God has given humanity a purpose, and He has provided us insight and a roadmap on how to accomplish His purpose for each of us. Simply put, we are to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, in this case, to God the Father and Jesus Christ. You are to āā¦put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 … [Read more...] about Surrendering the “Old Man”
Culture
8 Hindrances of Unity
Why unity? The idea of unity is a very important concept. Paul especially stresses the importance of unity to the Church in Ephesus: āI, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 … [Read more...] about 8 Hindrances of Unity
Godly Church Governance
Many have experienced a variety of approaches to Church government at the human level. A widely accepted government in the Churches was a more autocratic, authoritarian style. It was government from the top-down, investing a large amount of authority in the one at the top. Eventually this led to a more ālordshipā style of leadership within the Church. It was not an altogether illogical deduction from a human point of view. Godās governance is from the top down. It flows from the Father to His … [Read more...] about Godly Church Governance
Politics During Jesus’ Time
How should we respond to the politics that invade our daily lives in the news, workplace, school and from so many social media platforms? According to Wikipedia which often conveys modern thought regarding a subject: āPolitics (from the Greek word, politikĆ”, meaning 'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations between individuals, such as the distribution of resources." This is a well-thought-out … [Read more...] about Politics During Jesus’ Time
Ideological Subversion
In an interview dating back 38 years, defected KGB spy, Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov, made a very sobering prediction about the United States. He warned that America could be defeated through an incremental process of ideological subversion. He defined it this way: āWhat it basically means is: to change the perception of reality of every American to such an extent that despite of the abundance of information no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interest of defending themselves, … [Read more...] about Ideological Subversion
When Leaders Are Lawbreakers
The world is a mess. It's a sentiment that I believe we could all readily agree with. There are reasons why the world is a mess and we need to be very clear about them. We are certainly experiencing a crisis of leadership. And there are ramifications when leaders are lawbreakers. They bring upon their nations self-inflicted destruction. I want to address the reality of what it means to have leaders who are lawbreakers and to reinforce a Christianās responsibility to become leaders who are law … [Read more...] about When Leaders Are Lawbreakers
Handling Conflict
We all deal with conflict daily, in many forms. Even the church has conflict, internal and external, from time to time. With the Bible as our guide, which biblical examples can teach us about a specific quality that foils conflict? Where does this quality come from? What does it lead to? Letās consider Gideonās example to identify this quality. Chosen by God as a judge of Israel he was assigned to defeat a threat from neighboring Midian (Judges 6:1-8:21). He assembled an army of 32,000, but … [Read more...] about Handling Conflict