Hey Kalled.
If the point that you appreciate in this article is that the heroes and teachers tomorrow's church (if indeed there is a church to look back upon our time historically) will look back on aren't necessarilly the ones we ourselves look to and follow, this I can agree with. It is however, unknown what the "church" of tomorrow will ultimately be like, we're in a transition, it seems likely that the visible "church" will continue to apostate and that the men they will hold in high regard will not be the same we do. This is speculation of coarse, b/c I for one am not a prophet (nor have I read all Tim Lahayes books, wink wink(That was a joke everybody)).
The scary idea is that we have people who believe that they are theologically wise just simply b/c they can spout facts and quotes and speak multiple languages and words that fill the mouth and the mind. I maintain my belief that the only way we will know all the good things of God and come to maturity in the knowledge of God is through godly living.
It's also unfortunate that we sometimes get bogged down into the idea of what is and is not living dangerously and living for the Lord. I do not wish to live my life dangerously, neither I believe, do men like Piper, Sproul, Packer, or MacArthur nor does any body else. Yet to these men, dangerous is not living against the expectations of society or against the laws of the Scriptures, but dangerous is living life in a manner, in some pursuit that is not the Fullest pursuit of God.
Christian liberty and freedom are not just applied concerning the expectations of the world upon us, but of our expectations on the world and our definitions of it. We must not continue to define danger as being danger from the world or danger in a public relations manner but we must remember the fear of God and the dangers inherent in living like sinners in the hands of our angry God.
I trust you'll agree that Piper and Sproul and Packer and MacArthur and the rest see themselves as sinners saved only by grace through faith in Christ alone, in essense, sinners and saints. We are all sinners, we sin, but in Christ, in God's sight, we are saints seen by God through Christ who covers us so that all God chooses to see is the exact representation of Himself in Christ.
Certainly, there are lessons to be learned from this article, and lessons to be learned from the subjects mentioned herein. Perhaps the first 2 lessons we should learn are: How easily we can be distracted with technicallities, and that There are sinners out there putting the sinners in Church to shame by doing things, godly type things that we churchmen ought to be doing and could be doing but aren't b/c we don't live a biblically based life, we don't see the danger in disobeying God. The very sad thing will be when we see men who did greater deeds for the poor and the needy and thirsty and the hungry and he is rejected b/c Christ never knew him and then Christ will say to us, "Well Done" and we may perhaps know that we have not done well.
May the God of Peace, Guard our Hearts and Minds in Christ Jesus our Lord till the day of glorification.
Brother Luke <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/BigThumbUp.gif" alt="" />
