Comments on: Guest Post: Brent L. Bolin “The Danger of using Twitter as part of a Worship Service”

By: Brent

Brent — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:07:57 +0000

Rachel, Both the Hebrew and the Greek have their own particular differences which are utilized by God. The Hebrew (OT) is very poetic and necessitates many more English words in its translation due to the vagueness; and its ability to utilize puns, and many other rhetorical devices; which add color and nuances to the language beautifully. Whereas in comparison, the Greek (Koine) language (NT) is a very specific language; technical, efficient and effective for debate, philosophy, logic, and science. It takes many more English words to translate a single Greek word yet for a different reason than the Hebrew because of its specifically and exactness. It is a technical language that is very precise, far beyond the English. This is one of the closest to perfect languages in man's existence. Both of these languages are dead languages meaning that they do not change (which is great for us), whereas English is alive, always changing and therefore creates translation problems. If you check out our website, the “something to think about” page, this makes a little more sense.

By: Brent

Brent — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:50:54 +0000

Warren Wiersbe’s states: “John gives several reasons why Christ was made manifest: (1) to reveal the Father & enable us to fellowship with Him, 1Jn 1:2-3; (2) to take away our sins, 1Jn 3:4-5; (3) to destroy (annul) the works of the devil, 1Jn 3:8; & (4) to reveal God’s love & bestow God’s life, 1Jn 4:9. The fact that sin resulted in Christ’s suffering & death ought to be reason enough for the Christian to hate sin & flee from it. John defines sin as transgressing the law. The Christian who abides in Christ (the fellowship of chaps 1-2) will not deliberately break God’s law. Every Christian sins, perhaps without knowing it (Psa 19:12); but no true Christian will deliberately & repeatedly defy God’s Word & disobey Him. 1Jn 3:6 ought to read, “Whosoever abides in Him does not habitually sin.” Eph 2:1-3 makes it clear that the unsaved sin constantly because they live in the flesh & for the devil. But the Christian has a new nature within & is no longer Satan’s slave.” Hope this helps, bb

By: Brent

Brent — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:33:48 +0000

Rachel, Concerning 1 John 3:6, the idea is one of “the habit of sin,” “the lifestyle of sin, which the unbeliever lives.” The Greek linguistic expert, Archibald Thomas Robertson (in agreement with Vincent), wrote concerning this verse: Sinneth not (ouch hamartanei). Linear present (linear meno?n, keeps on abiding) active indicative of hamartano?, “does not keep on sinning.” For meno? (abide) see 1Jo_2:6; Joh_15:4-10. Whosoever sinneth (ho hamartano?n). Present (linear) active articular participle like meno?n above, “the one who keeps on sinning” (lives a life of sin, not mere occasional acts of sin as hamarte?sas, aorist active participle, would mean). Hath not seen him (ouch heo?raken auton). Perfect active indicative of horao?. The habit of sin is proof that one has not the vision or the knowledge (egno?ken, perfect active also) of Christ. He means, of course, spiritual vision and spiritual knowledge, not the literal sense of horao? in Joh_1:18; Joh_20:29.

By: Brent

Brent — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:19:32 +0000

Rachel, excellent question. Good catch in my attempt to maintain some type of humility after boasting, it appears I went too far in stating my own fallen nature. The book of First John was written to believers (1 John 5:13), 1 John 1:8, says: “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” The Greek words: "we have" (echo) is in the: present tense, meaning it is: A Continuous Action – Never stops ~ active voice, meaning: The Subject (person) Causes the Action ~ indicative mood, meaning it is: A Mood of Certainty – A Reality ~ first-person, meaning it: Applies to the Speaker & all ("I"/"We") ~ plural number, meaning it: Applies to All. So what we plainly see from this verse is that every one of us, including John, will continue to sin throughout our life, in fact to say otherwise is a sin (1 John 1:10 ~ “sinned” is in the perfect tense in the Greek, in spite of being in the past tense in the English). Concerning Hebrews 10:26, things are what they look like, if you wish to e-mail me I will send you a long explanation which makes it clearer. blb@lcdc.info. Thanks, bb

By: Brent

Brent — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:22:39 +0000

Tony, your takeaway was exactly the point I was trying to make. Having specialized in the criminal justice system in addressing substance abuse, the first issue is always out of denial. And part of the problem that people have in our current day and age is denial concerning personal responsibility as compared to self-centeredness. Probably the greatest amount of denial is found in the rationality utilized in our culture that, “the ends justify the means.” Many of our biggest action adventure movies are based upon this premise, there's always a right reason to do the wrong thing. And it is this form of denial which Satan has a field day with. Another one he loves is to replace the first with the second. The problem with both of these types of rationalization is that they look good on the outside. And whereas technical tools can be such a blessing, it is with caution that we should utilize anything for God's kingdom. Thank you for your comment. bb

By: Brent

Brent — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:03:02 +0000

Anivus, I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I thought that I was signed up with subscribe to replies, which apparently I wasn't. Excellent point concerning Mark’s utilization of Tweeter regarding questions concerning a sermon. This sounds like an excellent example of utilizing this tool for ministry in a way that no other tool might work as well. After presenting a sermon or making a presentation, I would love to have the opportunity to explain things that sometimes either I complicate, or lack proper clarity on, and utilizing twitter this way is a perfect remedy. This also gives a teacher the opportunity to advance further on any subject or offshoots, and as a teacher I love the possibilities that this presents. You and I couldn't agree more on this subject, thank you very much for your comments. Brent

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:25:57 +0000

Brent, You say above, "…as I am a sinner through and through…" How do you reconcile that statement with 1 John 3:6, "No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him"? Or verse 9 which says, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's nature abides in him…"? Or Heb. 10:26: "If we deliberately keep on sinning after having a knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left…"?
Rachel

By: tonychimentofh

tonychimentofh — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:11:44 +0000

Brent, I really appreciate your post. I think my takeaway from your post is the high place that the word of God should have. While a conversation may be going on, that conversation is not superior to the ultimate authority of God's word and God's presence. Twitter, in and of itself, is not bad. But Twitter can create very self centered thinking. So harnessing its use for the kingdom takes wisdom. Thanks for your thoughts and making me think more.

By: anivus

anivus — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:47:23 +0000

Brent... very thoughtful and insightful post. I definitely can read and hear your heart that Christ remains first in all things. To this I say "Yes and Amen"... but I think you may be throwing the baby out with the bath water (so to speak). While I would not suggest "tweeting" while the preaching is being done (I hold in high regard for the office and function of the preaching of the Word) I would suggest that afterwards would be a great place/ time to tweet. The best example I see of this being done is at http://www.marshillchurch.org/ with Mark and his team. After the sermon people are encouraged tweet their questions about the sermon and then Mark answers the questions of the cuff. IMHO this is an excellent example of redeeming technology for the purposes of Christ. It allows for the whole church to participate in furthering their understanding of Christ in a corporate manner.