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“Not all those who wander are lost.” JRR Tolkien
The keys to the kingdom
On Friday, I plan to tell a story of a woman who is passionate in her defense of abused women within her Orthodox Presbyterian Church, better known as the OPC. I read through letters that she received from her “Session,” which is defined by the OPC as:
The session, which is the governing body of the local church, consists of its pastor, its other ministers, and its ruling elders. It shall choose its own moderator annually from among its members.
From time to time, I have written about the intent of Matthew 16:13-19 NIV.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
There are many views on what this passage means, and therefore, it is at risk of being misused and wounding those in the church. Got Questions does a pretty good job with the passage.
Keys are used to lock or unlock doors. The specific doors Jesus has in mind in this passage are the doors to the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is laying the foundation of His church (Ephesians 2:20). The disciples will be the leaders of this new institution, and Jesus is giving them the authority to, as it were, open the doors to heaven and invite the world to enter. At this point it is important to understand how, biblically speaking, one enters the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus said that, unless one is born again, he will not see the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:3). One is born again as the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God to bring about new life in a dead sinner. The content of the message is the substitutionary death of Christ and His subsequent resurrection (Romans 10:9–10). So the faithful preaching of the gospel is the key to the kingdom.
In Matthew 16:19, Jesus is specifically addressing Peter, so it is significant that, in the book of Acts, Peter figures prominently in the “opening of doors” to three different groups of people so they can enter the Kingdom. In Acts 2, it is Peter who preaches in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost; about three thousand Jewish people are saved that day. Peter’s preaching had “unlocked the door” of heaven for the Jews. Later, in Acts 8, the Samaritans believe the gospel and receive the Holy Spirit; again, Peter (and John) was present for this event. Peter had “unlocked the door” for the Samaritans. Then, in Acts 10, Peter brings the gospel to a Roman centurion’s household, and they, too, receive the Holy Spirit. Peter had “unlocked the door” for the Gentiles. The “keys” that Jesus had given him worked in each case.
The Catholic Church took this passage to mean that Peter would be the church’s first leader or “Pope” and that all future popes would descend from Peter. Rather than debating this point, I want to take it at face value—authority in the church has been established. Peter would be in charge and hand the reins off to his successor.
It appears that Kevin DeYoung holds the keys to your salvation.
In the case of the OPC, one can see how they view “who is in charge.” In other words, what they say goes, and when they say to “shut up,” one must shut up or risk being thrown out of the church. If one is thrown out of the church, one is declared an “unbeliever.” I must add that I am referring to specific writing from the Session in this definition of unbelief. I plan to post some excerpts of letters on Friday if everything goes as planned. One cannot leave the church unless one has been permitted to leave and join another church. In this universe, “All who wander are most definitely lost.” I imagine it would apply to my years wandering in the postevangelical wilderness, looking for a church home. Oddly enough, I was still a Christian during this time. According to this OPC church, I was “lost.”
In 2018, I wrote Even Kevin DeYoung is Fixated on Kingdom Keys. God Apparently Needs His Help In Deciding Who’s In and Who’s Out. In that post, I referred to my 2014 post Jonathan Leeman/Mark Dever: The Keys Are the Key to Understanding Their Words. Kevin DeYoung and Jonathan Leeman take these keys to a whole new level. The rest of this post is taken from those two posts.
Kevin De Young joins 9 Marks in claiming he holds the keys to your salvation if you are a member of his church.
Recently, Kevin DeYoung, the lead pastor of a Reformed church in North Carolina had something more provocative to say about church membership in Theological Primer: The Nature of Church Power.
(3) Potestas diakritike is the authority the church posses in regard to the discipline of its members. The church is not given a sword (as the state is), but rather keys that it might open and close membership in the church (as an expression of entrance or expulsion from Christ’s heavenly kingdom).
Therefore, if you disagree with your church because they sell books by CJ Mahaney, like Todd Wilhelm, and you leave the church, they can discipline you in absentia. If you are under discipline, and you don’t accept it, they can expel you from the church. That is stupid enough. But DeYoung and his 9 Marks BFFs appear to state that this means you are now in danger of being outside of the Kingdom of God!!! That means you could go to hell!
