52 Verses, 52 Books, 52 Weeks (Week 16: Joel)

Do the Bible’s prophecies of the end times tell us anything in our present situations? Yes, yes, indeed they do and I think about that as I turn to Joel this week. One of the things I really like about doing this 52 week journey wherein each week we look at a different book of the Bible is that it is making me share from books of the Bible I don’t turn to very often, such as Joel. But all of God’s Word is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16 ESV) and the book of Joel has reassuring things for us to hear!

Joining the Local Chapter

Well, as long as Jason is doing it, I might as well too.

Hi, I'm Tim. And I'm a Calvinist.

I think Jason makes an astute observation about the inconsistencies that can occur in theology when one rejects total depravity. It strikes me that every theologian that comes to my mind that has actually created a systematic, consistent understanding of the Christian faith has generally had to accept the basic understandings of the state of humans and election that the Reformed faith eventually claimed as its own. I myself struggle at times with parts of TULIP, and have only in recent years accepted that I am clearly unable to will my own way out of Calvinism (that's a joke, folks), but in the end, the things I cannot explain in Reformed doctrine are not nearly as difficult as those things I would need to deal with should I reject this stream of theology.

Total depravity is probably the easiest of the five points to accept for me. It may be that humans are capable of mortal good, or the appearance thereof, but I thoroughly believe that humanity is capable of absolutely no spiritual good without the inner working of the Holy Spirit.

So, Jason, did you bring the donuts for the meeting?