Christian Living / Judgement / obedience

Election Day Thoughts From the Bible

Hebrews 1.8-9 describes, God the Father saying to the Son, You’re God, and on the throne for good; Your rule makes everything right. You love it when things are right; You hate it when things are wrong. That is why God, Your God, poured fragrant oil on Your head, marking You out as king, far above Your dear companions.

This country was founded by people who were seeking a place to worship God as they believed best, free from government rules and regulations, in order to live lives pleasing to Him. So many came and so many worshiped Him in so many different ways. The one common denominator among them was their focus upon Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.

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November 6, 2018
Christian Living / Theology

Everyone is a Priest

Hosea 4.8 observes, you can’t tell the people from the priests, the priests from the people. I’m on My way to make them both pay and take the consequences of the bad lives they’ve lived.

One of the major doctrinal shifts that came out of the Reformation is the empowerment of all Christians to live and serve God as priests – the priesthood of all believers. This teaching throughout the New Testament and modeled by God in Jesus whose twelve disciples were not from the religious class but from the working class, was finally implemented during the Reformation after a long hiatus beginning around 300AD. (more…)

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October 30, 2018
evangelism

God Wants Our Commitment Not Our Comfort

Matthew 9.13 records, I’m after mercy, not religion. I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.

This ‘harsh’ word from God should cause us to pause and consider the importance of His message recorded for us so that we can know Him and do His will. God in Jesus is warning us, challenging us, seeking to penetrate our worldview so that we reconsider our ways and realign our priorities.

What does it mean to coddle? (more…)

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October 12, 2018
evangelism / obedience

The Goal Of Christianity

Galatians 4.19 comments, Do you know how I feel right now, and will feel until Christ’s life becomes visible in your lives?

The key phrase here is ‘until Christ’s life becomes visible in your lives.’ This is the goal of God in the development of our character. We are to bear the fruit of the Spirit, doing the work of Jesus, in the way of Jesus, for the glory of God and the welfare of humanity. What does this look like? (more…)

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September 28, 2018
evangelism / Judgement / obedience

Passing the Eternal Test

2 Corinthians 13.5-9 challenges, test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won’t show that we have failed.

In every endeavor where we measure performance we test. From academia to sports to the lab we test in order to determine strength, truth or ability. In Christianity, we tend not to test. (more…)

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September 24, 2018
Christian Living / obedience

The Key To A Healthy Church

2 Corinthians 2.9-11, reminds us, the focus of my letter wasn’t on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church. So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don’t think I’m carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I’m joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways!

The health of the church is the responsibility of each of the members. The key to church health is each member seeing themselves as having an ownership interest. How does a church remain, become and develop it’s health? By living according to God’s Word. (more…)

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September 14, 2018
evangelism

The Best Way For Gaining Influence

1 Corinthians 9.19-23 records, even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

The purpose of the Christian life, the work we are to do, is to win people to Christ in order for God to accomplish His purpose of not seeing anyone perish but for all to come to eternal life. (more…)

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September 4, 2018
Christian Living

The Key To Successful Relationships

1 Corinthians 3.1-3 observes, I’m completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You’re acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I’ll nurse you since you don’t seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything’s going your way?

Selfishness and self-centeredness are the signs of immaturity in the Christian life. Immaturity runs rampant in the Church. We are hard pressed not to find an overabundance of selfishness and self-centeredness among those who claim Jesus as Savior. (more…)

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August 29, 2018
Christian Living

How To Keep From Being Separated From God

Luke 22.31-32 observes, Satan has tried his best to separate all of you from Me, like chaff from wheat. Simon, I’ve prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through the time of testing, turn to your companions and give them a fresh start.

The goal of Satan is to separate us from Jesus. Not too complicated really. Why is this important? Jesus is life, Jesus is truth, Jesus is hope, Jesus is peace with God, Jesus is our Guarantor of life everlasting. (more…)

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August 27, 2018
evangelism

The Best Way to Love God and Love Our Neighbor

Luke 12.8-9 commands, stand up for Me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will stand up for you before all God’s angels. But if you pretend you don’t know Me, do you think I’ll defend you before God’s angels?

One of the evidences for the truth of Scripture, that the Lord alone is God and that Jesus is the God-Man, the only Savior of the world, is the difficulty we have in identifying with Him before men. (more…)

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August 17, 2018