Those poor people in Christ Covenant Church better be kissing their beloved leader’s key fob.
Jonathan Leeman says the church gets to decide if one is a citizen of heaven.
The church gets to decide who is a true confessor of the faith and who is a “citizen of the kingdom of heaven.”
But, strictly speaking, I would argue that the exercise of the keys is the pronouncing of a judgment. It is a legal or judicial binding or loosing. It is a church’s decision about what constitutes a right confession and who is a true confessor.
In other words, the keys are put into practice whenever
a church decides upon a confession of faith that will bind all church members,
a church admits a member,
a church excludes a member.The holder of the keys—the church—is being called upon to assess a person’s life and profession of faith and then to make a heavenly sanctioned and public pronouncement affirming or denying the person’s citizenship in the kingdom and inclusion in the church.
9 Marks gets to decide if one is a gospel citizen™, and Todd Wilhelm’s situation proves why they’re wrong.
Marks in a post called Regulative Like Jazz says that the local church gets to decide what the gospel is and who is a gospel citizen.
The gathered local church is authorized in Matthew 16, 18, and 28 by Christ’s keys of the kingdom to make an international declaration about a what and a who: what is the gospel, and who is a gospel citizen?
In that post, you will see that I quote Leeman who claims to recognize that the authority given to the church can be used for good or bad. I truly believe that Leeman thinks CHBC/9Marks are trying to use authority for *good.* But we all know the very real story of Todd Wilhelm in which their authority was used to punish a decent man who was righteously standing up for his conscience.
Todd’s story illustrates the inherent danger in a church where its leaders believe they hold some special authority given to them by God. The sad part of this mishap is that Leeman, Dever and Folmar do not recognize their serious errors and continue to think they are being biblical™ in the misapplication of ill-defined church discipline which led to the mistreatment of a man whom they once deemed a possible leader. Folks, they do not see their errors, and that is alarming!
I vigorously oppose the 9Marks’ teaching on the supposed keys to the kingdom. These men (I don’t think women have keys in their system, but I could be wrong) have taken on a role which is way above their pay grade. I happen to know Who has this role and am grateful that He holds the veto and He will correct their wrong decisions.
The gathered local church is authorized in Matthew 16, 18, and 28 by Christ’s keys of the kingdom to make an international declaration about a what and a who: what is the gospel, and who is a gospel citizen?
Upon understanding how 9Marks applied the *keys* (or was it the screws?) to Todd Wilhelm, I have come to believe that theirs system is a manmade one that has been misapplied and will continue to be used to apply unrighteous pressure to decent people who are following the Lord. if they did it once, they will do it again unless they apologize and change their direction.
Do you know what you are getting when you join a church?
If you join DeYoung’s church, you must accept that you can be disciplined for whatever DeYoung and his BFFs (aka elders) determine should be disciplined. They have not told you a priori what they will discipline. They never will, even though they could. They don’t do so because they want to be able to control members of the congregation.
Martin Luther stood up to the Catholic Church, which used the threat of excommunication from the church to bludgeon the impoverished masses into obedience. In their system, excommunication meant that you would go to hell unless you got them to declare you back in the fold. Today’s Calvinists are playing the same game.
- You can be disciplined for whatever reason.
- If you leave the church, you are essentially out of the kingdom of God, which means you are going to hell. Reread DeYoung’s comment if you doubt me.
- This means that every little Christian (preferably Reformed, covenant signing, and key carrying) church on all the street corners of my town is engaged in declaring who is getting into heaven and who is going to hell. I bet they often disagree as people move from church to church. So, does God let those people go in and out of the kingdom as people change churches? One church keeps him and one excommunicates him. Does God have an eraser for the Book of Life if DeYoung and Robert Morris disagree on the status of Fred Smith?
