shadmans Musings  

(1) For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, (2) that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, (3) in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (4) I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. (5) For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ. (6) Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, (7) having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. (2:1-7) As chapter 2 begins, chapter 1 has already introduced the two great hal...

Since I have brought up customs and practices in my last blog, I wanted to shift gears a little in part 21 of this Sola Scriptura series and give some examples of customs and practices that were confused with ‘traditions,’ one of which in the 2nd century nearly split the Church in two. You might be asking what on earth could have been so severe that it jeopardized the unity of the Church in the 2nd century? Well, we’ll get to that, as well as a couple of other examples of misunderstood ‘traditions’ better known as customs and practices. But the point of this blog is that calling some extra-biblical beliefs, ‘tradition,’ does not make them so, just because some modern day Catholic apologists see the word ‘tradition’ in the writings of some of the early church fathers. This does not mean they taught or believed in the current Catholic teaching of an unwritten body of oral teachings that were co-equal to Scripture. And likewise, just because some later Church fathers believed in this con...

(28) We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. (29) For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. (Col 1:28-29) In these two verses, Paul explains the hard work of what ministry is all about. We all want to be instructed in the ways we are supposed to live in Christ, but how many of us want to be admonished by having our bad conduct called into question? But that is exactly what Paul is saying. His goal was always to confront believers about their sin in one breath, and then teach them how to walk out their faith in Christ in the next breath. And all of this was for the purpose of maturing us so that we might become complete in Christ. He also knew that it was not by his own human ability to accomplish this work, but that it was what God had called him to do, and then empowered him to be able to complete. The Method of Ministry We proclaim Him, ad...

As we begin part 20 of my Sola Scriptura series, this blog moves onto another early church father by the name of Tertullian, although some current and past historians may not consider him one since he was never a ‘bishop.’ Regardless, Tertullian has made a huge impact upon church history with his numerous writings which provide a view of the early church in the 2nd and early 3rd centuries. Since, he was an extremely important writer in the early church, he has been described this way, Tertullian was the first Christian writer to write in Latin, and was described three centuries later as writing 'first, and best, and incomparably', of all the writers to do so. … His writing is aggressive, sarcastic and brilliant, and at points very funny even after 2000 years. He was deeply conscious of his own failings, and had a burning desire for truth and integrity. He was described by Jerome as celebrated in all the churches as a speaker, and his works bear the marks of the need to keep an...