I have been reading a book about church history by Ivor Fletcher. Today, I want to address the topic of persecution. There are two basic concepts that struck me as I read this book. One was the idea that obeying God is hard. I would ask us to question relatively speaking in our modern context, how hard is it to obey God? The other question that was brought to mind was, how will we, in all the churches of God, use markers of identity to distinguish among ourselves. Will … [Read more...] about The Exposing Light of Persecution
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The Seven Pillars of Wisdom
The Oxford Dictionary defines wisdom as âthe state of being wise.â It says that wisdom has to do with judgment, discernment, judiciousness, insight, knowledge and learning. And from a human standpoint, we might agree with these words that define wisdom. But at the same time, we can conclude that mankind on the whole man canât solve his problems. It appears that mankind simply lacks the wisdom to do so. Man doesnât know how to achieve peace, put an end to … [Read more...] about The Seven Pillars of Wisdom
By Your Patience Possess Your Souls
In Luke 21 Christ is talking to His disciples who have asked Him what the sign will be that "these things" are about to take place. The time of the end is the context: Nations are rising up against nations, kingdom against kingdom. There are famines, pestilences and great earthquakes in various places. As we go further away from these beginning signs which we can observe today itâs going to get more difficult for Godâs people as the end times draw nearer. It becomes more intensely … [Read more...] about By Your Patience Possess Your Souls
God’s Governmental Requirement
Dean William R. Inge is credited with saying, âA good government remains the greatest of human blessings, and no nation has ever enjoyed it.â Just to clarify, the human blessings he refers to are of human origin and therefore flawed. Flawed people devise flawed governments that we, the citizenry, are the beneficiaries thereof. What should be our attitude and posture toward the civil authorities that occupy public office above us? Only about 20% of Americans, according to Pew Research Center, … [Read more...] about God’s Governmental Requirement
Focus on the Goal
The weekly Sabbath is a representation of entering into the Kingdom of God. Its very interesting that God has made the high point of the week, the focus on His Kingdom. But why does God want us to be reminded of this so often and so strongly? An interesting experiment called the âinvisible gorilla experimentâ by Daniel Simmons and Christopher Chabris will help us understand why. It is very important for followers of Christ to capture itâs meaning. In the experiment there were … [Read more...] about Focus on the Goal
Five Attributes that Strengthen Marriages
Devotion to fulfilling marital roles begins with a devoted relationship with the God who created the marriage unit. He gives success to those who are devoted to His pathway to unity. There is just one path: Godly love and respect. Besides being devoted to incorporating love and respect into our marriages through prayer, we need more specific concepts to pray for. Below are five specific points to pray about which can help restore a damaged marriage to a peaceful unity of mind and … [Read more...] about Five Attributes that Strengthen Marriages
True Character
One take away we could observe from the recent U.S. mid-term elections is that character was a major factor. To clarify, there are two types of character. One is the way the world looks at character, and the other is from Godâs point of view. We need to be clear about the difference.The world looks at character more in the realm of personality which means that character has no real boundaries. It is just the way someone is. The Britannica Dictionary defines character as: The way someone thinks, … [Read more...] about True Character