We have a responsibility to consider Godâs ways and His instructions versus manâs ways. God created all things and in that creation He installed two trees in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9,16-17). He explained the situation. He provided context and information for the people that He created and put in the Garden of Eden and gave them free moral agency. And He wants us to choose: â. . . I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life . . .â (Deuteronomy … [Read more...] about Keynesian Economics
God's Plan
God Is with His People
One way that we can make sense of the Church today is to look at the blueprint of how God built up a people to be His people. Since Christ doesnât change, His consistency will be evident in how He dealt with ancient Israel and how He deals with the Church today. As Moses prepared the children of Israel to enter the land of Canaan, he wrote the words of the law in a book and placed that book in the Ark of the Covenant. Then God through Moses addressed the people of Israel … [Read more...] about God Is with His People
Predestination
Does God plan our life in advance? Has God predetermined our future? One small step further in this relationship building is to understand better Godâs personal plan for each of us. We need some context to set the groundwork to address these questions. There may be some knowledge that we need to unlearn. Two areas of context that are important in theology are the âfall of man" and the âoriginal sinâ as they are commonly believed today. The fall of man takes us back to the beginning in the … [Read more...] about Predestination
Our Old Man
In assessing the many aspects of the body of Christ, the thing that stands out to me is that we have a personal responsibility to the body. We cannot sidestep that. We could summarize that responsibility as: âBut the manifestation of the Spirit (or the fruit or the expression of the Spirit) is given to each one for the profit of all:â (1 Corinthians 12:7). To be able to express the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), obviously one must first have it. This is where our individual … [Read more...] about Our Old Man
The Collapse of Justice
Our problems with justice today began with those entrusted with judgment in ancient Israel. They rejected Godâs moral authority over them. They made the law void. The problem continues to this day in that Godâs moral authority is also rejected by those entrusted to uphold it now. The Enlightenment, a movement in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, promoted reason and reason alone as the method of obtaining truth. Nietzsche, a man famous for saying God is dead … [Read more...] about The Collapse of Justice
Godly Justice
Administering justice is a major theme of the Bible. King David administered justice to all his people (2 Samuel 8:15). Indeed, God expects His people to administer justice: "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?" (1 Corinthians 6.2-3). So that is the question: Do you and I practice justice … [Read more...] about Godly Justice
The Times of the Gentiles
The prophet Amos informed us that âGod doesnât do anything without first revealing His secrets to His servants the prophetsâ (Amos 3:7). Since Godâs plan of salvation is central to messages of prophecy, it is important to look at the writings of the prophets within the context of any section of scripture. Doing so tells us why a particular thing was said. The knowledge imparted by prophecy is meant to be very motivational to those who are or who will be in a relationship … [Read more...] about The Times of the Gentiles