I am so glad that I fled this nonsense and have found a peaceful refuge in a church whose members would look perplexed if it were announced that this was one of those key-carrying churches. They would think that the speaker was referring to the nice man who unlocks the doors to the church, lights them, and then blows out the candles and locks up the doors on the way out. He is a dear man who volunteers most weekends and has the biggest key chain ever. I am glad I have thrown my lot in with him, unlike these authority-driven church leaders who haven’t met a rule they won’t adopt.
I think the post I wrote so many years ago still applies.
> Today’s Calvinists are playing the same game.
Thank you, Dee.
I would nuance this slightly by putting this as “Present-day independent Calvinists are playing the same game.” Predestinarian baptist churches are generally not subject to any visible church authority higher than the local congregation.
In a typical conventional Reformed congregation, actions of the Session of the local congregation can in principle be disputed at a higher level, such as at a church court convened at the level of the regional (presbytery) or national (general assembly) denominational governing bodies. An improper or arbitrary excommunication or expulsion could, in principle, be reversed at one of these higher levels, and there might even be disciplinary consequences for church officers who acted improperly.
Samuel Conner(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
The keys to the kingdom are the key of faith and the key of knowledge. In other words, the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. And the so-called authority to “bind and loose” is the responsibility of Christians to share this gospel so that the broken hearted are bound up (healed) and the prisoners loosed from their bondage.
Dale Rudiger(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
It doesn’t matter what brand of religion it is, they all claim to speak for God, and that God has indeed set up institutes of practice that must be adhered to.
Muff Potter(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
I would say what I really think of the leaders who peddle this utter “nonsense”, as Dee so kindly put it. However, it would certainly get this post tossed for moderation reasons.
May true followers who are trapped in “churches” like this find their way out.
A pox be upon on those leaders who pile burdens, upon burdens, upon burdens on those trying their best to simply follow Christ.
Richard Free(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Remember the abuse and other [expletive deleted¹] Aimee Byrd had to deal with in the OPC? It sems there are a lot of very small men completely puffed up with their own importance² in these churches.
https://thewartburgwatch.com/2020/09/26/hey-mortification-of-spin-why-cant-we-be-friends/
—
¹to quote one of the USA’s 20th century presidents
²importance because of plumbing received at birth, and because of “eldership”, where “elders” equals “the pastor’s yes-men”
Gus(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
“The holder of the keys—the church—is being called upon to assess a person’s life and profession of faith and then to make a heavenly sanctioned and public pronouncement affirming or denying the person’s citizenship in the kingdom and inclusion in the church.”
It’s always hard to know where to start when pointing out all the errors in this kind of theology. But if the theodudes are so keen on taking their key-bearing responsibilities seriously, perhaps they could start by making better judgments of the ‘life and faith’ of people appointed to positions of power in the church. This would then enable them to use the keys of the kingdom to open the church’s doors to everyone that God is calling to himself. Including the believers that they mistakenly considered to be outside of God’s kingdom.
Christie24(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
“… this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven … and on this rock I will build My Church”
Could it be that Jesus builds His Church on revelation knowledge of who the Father is … rather than our feeble attempts to build it on our peabrain knowledge of God and what real-deal Church was intended to be? IMO, there’s too much “flesh and blood” and not enough Spirit in the institutional church.
Max(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Good Lord! God has more sense than to give the “Keys to the Kingdom” to the New Calvinists! They have come into the world like a bull in a china shop with stealth and deception to break anything not “reformed” … while many of them remain not transformed and conformed to the image of Christ.
Max(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
This incessant obsession with authority and power on the part of many men in evangelical and Reformed leadership raises the question: what are they compensating for?
Burwell Stark(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Perhaps they are compensating for the lack of authority and power in their lives until they went into the ministry. IMO, many “pastors” choose ministry as a career path because it gives them an authoritarian platform to manipulate, intimidate and dominate others … they weren’t “called” into ministry, they simply “went” into ministry. In my area, the New Calvinists are the worst offenders of this – they don’t have a spiritual bone in their bodies, but they sure the heck control the spiritual daylights out of others!
Max(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
And shortcomings anatomical and not.
