About the church…. The distinguishing “marks” of a true church, i.e., one authenticated by Scripture are 1) Purely preaching and teaching God’s Word and 2) proper administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Does your church preach the Word purely and properly administer the sacraments? The purposes of the church are threefold:1….
OVERCOMERS
1 John 5:1-5 “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God,…
THE EXERCISE OF MORAL AND THEOLOGICAL DISCERNMENT
PART ONE: WHAT DOES JESUS SAY?In John Chapter 7 Jesus enters the temple and teaches (v.14). The Jews marvelled and questioned how He could have such learning with no history of studying (v.15), and Jesus answers: “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he…
God’s law
Nowadays it is popular to think of God’s law as a restraint on life, and this is an attitude widely encouraged by existential humanism. The free life is life beyond law, beyond good and evil, we are told: it is emancipation from law and morality. Our American position, however, has been the Christian faith that…
FAN INTO FLAME THE GIFT 2 TIM. 1:6
This reference and preceding verses seem to indicate that Paul was unsatisfied with Timothy’s current level of unfaithfulness (see v.7). “Fan into flame” means literally “to keep the fire alive.” The “gift” here refers to a believer’s spiritual gift… Timothy’s particular gift was leadership with special emphasis on preaching (2 Tim. 4:2) and teaching (1…
Angels
Not many are aware of the significance of angels. I believe, as Christians, we should pause and consider angels to gain perspective. For example, angels demonstrate the greatness of God’s love for us in that, though many angels sinned, none were saved (2 Pet. 2:4).Angels also remind us that the unseen world is real. Just…
Ephesians 6:19-20
Ephesians 6:19-20 jumped out at me this morning. Paul is sitting in a Roman prison, in chains and squalor, when he wrote this letter to the Ephesians (likely a circulation letter meant for other churches as well). Yet despite his own conditions, Paul was concerned first with the church. In Ephesians 6:10-17, Paul provides critical…
ANCHORED IN GOD’S WORD (Speech for my men’s group, Higher Standard)
Some of you know me–many of you do not. I have only been Christian for 10 years. Shortly after my conversion experience, God opened the door for me to go to a Theological Seminary and Graduate School where I earned my Bachelor’s, Master’s and, as of last October, after nearly 8 years, my Ph.D.IMAGERY: A…