Acts20.com

A poor preacher and his wife loved each other dearly. They were good at what they did, but they were not at all rich. In any case, on their 30th anniversary, they could not afford a big diamond ring, but they could afford a 2-carat faux diamond. They wished they had the money to get a real one, because their love for each other truly knew no bounds...except the ones drawn by their account balance. In any case, she loved it and cherished it. She knew it came from a true heart.Some weeks later, they posted a picture of their anniversary trip on their Facebook page. As the devil would have it, OTCP was scanning FB, looking for Pentecostals to criticizem, when he came upon the lovely photograph of the man and his wife.IMMEDIATELY, OTCP's eyes were drawn to the 2 carat ring on her hand. It was not enough that there love was real. It was not enough that he did not know their financial situation (or any of their situation, for that matter). No, all that mattered was that OTCP breathlessly took note that the ring, because of, perhaps, the way the light reflected from it, was not a REAL DIAMOND.Now, OTCP, being a proper gentleman and all, did NOT mention their names. But he did take to the internet to let folks know the following:The other day, I was perusing Facebook in search of people to criticize for believing Jesus actually wants to heal folks still today, when I came across a couple who had...A FAKE DIAMOND RING!!! Clearly, this was meant to be passed off as a real diamond, but thankfully I was there and am happy to notifiy you to be on the lookout. No, I don't want to name names, since, truth be told, it's probably not quite so bad of a thing as I want you to believe it is, but be on the lookout!And with that, having done his duty for yet another day, he fell into a peaceful sleep in which he dreamed of him making headlines around the world for relentlessly hunting down and exposing those with Ph.Ds from non-accredited universities.

I'm not seeing the connection between the fake diamond in the ring and the unaccredited PhD. But I'd imagine the COG folks of 40+ years ago would have been really concerned about a pastor's wife wearing a ring

See, this is exactly what can happen when you try to take a analogy too far. Ring fake---->doctorate fake; ring like doctorate. Well, yes, inasmuch as they are both fake, they are alike. But there are plenty more ways they are NOT alike--so many that the parable falls flat.This is what happens when Aaron tries to extrapolate all kinds of things from the phrase Christ is the head of the church and a man is the head of his wife. Would it not be better to look at what aspect of Christ is being used in the analogy? Obviously a man is not God over his wife and yet Christ is God to the church.

Re: Aha, there is something instructive here after all!

See, this is exactly what can happen when you try to take a analogy too far. Ring fake---->doctorate fake; ring like doctorate. Well, yes, inasmuch as they are both fake, they are alike. But there are plenty more ways they are NOT alike--so many that the parable falls flat.This is what happens when Aaron tries to extrapolate all kinds of things from the phrase Christ is the head of the church and a man is the head of his wife. Would it not be better to look at what aspect of Christ is being used in the analogy? Obviously a man is not God over his wife and yet Christ is God to the church.So, yes, Link, I think you make a salient point when you say you don't see the connection. Of course, if brevity is the soul of wit, Ole Timer made a purty smart saying with his 3 words apples and oranges, or as Mark Ledbetter would say apples and rocks, which might be fitting since we're talking about diamonds.

See, this is exactly what can happen when you try to take a analogy too far. Ring fake---->doctorate fake; ring like doctorate. Well, yes, inasmuch as they are both fake, they are alike. But there are plenty more ways they are NOT alike--so many that the parable falls flat.This is what happens when Aaron tries to extrapolate all kinds of things from the phrase Christ is the head of the church and a man is the head of his wife. Would it not be better to look at what aspect of Christ is being used in the analogy? Obviously a man is not God over his wife and yet Christ is God to the church.So, yes, Link, I think you make a salient point when you say you don't see the connection. Of course, if brevity is the soul of wit, Ole Timer made a purty smart saying with his 3 words apples and oranges, or as Mark Ledbetter would say apples and rocks, which might be fitting since we're talking about diamonds. Hmmm. I see that OTCP isn't the only one now that has a hobby horse. I guess we will have to now deal with honorary doctorates, WOF, and now that Bonnie has a hobby horse too, women in leadership. What's your hobby horse Aaron

Yep, I'm starting to empathize with Ole Timer who explains the same thing over and over and still can't get through.As far as the hobby horse, I keep thinking of what King David said when he was rebuked by Michal, And I will yet be more vile than thus...

Bump!