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John Piper on Emotional Blackmail

Written by: Rich Lusk
Category: Church
Published: 27 October 2022

"Not feeling loved and not being loved are not the same. Jesus loved all people well. And many did not like the way he loved them. Was David’s zeal for the Lord imbalanced because his wife Michal despised him for it? Was Job’s devotion to the Lord inordinate because his wife urged him to curse God and die? Would Gomer be a reliable witness to Hosea’s devotion? . . . I have seen so much emotional blackmail in my ministry I am jealous to raise a warning against it. Emotional blackmail happens when a person equates his or her emotional pain with another person’s failure to love. They aren’t the same. A person may love well and the beloved still feel hurt, and use the hurt to blackmail the lover into admitting guilt he or she does not have. Emotional blackmail says, ‘If I feel hurt by you, you are guilty.’ There is no defense. The hurt person has become God. His emotion has become judge and jury. Truth does not matter. All that matters is the sovereign suffering of the aggrieved. It is above question. This emotional device is a great evil. I have seen it often in my three decades of ministry and I am eager to defend people who are being wrongly indicted by it.”

 

-- John Piper

John Calvin, on Why Pastors Need to Be Thick Skinned

Written by: Rich Lusk
Category: Church
Published: 27 October 2022

None are more exposed to slanders and insults than godly teachers. This comes not only from the difficulty of their duties, which are so great that sometimes they sink under them, or stagger or halt or take a false step, so that wicked men find many occasions of finding fault with them; but added to that, even when they do all their duties correctly and commit not even the smallest error, they never avoid a thousand criticisms.

It is indeed a trick of Satan to estrange men from their ministers so as gradually to bring their teaching into contempt. In this way not only is wrong done to innocent people whose reputation is undeservedly injured, but the authority of God’s holy teaching is diminished….

The more sincerely any pastor strives to further Christ’s kingdom, the more he is loaded with spite, the more fierce do the attacks upon him become. And not only so, but as soon as any charge is made against ministers of the Word, it is believed as surely and firmly as if it had been already proved. This happens not only because a higher standard of integrity is required from them, but because Satan makes most people, in fact nearly everyone, over credulous so that without investigation, they eagerly condemn their pastors whose good name they ought to be defending.

 

--- John Calvin (Commentary 1 Tim 5:19)

C. S. Lewis on Women's Ordination

Written by: Rich Lusk
Category: Men & Women
Published: 21 October 2022
From C. S. Lewis’ essay against priestesses in church - a couple of the best paragraphs he ever wrote:
 

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Headcoverings in 1 Corinthians 11: A Short Note on a Renewed Controversy

Written by: Rich Lusk
Category: Men & Women
Published: 21 October 2022
Since some folks have been discussing headcoverings in 1 Corinthians 11 recently, here is what you need to know:

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Find a Spouse, Build a House: Conference Follow Up

Written by: Rich Lusk
Category: Men & Women
Published: 21 October 2022

I had a great time in Austin at the conference hosted by King’s Cross, pastored by my good friend Garrett Craw.

 

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  1. Gems from Esolen
  2. Why We Need More Christian Billionaires
  3. Your Biggest Problem
  4. William Carey and the Hope that Propelled the Modern Missionary Movement

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