Titus 1:5-16 (New Revised Standard Version)I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you: someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. For a bishop, as God's steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.
There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision; they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach. It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said, "Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons."
That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth. To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
Finding the right bus going the right direction...
Atheists in the U.K. have raised money and will begin advertising in a campaign called No God. The buses in London will say, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Many skeptics are exactly that, not worrying or thinking about the deeper meanings to life. The people who like this advertising said that they are tired of hearing scare tactics about hell and salvation. Hasn’t it been decades and decades since Christians opened Christian thought with hell speech? I don’t remember any anytime lately.
Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis was born in Northern Africa in a time where many men beat their wives. His Christian mother was a counselor at the local shelter and gave women advice to make their marriages peaceful. He was a disappointment to his mother; he lived with his girlfriend and had a son outside of marriage. He taught at good schools and knew the right people in Rome. Augustine became interested in a cult.
His mother didn’t decide to accept everything Augustine did in life as okay. But she didn’t cut him out of her life, she did what pleased God, she prayed a lot.
Augustine went on to become one of the greatest leaders in the Christian church in 2000 years. He had been a non-believer, debauched, rebellious and not blameless. He had not been prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He did not have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy. Augustine became a bishop in Algeria and his thinking on Christian matters is sought after 1700 years after his death. Why? He’d agree with Titus that this is the truth. No one ever gave Augustine confirmation that rowing his own boat, in his own way was the truth of Jesus Christ.
Augustine was a beloved bishop, not by thundering about hell, but the people in his part of the world - from many different cultures and races - could appreciate that he was a man who understood that he was a sinner. He was a sinner who put thought into his life, looked for the deeper meaning and began with the grace of God to read and act upon God’s love.
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Atheists in the U.K. have raised money and will begin advertising in a campaign called No God. The buses in London will say, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Many skeptics are exactly that, not worrying or thinking about the deeper meanings to life. The people who like this advertising said that they are tired of hearing scare tactics about hell and salvation. Hasn’t it been decades and decades since Christians opened Christian thought with hell speech? I don’t remember any anytime lately.
Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis was born in Northern Africa in a time where many men beat their wives. His Christian mother was a counselor at the local shelter and gave women advice to make their marriages peaceful. He was a disappointment to his mother; he lived with his girlfriend and had a son outside of marriage. He taught at good schools and knew the right people in Rome. Augustine became interested in a cult.
His mother didn’t decide to accept everything Augustine did in life as okay. But she didn’t cut him out of her life, she did what pleased God, she prayed a lot.
Augustine went on to become one of the greatest leaders in the Christian church in 2000 years. He had been a non-believer, debauched, rebellious and not blameless. He had not been prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He did not have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy. Augustine became a bishop in Algeria and his thinking on Christian matters is sought after 1700 years after his death. Why? He’d agree with Titus that this is the truth. No one ever gave Augustine confirmation that rowing his own boat, in his own way was the truth of Jesus Christ.
Augustine was a beloved bishop, not by thundering about hell, but the people in his part of the world - from many different cultures and races - could appreciate that he was a man who understood that he was a sinner. He was a sinner who put thought into his life, looked for the deeper meaning and began with the grace of God to read and act upon God’s love.
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