Just starting to work through these. Thanks for the graft in doing them!
I’ve read Genesis many a time, and I had never noticed the import of God declaring the material universe ‘good’. The end of gnosticism. There is always something new to learn.
Regarding John MacArthur and for your amusement, I listened to him on charismatic gifts, and he emphasised that what he does Sundays from the pulpit is the equivalent of ‘prophesying’. If that is the case, then he should allow women to do so as well, as Paul clearly accepted this in 1 Cor 11 – with head covered, of course! He is so anti-charismatic (I agree with him on denouncing charismania and the fake charlatans) that he unwittingly sacrificed his complementarianism!
As far as the sinful desire to want to control, I go back long enough to charismatic disputes and splits in the 1970’s. Some believers had discovered that the Holy Spirit had not effectively been withdrawn from the church with the death of the last apostle. Notwithstanding silliness and immaturity that occurred the reason churches split on this was often no so much doctrinal as the existing leadership couldn’t cope with not being in control of what was happening. People praying for each other in living rooms, having read the bible for themselves, receiving answers and this not being part of the ‘official’ church. Indeed officially these things were ‘not for today’. Small wonder that the house church movement was born out of this.
A positive of this was the rediscovery of body or ever member ministry as opposed to the one man band approach. It’s sad that in the meantime that amongst bible believing charismatics who avoided imploding into gross error (Toronto blessing etc.) this has largely been forgotten and a ‘several man band’ replaced it, so you end up with little more than a souped up baptist church and the gifts have all but disappeared, as a group of often self-selecting elders now have to be in control.
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Just starting to work through these. Thanks for the graft in doing them!
I’ve read Genesis many a time, and I had never noticed the import of God declaring the material universe ‘good’. The end of gnosticism. There is always something new to learn.
Regarding John MacArthur and for your amusement, I listened to him on charismatic gifts, and he emphasised that what he does Sundays from the pulpit is the equivalent of ‘prophesying’. If that is the case, then he should allow women to do so as well, as Paul clearly accepted this in 1 Cor 11 – with head covered, of course! He is so anti-charismatic (I agree with him on denouncing charismania and the fake charlatans) that he unwittingly sacrificed his complementarianism!
As far as the sinful desire to want to control, I go back long enough to charismatic disputes and splits in the 1970’s. Some believers had discovered that the Holy Spirit had not effectively been withdrawn from the church with the death of the last apostle. Notwithstanding silliness and immaturity that occurred the reason churches split on this was often no so much doctrinal as the existing leadership couldn’t cope with not being in control of what was happening. People praying for each other in living rooms, having read the bible for themselves, receiving answers and this not being part of the ‘official’ church. Indeed officially these things were ‘not for today’. Small wonder that the house church movement was born out of this.
A positive of this was the rediscovery of body or ever member ministry as opposed to the one man band approach. It’s sad that in the meantime that amongst bible believing charismatics who avoided imploding into gross error (Toronto blessing etc.) this has largely been forgotten and a ‘several man band’ replaced it, so you end up with little more than a souped up baptist church and the gifts have all but disappeared, as a group of often self-selecting elders now have to be in control.
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