What is your name? Is it meaningful? Perhaps you are named after a family member or a beloved friend. Perhaps your name comes from the Bible (as is the case with my three sons, Jeremiah, Micah, and Noah). Regardless of the origins of your name, it has meaning because it is the name your parents chose for you.
In scripture there are several terms or phrases to describe those who submit to Jesus Christ. Continue reading “Glorify God in that name”
Some saints want to show themselves to be intelligent by dabbling in the philosophies of the world, the theologies of the denominations, or the politics of the nations. But the world has more than enough of these. Our message has to distinguish itself clearly from all these. We preach an almighty God whose love encompasses all of history and who glory has revealed itself in terms we can grasp. From creation we move quickly to the Book of Life, whose final author knows us better than we know ourselves. The Bible is the best argument for God’s existence. His power lives in it and from it people can be convicted of the truth.
How do we stick with the Word? Continue reading “How to be a Christian in a topsy-turvy world”
With the conversion of Cornelius the dynamic of first century evangelism changed. No longer was the good news of Jesus directed only to Jews, but Gentiles were also taught. The result was that “a great number who believed turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:19 NET).
The centre of this explosion of new followers of Jesus was in Antioch. Antioch was the third largest city of the Roman Empire at this time, with a population of over 500,000 people. Included in this number was a large number of Jews – it has been estimated by some that around 1/7 of the population was Jewish. Continue reading “Being a Christian”
It is impossible to do the will of God without knowing the will of God. Salvation comes by knowledge of how to be forgiven of sin. “You will make his people know that they will be saved. They will be saved by having their sins forgiven” Luke 1.77 ICB. God’s grace and peace come to us and are multiplied for us “through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” 2 Peter 1.2.
Salvation does not happen automatically, like the sun rising and setting. So we must put ourselves to the task of learning what salvation is all about. The gospel must be learned, Colossians 1.7. We must “be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is” Ephesians 5.17.
We ought to ask such questions as these: Continue reading “Salvation comes by knowledge”
The words, God “brought them to the man to see what he would name them,” (Genesis 2:19) draws our attention to something beyond the truth that God sees everything. Here is a statement of focus and deliberate study. God wanted to see how Adam would reason.
Assigning names is no menial assignment. The labels we create as well as how narrowly or broadly we use those terms shape human perspectives for better or for worse. Continue reading “God watched as humanity tackled its first job – identification”
Faith is the hallmark of God’s system of salvation. We tend to see everything through our own lens, but it’s all about God.
First, faith establishes the credibility of the Godhead. It isn’t simply something we must do, it’s the very essence of the Lord. Continue reading “Why faith is indispensable”
After all the yelling, cursing, cheering and complaining about the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriages, what are we left with? Like anything else, what remains is the settling of a new reality. We all need to find our way in a changed world.
The sun has arisen on the same places and people under the same heaven. To the Lord, nothing has changed. His truth and will, established before the beginning of time, are still set in eternal concrete (Psalm 119:89). Continue reading “Since same-sex marriage has passed, what now?”
“For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is subdued and has been subdued by humankind. But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God’s image. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters. A spring does not pour out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening, does it? Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a vine produce figs? Neither can a salt water spring produce fresh water” (James 3:7-12 NET).
Of all the wild animals in the world, the one that is the most difficult to tame and control is…our tongue! Not that our tongue is really a wild animal, but every animal we can think of we have learned in some way to subdue and control. Continue reading “Watch what you say!”
It seems that throughout the history of mankind, people have developed words to distinguish groups of people. The Greeks referred to all those who were not Greek as barbarians. In Rome you were either a citizen or a non-citizen. The Jews called all those who were not Jews by the term “Gentiles.” It would seem the purpose of creating such distinctions was to elevate your own group and put down those who you considered less than your group. Even today we can find this type of terminology in places. Continue reading “No more “us” and “them””
The people behind my email service started a series of posts recently, explaining how they work. The following sentence concluded today’s post, written by one of their head guys.
When you call yourself FastMail, you’re really signalling one of your core features in the name, and that means we have to always think about it in everything we do.
Now, put “Christian” in the place of “FastMail,” and see what that statement says about those of us who follow the Way. Continue reading “He’s core, so we think about him in everything we do”