Eric retweeted
We’ve all heard the David and Goliath story taught or preached where you’re David and you’re supposed to take out the Goliaths in your life.
Find your five smooth stones. Maybe they represent courage, faith, prayer, perseverance, and trust. Arm yourself with these spiritual weapons, face your giants, and unleash the David within you.
Here's an idea. Can we find a deep pit somewhere, dump in all those moralistic readings of this narrative, pour gasoline over them, and toss in a match?
We have a remarkable ability to place ourselves at the center of biblical stories, don't we? We identify with the hero, turn his weapons into our weapons, his courage into our courage, and his victory into our victory. In other words, make it all about us.
But David and Goliath is not a story about what great things we can do. It foreshadows what great things God has done for us in Jesus Christ.
Goliath is the archenemy of the people of God. He is an icon of sin, death, and the devil, all those forces arrayed against us that dwarf us and that we are powerless to defeat. Even his "armor of scales” (1 Sam. 17:5) is suggestive of Goliath's serpent-like appearance.
So what does God do?
He raises up an unexpected warrior: young David. He is a type and foreshadowing of the Son of David.
David marches onto the battlefield with the simple weaponry of a sling and five stones. He takes down the foe and then, with the foe’s own weapon, chops off his head (1 Sam. 17:49–51).
The Son of David likewise marches onto the battlefield of this world with the unexpected weaponry of obedience, suffering, humiliation, crucifixion and resurrection. And by these means, he takes down sin, death, and the devil.
In fact, just as David uses Goliath’s own sword to chop off Goliath’s head, Jesus uses the weapon of death itself to chop off the head of death.
He dies, and in dying he kills death (cf. Gen. 3:15).
That is the Christ-centered, typological reading of David and Goliath. It is not a story about our battles, our weapons, or our victories. It is good news about Christ’s battle, Christ’s cross, and Christ’s victory for us.
You are not the one who faces down the giant. Jesus is.
And his victory is yours.
Eric retweeted
Satan loves Marxism because it's a philosophy of perpetual outrage, discontent, & conflict. It can't rest because rest looks too much like peace, & peace is the enemy of the revolution.
Eric retweeted
There are no unidentifiable anomalous phenomena.
They are all broadly identifiable in one of two broad categories:
1) Natural anomalous phenomena, and
2) Supernatural anomalous phenomena.
Let's start acknowledging the reality of the second category instead of pretending it doesn't exist.
Eric retweeted
Only partially. He was as fundamentally ineffective at fighting communism because he never publicly acknowledged how to effectively fight it prayerfully through the tearing down of strongholds in a Biblical sense (e.g., the 2 Corinthians 10:4 concept of spiritual weapons demolishing the demonic strongholds of communism).
Eric retweeted
The Bible, which is deeply woven into the cultural and intellectual fabric of the founding of America, clearly teaches that believers are to place their ultimate faith, hope, and security in the LORD alone. Nations are temporary instruments under His sovereignty. Civic loyalty and gratitude (to the United States) are appropriate (for American Christians), but they must never replace or rival trust in GOD. When a national "dream" starts to become an object of ultimate belief, it takes a place that belongs only to the LORD. This kind of belief does not end well.
Eric retweeted
Men of GOD, hold the line!
IMO the DSA's communist influence peaks wherever the Church (the LORD's people) do not effectively practice covenant community life.
The LORD's people are members of the new covenant community, and are called to:
*Love one another deeply
*Bear one another’s burdens
*Confess sins and pray for one another
*Exercise church discipline when necessary
*Share material resources as needs arise
(John 13:34–35; Galatians 6:1–2; James 5:16; Matthew 18:15–17; Acts 2:44–45; 4:32–35)
Also IMO, effectively practicing covenant community also includes serving and caring for the vulnerable. Faithful new-covenant living includes practical mercy such as caring for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and those in need (James 1:27; Galatians 2:10; 6:10).
Eric retweeted
Pray with the right motives. James 4:3, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, John 16:13, and Isaiah 55:8-9 emphasize right motives in approaching GOD, the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, the Spirit’s guidance into truth, and the humble recognition that GOD’s ways are higher than ours.
