I've had several questions about John MacArthur's sermon notes. We keep all the originals in a fireproof safe at Grace to You, and no, they won't ever be available for sale on eBay.

John's sermon prep process was complex: He would read and re-read the text he was planning to preach from, and his goal was to identify the key point of the passage. When he had a good idea of the biblical subject matter, he would read multiple commentaries and glean thoughts and observations from the best of them.

1. In deference to the elders of Trinity Bible Church of Dallas, I removed the comments I posted this morning regarding the Steve Lawson scandal. Those elders shepherd the local church Lawson belonged to, so their pastoral duty takes precedence over mine. 2. These are godly men, committed to the truth of Scripture, and I'm fully confident they will do the right thing. They have every right to set their own pace.

The insinuation this fellow is making is utterly false. This is the kind of sinful talebearing that is forbidden in Lev. 19:6 and condemned repeatedly in Proverbs. (The individual who wrote that Tweet has also been aggressively peddling the narrative that TMS has morphed into a crypto-Thomist institution, so this is not a one-time slipup. His claims are no more reliable than his sentence construction.)

THREAD:

One of my favorite American composers is Charles Ives (1874—1954). He was an actuary and insurance executive who had extraordinary musical gifts and composed on the side. Ives grew up with music and was something of a prodigy as a child. His dad was an Army Band leader (for the Union Army during the Civil War), and in 1888, at age 14, Charles was hired to be the organist at First Baptist Church in Danbury, CT.

I'm fully aware. But Carter isn't saying any of that in his TMSJ article, which is a defense of God's timelessness--in which he barely mentions Aquinas in passing. Moreover, a defense of God's eternality is hardly advocacy of "Christian Platonism."

1/4

https://twitter.com/HwsEleutheroi/status/1572028391540527105

To suggest that TMS has undergone a major shift based on articles defending several tenets of classic theism in a recent issue of the journal is (to put it mildly) an overreaction--and (to put it bluntly) an irresponsible misrepresentation.

2/4

Despite this misleading mess:

https://twitter.com/reachjulieroys/status/1503091519540113414

:

1) I have not "responded to [her] article,” nor will I. She is citing an email I sent to a person who asked (via email) if I intended to respond to Roys. I answered THAT question.

(I didn’t post it on social media.)

1/4 2) My observation that this case is 20 years old was NOT an attempt to "minimize" any offense—and the context of my comment makes that clear. My point was that it takes time to properly investigate anything that happened 2 decades ago. A snap answer is not called for here.

2/4

Here are some more thoughts prompted by Russ Moore on CNN last night--

1/9 Moore & other Wokevangelicals have long been heavily invested in the claim that conspiracy theories are a bigger & more dangerous problem within the church than the encroachment of postmodern & neo-Marxist doctrines.

Now they are panicky and getting shrill. Here's why:

2/9

1/5 I have explained why we are not taking a legalistic approach to the question of masks and distancing in our worship services, but since people are still asking, here's a digest: 2/5 The biblical prescription for showing love to the brethren puts the priority on _koinonia_ (fellowship and association—community, brotherhood, communion, intimacy, social intercourse), not masks and distance barriers. Rom. 16:16; 2 Cor. 13:12; etc.

Seriously? It was Saturday morning. The whole state is under quarantine. ANYONE who checks FB DMs before getting coffee on a day like that is too attached to FB.

1/4

https://twitter.com/reachjulieroys/status/1241712197748903936

Three hours is unreasonably short in any case. As I pointed out already, Ms. Roys herself took longer than that to acknowledge that I DID answer her.

2/4

This is totally disingenuous. Here’s what actually happened: Ms. Roys left a direct message on my Facebook page at 7:24 am this morning (Saturday) and went public with her story sometime before even I had time to get my morning coffee.

1/10

https://twitter.com/reachjulieroys/status/1241577007105945602

I DID answer her question the very minute I saw it. She, however, didn’t acknowledge my answer for several more hours. (In other words, she wasn’t any quicker to read her FB messages than I was.)

2/10

The miracles of Jesus and the apostles were routinely public, undeniable, & well-attested by multiple eyewitnesses. Even Jesus’ most determined adversaries couldn’t argue that the miracles were faked. They therefore raised doubts about the *source of his power* (Mt. 12:24).

1/4 Miracles such as those done by Jesus and the apostles are NOT occurring in charismatic circles today. Simple honesty SHOULD compel even the most doctrinaire continuationists to admit that no one today is doing what the apostles did in Acts 5:12; 9:33-42; 19:11-12; etc.

2/4