Spiritual Sounding Board – This is your place to gather and share in an open format.
-by Kathi
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Acts 11: 19 – 28
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
Psalm 9
I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously. You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.
The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the people with justice. The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Sing praises to the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done. For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
O Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in your salvation. The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden. The Lord is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
The wicked return to the grave, all the nations forget God. But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.
Arise, O Lord, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence. Strike them with terror, O Lord; let the nations know they are but men.
Proverbs 11: 5
The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.
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May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness: protect you from the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing: once again into our doors.
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Feel free to join the discussion.
You can share your church struggles and concerns.
Let’s also use it as a time to encourage one another spiritually.
What have you found spiritually encouraging lately?
Do you have any special Bible verses to share, any YouTube songs that you have found uplifting?
Photo credit: Kathi
Spiritual Sounding Board 
I applaud you for what you do. I am not ready to get involved with God or church again because since I am LGBTQIA, it is simply not for me since I consider myself an unbeliever strictly because I cannot conform to the views of those who claim to know God.
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Time for another posting about Douglas Wilson? His blog today talks about submission of wives in a demeaning way.
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Crystal – I’m glad you’re here! We have a lot of different people with different views and backgrounds. I hope you’ll feel welcomed here.
Irene – Ugh! Of course he talks that way. I would expect nothing less.
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Kathi– i know, but please read it.
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Irene – Yes, I am planning on reading it. Thank you for the heads up.
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@Irene, “Appeal to Authority” Just because Doug Wilson claims that these 21 Theses are plain and clear scripturally, he does not hold the authority to make those claims without evidence.
Can’t remember if it was on this blog, but there are strong parallels to slavery. Prior to the decline of slavery, it was commonly held that the Bible justified slavery. As cultural and natural law became more understood, theologians had to start picking and choosing between what seemed to be the physical reality, and what seemed to be the teaching of scripture. Ultimately, the theologians had to recognize that their understanding of scripture was flawed.
I think the same is happening with respect to women. The patriarch/complementarian people are starting to see the cracks between the cultural/natural law implications of equality and what they’ve been taught theologically, but, just like slavery are doubling down on their scriptural baggage and trying to blind themselves to what is happening in culture.
To @Crystal Lee’s point, I think there is a similar dichotomy in some of the LGBTQIA positions. I just read a paper that so exemplified that struggle that it was sad to see this person’s blindness. The author talks about the sadness and brokenness of original sin and the effects on the sexuality that God created “good” and how everything was clouded, but then seemingly whacks himself on the head with his Biblical hammer and says, “but the Bible is clear!” Well, no, it’s not so clear. I don’t think the church gets to decide that the alcoholic can receive grace, but the transgendered cannot.
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FYI, my wife and I read it. We kinda passed theories back and forth. Here’s my theory. He uses ten dollar words (e.g. calumny) among two bit sentences and one bit logic.
If you read someone who truly understands the depth of those words and uses them for greater position, you realize that they don’t just throw those words around to sound intelligent. It’s the way they talk. If someone is throwing out words like that, it has one purpose – to sound intelligent.
In ‘survival of the fittest’ there are animals that are actually better, but there are animals who put on a show to create the impression that they are better, but are really not. It would be like going on a first date with a guy who picks you up in a limo wearing a tux, taking you out to the best restaurant in town and asks for the best wine. At the end of the date, he pulls out a 1-carat ring and asks you to marry. What you don’t realize is that he’s a burger flipper and what he has just done is blown his entire life savings on one night.
So, Doug Wilson doesn’t have the intellect or the knowledge to write clear, well-thought-out articles that are meaty, but he wants you to think so, therefore he drops few big words in here and there to make himself sound intelligent. This is critical, because, as I said above, the only thing he has to go on in these claims is the force of his own personality.
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