Ras al Ghul(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
The teachings of DeYoung, Dever, and company have made the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit completely obsolete. They relegate the Great White Throne of Judgement and the Judgement Throne of Christ into nothing more than knickknacks….. dust and cobweb catchers.
These men make all of the judgements here on earth, in their churches.
(Usurping authority much?)
My question is, are these teachings/church covenant rules, etc. very intentional control freak plays, or are the guys just that dumb? (I’m leaning towards intentional control freaks.). Either way, I don’t believe these boys are going to be rejoicing when the roll is called up yonder.
Nancy2(aka Kevlar)(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
The Bible emphasizes servant-leadership as opposed to oppressive rule … these guys just don’t get it.
Max(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
I think it is simpler.
I shared my experience as a young male camp counselor. At camp, I was a hero.
The kids loved me because I made sure they had a fun week. Every night, they fell asleep with their clothes on because they were so tired from outdoor adventures like canoeing and hiking. We did a lot of activities with girls’ cabins; for many of these kids, this was the first time they had meaningfully talked and interacted with the opposite sex. For a lot of the boys, I was the first male role model who took the time to sit down and listen to them.
The camp loved me because they were desperate for males. There were probably 10 applications for each female counselor position. I didn’t even apply or interview. (My junior year, I was studying abroad.) My pastor recommended me, and I got the job.
The parents loved me because I was a clean-cut guy who could talk the talk.
My mom had received ‘the calling’ that I should go into the ministry. 🙁
Outside of that environment, I was a weird, if charming kid. No one was going to call me one of the cool kids. I can definitely see how someone could get caught up in it all.
I was not compensating for anything. I just found a place that unexpectedly put me on a pedestal. If I had enjoyed it, I would have done whatever I could to stay up there.
That is probably the trajectory that a lot of young people in the ministry take. They just ‘found’ their place. They live their lives as decent humans.
But some, just like any other addict, they get a taste and keep wanting more.
If they make a mistake, instead of losing face, they tell a little white lie… until their entire life is manipulating people and theology to get their way. The lie, cheat, and steal to keep getting a bigger and bigger high.
If my friend hadn’t told our teacher that an Episcopal priest was abusing her, my life would have been very different. Many of those same people that were putting me on the pedestal were doing everything thing they could to demean and diminish her… just because someone raped her.
davewis(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
I think it is possible to strongly believe something for reasons that are not consciously visible to oneself. So this could be “intentional” at a deeper-than-conscious level while the person’s self-perception is that he believes it for principled reasons of biblical teaching.
I have read of a saying attributed to, I think, Benjamin Franklin, along the lines of “it is a very convenient thing to be a rational being — one can always find reasons to justify what one wants to do.”
I think that there is almost certainly in many, or most or perhaps all, people a similar dynamic of finding reasons to believe what one wants to be true. That the reasons are, for Christians, drawn from the Scriptures makes the dynamic stronger — “who am I to argue with God?” Of course, this dynamic can also affect how one interprets the Scriptures, so that the Scriptures can be used as the means for justifying what one wants to believe in order to justify what one wants to do.
I suspect that when this happens, it is a form of misuse of the Divine Name.
Samuel Conner(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Max,
Servant -leadership is a good way to put it..
“let this mind be in you, as was in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of G$d, thought it not robbery to be equal with G$d, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant…..”
From the book of Philippians…..
This book must not be in these clowns Bible…
Jeffrey Chalmers(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
davewis,
Wow
Jeffrey Chalmers(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
I don’t agree. I think the Gospels emphasize *servanthood*, period.
Cynthia Wright(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
I too believe it to be plain old control freakery.
I think it was Jesus who said that they shut and lock the doors to heaven with ‘keys’ that only they can use. They won’t go in themselves and are more than happy to keep the doors locked to those who want to go in.
Muff Potter(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
I’m looking forward to your post about the OPC founded by J Gresham Machen but was initially confused by the mention of Kevin De Young who is PCA. There is a tenuous link between the two because the PCA has been described as “Machen’s Warrior Children” but I think he would probably be spinning in his grave at the suggestion!
