Dennis McCallum

Though neglected by many congregations, church discipline is based on divine discipline and, therefore, is an act of caring love (Hebrews 12:5-12, Matthew 18:11-14). The practice encompasses a broad spectrum from casual correction to removal from fellowship, though all forms are meant to help believers mature spiritually and flee dangerous behaviors.

Joe Botti, Tom Dixon, and Alex Steinman

A quick glance at a side-by-side ordering of the gospel accounts is enough to reveal how closely the Synoptics follow each other as they recount the life and teaching of Christ. The relationship between these accounts has been, on the one hand, an assurance to believers of the historical validity of the Gospels. On the other hand, such comparisons have given rise to a multitude of questions about which Gospel was written first, whether subsequent authors borrowed from each other, and why there are differences in wording, style and order as the authors report the same events. All these issues form the Synoptic problem.