Burla Travis IV @burlabear

ladies, the weather is getting warmer. please do not forget your responsibility to your brothers in Christ as u decide what to wear a thread

Five years ago, @holland_tom suggested that someone should find a song to represent each of the 66 Biblical books (sorry Catholics, Orthodox, etc.). The following is what I came up with. Rules: no bad songs, no church songs, no repeated artists, and nothing too obscure. Read on!

Why would a book targeting two of the most fruitful church planting pastors of the past 25 years (Keller and Greear) resonate with so many? Because some evangelicals believe our world is a battle field full of enemies more than a mission field full of neighbors.

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas is the most inspiring man you’ve never heard of Born a slave, he went on to become France’s greatest general alongside Napoleon… and that wasn’t even his best achievement! He actually inspired France’s all time greatest novel, written by his own son…

@almanacpodcast Loved this episode. My mom raised me on early CCM. That said, it's 2nd *Chapter* of Acts. I chuckled several times when they came up.

@aprilajoyr @edgykristina @hellobeecher All this plus chubby bunnies.

@CMoneyKS Science progresses *because* people can go against the flow and investigate alternatives, and yes conspiracies do happen. But it also depends on established tools and techniques and ideas must be falsifiable. Conspiracy theories usually ignore the second part.

@CMoneyKS It's totally about the other guys. Seriously. Celebrity died? Maybe it was the vaccine! Oh, it was a drowning? Sad the vaccine struck while he was in water. Cause of death wasn't vaccine related? That's just what Fauci wants you to think!

@SpeedWatkins I've strongly considered paying for a patreon membership so I can listen to @scifichristian Moby Dick episodes. And their Divine Comedy episodes.

I feel sad and nervous posting this, but I think I should based on recent interactions. Read the whole 🧵. The Bible declares oppression an evil and condemns oppressors. It dignifies victims and promotes justice for all. That means Christians should take oppression seriously.

@JohnPiper Betteridge's Law. "Can we reassess...?" No, the question was settled long ago. Colossians 2:16.

@ScottFurrow @edstetzer @JohnPiper Decoction for disciples, mocha for monergists.

26 years ago today. On September 19,1997 -- musical legend Rich Mullins died in a tragic car accident. Here's a little tribute I wrote to Rich... I know many of you don't know his name -- he died before you were born... he lived before the internet was much of a thing... before Facebook, way before Twitter, etc. I know it's hard to imagine that ancient world back in the 1900s. But Rich Mullins is a name I want us to pass on to our kids and grandkids. He had Quaker roots, and you could hear his disdain for violence in his songs, with lyrics like: "Why do the nations rage? Why do they plot and scheme? The bullets can't stop the prayers we pray in the name of the Prince of Peace." He often joked about how surprising it was that so many evangelicals took him seriously. He said things that--even though they came straight from the Gospels-- were at odds with what had come to characterize much of evangelicalism in the 1980s and 1990s. Here's one of my favorite quotes: “Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken... This, I know, will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they're wrong. They are not bad, they're just wrong.” -- Rich Mullins (he said that in the 1990s) I can remember when I was at Wheaton College. Rich spoke in chapel and told this very evangelical audience essentially this: "You're all into the 'born-again' thing. And that's great -- Jesus said that to a man named Nicodemus, to enter the Kingdom of God you need to be born again... But if you tell me that I've got to be born again, I can tell you that you need to sell everything you have and give it to the poor. Because Jesus said that to one guy too. But I guess that's why God invented highlighters... so we can highlight the parts we like." That's what I love about Rich -- he spoke truth, and laughed as he did it. He had the winsomeness of a kid, and the wisdom of an elder. There's an old story about Rich and his buddy riding on a train. As they travelled, they began to share some of their deepest struggles, pouring out their souls, including some of the not-so-pretty stuff. As they arrived at the station, one of the passengers in front of them recognized Rich, and said, "Excuse me, are you Rich Mullins?" Rich said that he immediately began to rehearse in his mind all of the things she might have heard him say... and he had to decide whether or not he was Rich Mullins. And of course, he looked her in the face, smiling, and said, "Yes... I am Rich Mullins." He owned his funk, and he gave us permission to own ours. He struggled with his own darkness, loneliness, sexuality. And because of that, he is an inspiration to all ragamuffins. He's a reminder that the world out there is not looking for Christians who are perfect, but they are looking for Christians who are honest. When people remind me that the church is full of hypocrites I often say -- inspired by Rich-- "No we aren't full of hypocrites... we always have room for more." Rich Mullins reminds us that this whole Christian thing is not about how good we are, but how good God is. The Church is a bunch of imperfect people falling in love with a perfect God, and hopefully becoming more like the one we Love.

A thought experiment, that gestures toward the problems of biblical interpretation (or at least, why we need to be cautious). A few years ago, Michael Jackson gave us a text: "I'm bad. I'm bad. I'm really, really bad." 1/

@kkdumez Trump embodies theology of glory and the prosperity gospel. Perfectly.

@OllamFodhla @RandalRauser Randal believes in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. He's not biased against miracles.

@CMoneyKS Rest in peace, rise in Glory.

Good Friday That head, which angels with ceaseless praise adorn, Is pierced with crowded thorns. That face, which our God with grace and beauty lit, Is marred by sinners’ spit. Those eyes, outshining the sun’s most piercing light, Are dull as sable night. Those ears, accustomed to praise from heaven’s host, Must hear his haters boast. That mouth, whose wisdom the wisest could enthrall, Tastes vinegar and gall. Those feet, whose footstool is this terrestrial sphere, To bloody wood adhere. Those hands, which stretched out the heavens like a tent, By spikes in twain are rent. That tongue, uninjured, shall cry from that cursed tree, A prayer of love for me.

@SecularOutpost Hitch is just plain wrong here. The most direct logical inference from the fact that not all religions are right is that *some* are wrong. Classic square of opposition (A and O contradictories).