As for “The Keys”, Martin Luther explains it in this way –
“ Christ says to St. Peter in Matthew 16[:18–19], “You are Peter and on this petra (that is, on this rock) I will build my church. 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.”
On the basis of these words they have attributed the keys to St. Peter alone. But the same St. Matthew, in Matthew 18[:18], has barred such an erroneous interpretation, for Christ says to all of them in general, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Here it is clear that Christ is interpreting himself, explaining chapter 16[:18] in this chapter 18[:18], that the keys are given to St. Peter in place of the entire community, and not to his person alone.”
Luther, Martin. 1999. Luther’s Works, Vol. 39: Church and Ministry I. Edited by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann. Vol. 39. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
You can find more on the subject in his Works , chapter 40, p320 onwards published in 1530
Lowlandseer(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Max,
You’re on fire this morning Max! Hope you and yours are well this Good Friday.
Lowlandseer(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
The New Calvinists primarily hang out in Romans and Ephesians, where they find weak support of their theology by torturing selected passages to make them say what they want them to say. They seldom quote the Gospels, preferring to hang out in Paul’s epistles. I attended a New Calvinist sermon on Easter Sunday a few years ago to see what made the dudebros tick; the young reformed pastor continued his sermon series through Ephesians without missing a beat … no cross, no Jesus offered that day. It’s another gospel which is not ‘the’ Gospel.
Max(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Calvinists are increasingly aggressive and devious in spreading their particular flavour of things to any unsuspecting person/church they encounter. They infiltrated my former church, here in Nairobi. One of Dever’s associates is currently doing his thing there. Dever has an increasing influence around here through pastors that have gone through his internship program. Voddie Baucham has been spreading his influence in Zambia for a while now, serving as a dean at a university there. Also, Johnny Mac-alicious (many have tasted and deem him good) has set up shop in these parts and elsewhere with his very own The Masters Academy International.
“TMAI is committed to fulfilling the Great Commission by training indigenous church leaders to be approved pastor-teachers, able to equip their churches to make biblically sound disciples.”
These guys went international a long time ago and I can tell you for free that the vast majority of the church on the continent doesn’t have any idea what Calvinism is, let alone recognizing it or pushing back against it.
Arlo(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Max,
They do the same thing with John 6
Arlo(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Doing well on this Good Friday, thank you. Getting older, a bit more feeble, and less witty in my TWW comments, but still out here fighting devils in the counterfeit church as the Lord leads. Hope you and yours have a worshipful Easter weekend focused on the Living Christ.
Max(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Much has been said about the modus operandi of New Calvinists in the American church: stealth and deception. No wonder that they are operating the same way on foreign fields. The NeoCal dudebros truly believe that they have come into the world for such a time as this to restore the true “gospel” to the church worldwide, which has lost its way. In their mind, they alone hold truth … thus, they justify a little stealth here, a little deception there, to takeover churches. They certainly have a passion about their belief and practice, but it is a misplaced passion. Their behavior puts Total Depravity in a whole new perspective.
Max(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
None of these New Calvinist dudebro poser wannabees can hold a candle to the Old Princeton giants like Machen and B.B. Warfield. It’s superhero movies, movies, and nerd culture before it was “cool” and “popular”. Calvinism (it is classical and historic sense) has been debased by all the bandwagon fanboys to the detriment of the ones already in it. Just like nerd culture. As soon as it got popular in modern culture, the bandwagonners debased. Popular American Evangelicalism ruined a niche within Christianity. And the New Calvinists are the ones being the excrement in the punch bowl at the gaming con.
Ras al Ghul(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Max,
It’s crazy to me that they justify their actions as being godly, while utilizing all manner of underhanded tactics to propagate their ideology and then complain that they’re being misunderstood/misrepresented.
