Third John
1:1 – backing your man – "whom I love in the truth", versus the wishy-washy Presbytery
we have now! We tend to sacrifice the man go with the herd.1:3-4 – what stories do others carry about your Christian life and walk in the faith? Our spiritual children – does their growth and maturity give us specific focused joy or do we just deal with the herd and never get specific about anyone?
1:7 – the circuit. Templeton's "The Third Temptation" describes the sick version of it in our church today. On paying men and abusing them. But then, on the other hand, the abuse of riches too. I don't think there's any easy answer to all this. It's a sick time in our church these days – enough to make one ill.
1:7 – ambiguous content of what is not acceptable and why. Perhaps some sort of compromise or practice that could not be condoned or participated in – question for us and especially us in church leadership and how we earn our bacon.
1:9 – authority in the church – must be acknowledged to be of any good – it is a two-way street. We place ourselves under a variety of authorities with a variety of effects. I wonder what D.'s side of the story was?
1:10 – putting out gossip or slander about us. Some things never change.
1:15 – greet the friends each by name as Christ does to us (Shepherd knows each of us).
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