Slow to Speak, Quick to Listen

Check out this biblical and poetic reminder by Thabiti Anyabwile on being slow to speak and quick to listen.

Seven Common Fallacies of Biblical Interpretation

The Parchment and Pen blog offers seven common fallacies of biblical interpretation:

1. Preunderstanding fallacy: Believing you can interpret with complete objectivity, not recognizing that you have preunderstandings that influence your interpretation.

2. Incidental fallacy: Reading incidental historical texts as prescriptive rather than descriptive.

3. Obscurity fallacy: Building theology from obscure material.

4. Etymological root fallacy: Looking to the root etymology of a word to discover its meaning.

5. Illegitimate totality transfer: Bringing the full meaning of a word with all its nuances to the present usage.

6. Selective use of meaning: Selecting the meaning you like best.

7. Maverick fallacy: Believing that you don’t need anyone but the Holy Spirit to interpret the text.

Read the whole post here for further explanation and examples.

HT: Thabiti Anyabwile

A Long Journey in Church Discipline

Yesterday, Thabiti Anyabwile posted the links to a three-part story of redemptive church discipline practiced by Tom Ascol and Grace Baptist Church. May the Lord give us more stories like this of his redeeming grace!

Read this incredible story here.

Great Quotes on Preaching

Thabiti Anyabwile has a number of excellent quotes related to preaching that can be read here.

His favorite (and mine too) reads as follows:

"I preach as though Christ was crucified yesterday, rose from the dead today, and is coming back tomorrow." -- Martin Luther

Thabiti Anyabwile on When to Make Changes in the Church

Thabiti Anyabwile has a helpful post over at the 9Marks blog on when to make changes in the church. It deals specifically with moving a church toward an elder-led model, but the principles would apply to most major changes. He offers some wise counsel for pastors and church leaders.