Justin Rose's Blog (5)

The office of elder is to be filled by men, not women. The Bible does not outright say that the office of elder is reserved exclusively for men. Neither does is say, however, that women may fill that office. Without a direct command or instruction we can next use the examples given in the Bible. The New Testament does not recorded a church ever having a female elder. If this is not convincing enough, another method may be used: the common characteristic method. Specifically, the characteristi… Continue

Your prayers are coveted. In the next two weeks my family and I are moving to Littleton, CO while I attend Denver Seminary. I am studying to earn my M.Div. with an emphasis on Chaplaincy. We have on campus housing, and I have a good part time job set up, but if anybody has better, let me know. We will also be looking for a church. Continue

We constantly hear the argument that we need to return to the spirit and worship of the first century church. I disagree. Since the first century, the bride of Christ has matured in knowledge and faith. Could anybody in the first century understand the truth of Christ in terms of the Gospel of John, Titus, and Isaiah, for example? We have the complete Old Testament and New Testament. It took the church three centuries to settle on the 27 books of the New Testament. Today everybody has a Bible.… Continue

My father-in-law asked me for my insight to Isaiah 44:1-5. Here was my simple reply: "The blessings mentioned here are the result of Israel's repentance. Start with Isaiah 43:25-26, a covenant of obedience. Verse 25 is Jehovah telling Israel He will start with a clean slate. Verse 26 is the terms of trial. Sounds alot like the Constitution of the U.S. Isaiah 43:27-28 the result of Israel breaking the terms. 44:1-5 the result of Isreal keeping the terms. Of course, any people or person is made… Continue

Today while I was taking a shower, I was thinking about the grammatico historical method of interpretation and the rule "Let scripture interpret scripture." “Historical" means to read scripture in light of the author and recipients of a text. How often do we hear, however, that the end of the ages is still future because the signs of the end are not known to have occurred. This rule of interpretation would be named "Let experience interpret scripture," which I have yet to hear as a credible coro… Continue