically.

First Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil." The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). According to the New Testament, discernment is not optional for the believer-it is required.

The key to living an uncompromising life lies in one's ability to exercise discernment in every area of his or her life. For example, failure to distinguish between truth and error leaves the Christian subject to all manner of false teaching. False teaching then leads to an unbiblical mindset, which results in unfruitful and disobedient living-a certain recipe for compromise.

Quote of the Month

The answer to a wrongly informed conscience is not to violate it, but rather to correct and rightly inform one's conscience with biblical truth.
- John MacArthur

How to Slay Sin, Part 3 - GTY Blog

Tommy Clayton
Content Developer and Broadcast Editor, GTY.org/blog
Thursday, February 24, 2011

Let’s take a look at step three in slaying sin: Fill your mind with Scripture.

John Bunyan, author of the classic Pilgrim’s Progress, wrote in the cover of his Bible, “Either this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.” Bunyan understood what many in the war against sin don’t—the Word of God is the weapon you simply cannot neglect.

Have you ever considered some of the symbols the Bible uses to describe itself? Scripture is called a light, hammer, fire, rock, mirror, milk, seed and water. Each highlights a unique characteristic of God’s Word, but by far the most memorable metaphor of the Bible is a sword (Eph. 6:17). Any idea why?

God’s Word is sharp and able to penetrate effectively through thick layers of sin and hypocrisy. It can effortlessly slice through soul and spirit, laying bare the thoughts and intentions of your heart (Heb. 4:12). It serves dual purposes in battle—deflecting blows from the enemy and inflicting wounds of its own (Mt. 4:1-11). As you handle God’s Word and experience more of its power, both your skill and confidence will increase (Heb. 5:14). See the parallels?

God is Known by His Works

Many scriptures have been written even before the bible. Many people sense or at least recognize that there is a creator--a higher being. God is known by His works by all people. Some people would rather worship the creation itself and claim that it created itself--by mere chance--by accident! Even some may worship the creation and look at a cow or a fierce tiger and either pray to it or try to summon it. There is even the extent of believing that some day one may become greater or lower in the next life as an animal and continue this cycle forever. But we see some complications there that I won't get into right now.
By all walks of life people have been worshipping something and some how and acknowledging the evidence that God has given to us--creation.

Mao Mentality... Still Lingering Around

Big City
I'm just getting used to Beijing and how things work. I'm learning first-hand how people are so selfish in the world. They just want to use others for their own benefit and you can really see this in a big city that is all about success and growth. The world truly needs the gospel! I have to guard myself. I can't trust anyone here. It's not nice. I feel bad for the farmers who move here because they are so honest, just like most foreigners, and are taken advantage of. I just read in the paper that the government wants to "clean up corruption". Well that just means "more control over people". I'm learning you can't trust people who are brainwashed by a heartless political system. My heart goes out to them still. It's sad to see what communism does to a people. One person takes advantage of the others and you see it in the society still.