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
Uncategorized

Intimacy With God Occurs Where He Is

1 John 4. 15-16 describes, everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

Doing the work of God keeps us in intimacy with God. The work of God is this: to make known the Father and the Son in Whom we receive forgiveness of sins and life forever. (more…)

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May 25, 2018
Judgement / obedience

Fighting For The Law (of God)

Proverbs 28.4 observes, If you desert God’s law, you’re free to embrace depravity; if you love God’s law, you fight for it tooth and nail.

Most Christians would say they love God’s law but we don’t fight for it. We haven’t fought for God’s law in 70 years and so we see the continuing and now accelerating moral decline of this country. (more…)

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April 10, 2018
Christian Living

How to Know the Will of God

Romans 12.2 commands, do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Nearly everyone wants to know God’s will for their life. When thinking about this matter we usually place the onus of our ignorance upon God instead of ourselves. We think because we asked but didn’t hear it’s His fault for not communicating with us. What if He responded but we didn’t hear so He will tell us its our fault for not doing His will? (more…)

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August 23, 2017
Christian Living / obedience

How to Bring More Love Into the World

Matthew 24.12 observes, because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold.

It’s hard to do good when everyone else is doing wrong. Its hard to do good when everyone else seems to be advocating doing bad.

Our hearts and minds are shaped by someone or something. If we saturate ourselves with Bible reading, listening, memorizing and meditating we will think about things more like God thinks about things. If we listen mostly to the radio, internet and television while attending public schools and working in a secular environment we will think and thus act, more like those around us. (more…)

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July 14, 2017
Christian Living / Judgement / obedience

What Is A Christian?

Jeremiah 3.13 commands, you must confess that you have done wrong, and that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You must confess that you have given yourself to foreign gods under every green tree, and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the LORD.

Somehow the definition of Christian has become those people who live perfect lives and attend Church. Of course no one lives a perfect life. The impossibility of living perfectly is why Christians are called hypocrites and what is often used by non Christians to justify their continued lifestyle of defiance against God. The premise however is all wrong. (more…)

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July 8, 2017
Judgement / obedience

What We Do Proves What We Believe

Matthew 3.8 commands. produce fruit that proves your repentance.

To the religious, to those who think they are approved by God, to those who know they are ‘right’ theologically; God says, ‘produce fruit that proves your repentance.’ This command is offensive because we like to be measured on our knowledge and intentions rather than the result of our actions.

Indeed, this command was offensive to the religious leaders who first heard it. (more…)

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June 23, 2017
evangelism

The Purpose of Our Faith

John 20.21 observes, just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you. Jesus' first appearance to the disciples has Him restating His purpose for not taking them with…

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June 9, 2017
heaven / Judgement

Is God Negative?

John 7.7 observes, the world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I am testifying about it that its deeds are evil. No one likes a negative person.

Who is the negative person? The person who tells us we are wrong or the things we like are wrong. Modern parenting and education has and is going to great extremes to remove all negativity from the ears of the next generation. Most recently universities have begun creating ‘safe places’ where students can retreat from any discussion that conflicts with their point of view. Jesus, God Who lived on earth, claims to be a negative person. (more…)

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May 25, 2017
obedience

The Purpose of Our Lives

Ecclesiastes 12.13 concludes, having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion: Fear God and keep his commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.

The Bible’s version of the wisest man in the world summarizes his study of the human condition with these words from Ecclesiastes. To summarize Solomon, the chief purpose of humanity is to fear God and obey His commands. Not very sexy. Not very exciting. Not really about me and my wants, needs or desires. Why might this be true regardless of how it makes me feel? (more…)

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April 25, 2017