Eric retweeted
The LORD's people are (or should be) fully engaged (through prayer) in the real, ongoing battle that is fundamentally spiritual, not human. Our opponents are an organized hierarchy of evil spirits—rulers, authorities, powers, and forces operating in darkness. All of them are already defeated and disarmed by Christ’s cross and resurrection. However, they are still dangerous and deceitful and able to do harm if we let them. Recognizing this truth keeps the LORD's people from misidentifying enemies, guards our hearts against bitterness, and drives us to depend on GOD’s armor, Word, and Spirit for daily victory.
Eric retweeted
Pray indeed. Spiritual warfare is real. The corrupt spirits that GOD judges (who show partiality to the wicked as stated in Psalm 82) hate and seek to destroy the LORD's people. The late Biblical scholar Dr. Michael Heiser correctly describes Psalm 82 in its original language as a drama, where GOD stands as the Supreme Judge over rebellious and corrupt spiritual beings who have failed to uphold justice and righteousness on the earth as they should have. It is a reminder of GOD’s ultimate authority and the conflict happening in the unseen realm and the importance of praying to Him for guidance and strength in the Holy Spirit as we partner with Him, victoriously advancing His kingdom.
Eric retweeted
Indeed He is. KING of Kings and LORD of Lords. He is both the hero who ultimately wins the war against all corrupt spiritual forces and the means by which GOD ultimately reclaims and restores a fallen creation and humanity. He is the intersection of the seen and unseen realms — fully GOD and fully man — who ultimately defeats evil, forgives the sins of His people, and ultimately brings everything under the good rule of the Most High GOD. The cross and empty tomb are the turning point; everything before points to Him, and everything after flows from Him.
Eric retweeted
Did you know C.S. Lewis predicted the modern obsession with “being nice” would destroy the soul?
In The Abolition of Man, Lewis argues that when a society stops believing in objective virtue, it doesn’t become tolerant… it becomes manipulable.
He calls the result “men without chests.”
People with appetites and intellects, but no courage, no honor, no trained moral instincts. They can calculate everything and defend nothing.
Lewis saw that once we reject inherited moral law, we don’t become free. We become raw material… easily shaped by propaganda, pleasure, and fear.
Modern man prides himself on compassion while quietly surrendering every standard that once gave compassion meaning.
Lewis’s insight is brutal: a civilization that educates clever cowards will eventually be ruled by tyrants or technicians.
Because when nothing is worth dying for, everything becomes negotiable… including human dignity.
Eric retweeted
Indeed, reading His Word in the Bible actually effectively *counters* narcissism in people by reorienting the self away from self-exaltation, toward GOD and others, while its core principles have historically supplied the moral and anthropological foundations for individual liberty protected by law and sustained by shared virtue. We are looking forward to your visit to Camp Pendleton tomorrow for an inspiring evening on how the Bible shaped America’s founding — the Declaration, the Constitution, and the leaders behind them. Featuring the powerful story of the historic Aitken Bible.
Sunday, July 12 | 5:00 PM
Blinder Memorial Chapel aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
Dinner provided.
Don’t miss this special night of faith and history.
#TheBibleRevival #KirkCameron #FaithAndFreedom
Eric retweeted
The most dangerous sentence to the Christian faith isn't, "I don't believe."
It's: "I'm afraid to ask."
The best conversations begin where certainty ends.
We've spent years talking with scientists, philosophers, and theologians who aren't afraid of hard questions. Now we're bringing those conversations to a new podcast.
Watch the trailer for our newest podcast The Shift premiering July 16.
What question should we ask?
youtu.pulse.ly/lpgafaaf2w
Eric retweeted
“Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34)
Eric retweeted
U.S. Park Police are seeking information on the identity of this person reference investigation into damage to THE REFLECTING POOL....
202-379-4877 with tips 🇺🇸
Eric retweeted
You literally just signed SB 73 before the LA mayoral election. This law prohibits unauthorized access, disruption, modification, or seizure of voter rolls, voter lists, or certified voting technology by law enforcement (including federal agents) without a court order or specific state election law investigation.
You are actively making laws to make it HARDER for there to be election integrity.
Time to take down the California Communist Party
Eric retweeted
Now it's finally clear why you haven't done anything effective to reduce homelessness, and why you enable addiction to persist in LA. It's not because it was "harder" than you expected, it's so you can exploit these hurting people to generate votes. That is awful and should not be tolerated any longer. Anyone legitimate voter with a conscience voted for
@spencerpratt.
xitter.cf/spencerpratt/status/20…
Eric retweeted
The USA men's hockey team takes in the anthem at the #WinterOlympics. 🇺🇸