Weekly Roundup: failure, suffering saints, our dying hour, counseling attitude
When Christian leaders fail, penal substitutionary atonement for suffering saints, preparing for our dying hour, and the essential attitude of biblical counseling.
Resources
The Scandal of His Confession: Where to Look When Christian Leaders Fall | Nathan Tarr | Desiring God
I didn’t know that Zwingli was guilty of such a sin. It reminds me of the old adage: even the best men are men at best.
Some 300 years later, Johannes Schulthess (1758–1802), a renowned Zwingli scholar, was working in the archives of the Great Minster. Opening a volume, he discovered a letter written in Zwingli’s script. In the letter, Zwingli admitted to committing fornication, repented with godly sorrow, and committed himself to a chaste and holy life.
[…]
As the significance of the letter sank in, Schulthess walked over and placed the letter in the candle burning on the worktable. He would erase this moral failure from the pages of history.
The Necessity of Penal Substitution for Suffering Saints | Whitney Woolard | 9Marks
This is another good one from the 9Marks Journal, another painful yet glorious example of how good theology comes to bear in real life. Good theology is always worth its weight in gold!
J.C. Ryle on Preparing for Our Dying Hour | Randy Alcorn | Eternal Perspective Ministries
I just found out that Randy Alcorn has a blog! He has not failed to deliver.
In the meantime let us live the life of faith in the Son of God. Let us lean all our weight on Christ, and rejoice in the thought that He lives for evermore. Yes: blessed be God! Christ lives, though we may die. Christ lives, though friends and families are carried to the grave. He lives who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel.
I read, and save, more articles that I’m able to post in the Weekly Roundup. To see all of the articles I’ve saved over the years, see my Evernote collection.
Quote
This is a wonderful quote about biblical counseling.
...biblical ministry is not, "The healthy treat the sick." Caring well is not, "People who have it all together minister to people who struggle with problems." We are all in this together. It can be sobering to consider your fundamental attitude and stance toward strugglers. Before you initiate any action plan to meet counseling needs, remember that these "counseling needs" are people. A dear brother. A sister for whom Christ died. A human being who struggles, who may have had a rough past, who was presented with few opportunities and many bad options, who made some foolish choices, who has a long way to go. Like you, perhaps. A troubled person is a person to love, not a problem to fix.
There is a reason "Love is patient" comes first on the list in 1 Corinthians 13. People often change slowly, struggle deeply, and are troublesome to others. There is a reason "be patient to them all" wraps up the list in 1 Thessalonians 5:14. Some people are willful and tempestuous. Some feel anxious and discouraged. Some operate with huge limitations. All need patience. Do you actually love strugglers? Do you identify with them? Can you say, "I am more like that person than different"? Can you say, "We are in this together"? Christ embodies patience. He identifies and hangs in there with all his people through their all their troubles. He is committed to us for the long haul.
- David Powlison. “Ten Question to Ask Before Starting a Counseling Ministry.” JBC 29:1 (2015): 48-61. Accessed on Thu, September 5, 2019 at https://www.ccef.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Ten_Questions_to_Ask_before_Starting_a_Counseling_Ministry_in_Your_Church_Powlison.pdf.