Arlo(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Popular culture ruined and debased geek and nerd culture. Evangelical popular culture (in the form of the New Calvinists) ruined Calvinist and Reformed Culture (in the form of old school Presbyterians and Continental Reformed). If I was an old-school Presbyterian I would be bloody pissed. W
What’s worse, is that the New Calvinists now suddenly represent themselves as the expert and judges for a culture they are frankly newbies and only joined because it was suddenly “cool” or “popular”. It’s like the person who has never read any comics suddenly proclaim himself an expert on all things Spiderman or X-men simply because he watched a few movies (even though he has no effing clue about Hulk #181 or X-Men #94 or Amazing Fantasy #15 or that they even exist).
R’as al Ghul(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Just like Nuisance Livestreamers/Influencers.
“JUST A PRANK, BRO!”
Sometimes even including the Street Thug “Security” “taking care of” anyone who reacts.
Headless Unicorn Guy(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
It’s been replaced by Atlas Shrugged, if not Mein Kampf.
(During 2008-2009, Atlas Shrugged was actually quoted chapter-and-verse by John Galt celebrity impersonators. Don’t know Who John Galt Is, but for a while the guy had more celebrity impersonators than Elvis.)
Headless Unicorn Guy(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
What’s worse, is that the New Calvinists now suddenly represent themselves as the expert and judges for a culture they are frankly newbies and only joined because it was suddenly “cool” or “popular”.
R’as al Ghul,
More than cool and popular…. Honestly,I believe it has more to do with the ego stroking, financially profitable cushy jobs for the pastors and their ‘yes-men’.
Nancy2(aka Kevlar)(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
“New” Calvinists are a totally different breed vs. “Old” Calvinists. I have known many classical Calvinists. While I don’t agree with the tenets of reformed theology, I have found “Old” Calvinists to be civil in their discourse and respectful of other expressions of faith. The new boys on the block are arrogant and militant. Mohler and Dever should be ashamed of themselves for releasing these whippersnappers on the American church.
Max(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
If you believe the keys were given to Peter, you pretty much have to follow apostolic succession. If you believe the keys were given to the apostles as example of establishing the clergy or church leadership as authority, you pretty much have to concede to the OPC and their ilk.
I believe the “keys” given were repentance and belief, and that all believers form a kingdom of priests then no one person or group of people are in spiritual authority over others.
Two books you may not agree with entirely but might be a tad eye opening for some are Through Flame and Sword by Arthur O. Roberts and A Catechism and Confession of Faith by Robert Barclay.
linda(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
There may be typos, misspellings, and messed up sentence structure in my last post. I am adjusting to the eye drying unpleasantness of glaucoma drops.
There is a special place in heaven for the scientists who developed preservative free drops, gels, and ointments to soothe the tired eyeball, lol.
linda(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Hope you adjust to those drops, Linda. I’ve been taking eye drops for glaucoma for a few years.
A sad Easter weekend for us. My sister-in-law died on Good Friday, in hospice care for cancer. And we just received word that our daughter’s best friend died on Good Friday from cancer surgery complications. A tough time for our family right now.
Max(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
I particularly like the phrase
How many churches does the original writer think there are? Is “a church” a body of Christ, who has many bodies, or is it the body of a christ, of which there are many?
Nick Bulbeck(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
I’m so sorry, Max. Praying for you and your family.
researcher(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
researcher,
Thank you, researcher.
Max(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Because they KNOW They Are The One True Way, prepared for Such a Time as This.
Just like the Young Communist League.
Just like the Hitlerjugend.
Just like Chairman Mao’s Red Guard.
Just like the Taliban.
Headless Unicorn Guy(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
That’s classic DARVO.
And talent/skill pulling off DARVO is the number-one characteristic of Sociopaths.
Headless Unicorn Guy(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Lowlandseer,
“Upon this rock” is a play on words with location as stand-in for occurrence. And it wasn’t a springy, buttercup-strewn meadow atop a chalk down.
We are all in (the real) apostolic succession if we are in the faith, and definitely not in the form of being bossed about.
Michael in UK(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
Didn’t that Rabbi from Tarsus keep pointing to the Rabbi from Nazareth?
Headless Unicorn Guy(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)