Dating v. Courting

The Bible says very little about HOW we should date, but it is extraordinarily concerned with WHO we should date, or WHAT type of spouse we ought to be.

Do pastors have a special relationship with our Lord?

I ran across this verse the other day. "In his right hand he held seven stars... the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand... is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches..." (Revelation 1:16A, 20)

I've always interpreted this verse as angels who oversee or protect the churches, like guardian angels. Although recently I heard Chuck Swindoll interpret these messengers as the actual pastors of the churches. (i.e. messengers are preachers and vice versa)

Is it possible that pastors have some sort of vicarious relationship with Jesus that differs from the rest of the congregation?

As a pastor I find this interpretation to be very comforting. I sometimes enter the pulpit with intense self-deprecation. "Is God even using me?" This interpretation makes me wonder if Jesus, the sovereign Alpha and Omega, has my heart in His right hand; such that the sermons I preach, the vision I cast, and the discipline I impose all come with His authority.

See Matthew 16:19; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Matthew 18:15-18; 1 Timothy 5:17-20

Why irenics?

Blogs appear to be magnificent places to discuss and debate ideas. Could there be a better way of doing the rigorous task of theological reflection? That's why I titled this blog "Irenics." (The definition may be found in the header above.) I plan on posting various quandaries that plague my mind. I hope this is a friendly place where we could refine and enlarge our understanding of our Lord and the world He created. Who knows? Perhaps we'll solve the 2000 year-old synergism v. monergism debate.

My First Post

I'm happy to announce my first official blog! Yes. I have had a blog on somanorth.com for a year now. But that blog was always a bit cumbersome. My friend, Lucas, always had to manually post my blog entries. This is blogging in its most purest sense.