One key element of modern Christianity is the concept of salvation. It is often at the center of endless theological debates—salvation by works versus salvation by faith, the question of whether one can lose salvation, or the doctrine of ‘once saved, always saved.’ These debates ultimately narrow down to a singular, anxiety-laden question: Are you saved? This approach often feeds off fear—the fear of judgment, the fear of what happens after death, and the fear of being excluded from God’s … [Read more...] about Salvation: Who’s In and Who’s Out
Law
God’s Law Has Consequences
Processing the unfolding events – both worldwide and locally i difficult. By processing, I mean taking the individual components and analyzing them to reach a wise conclusion. It is important that people use a “sound mind” to assess the developments around us which impact us by degrees. We would also do well to keep in mind that God’s law has consequences. Those consequences can be good or bad depending on whether the law is applied or rejected. Sin is the cause of our current crisis and … [Read more...] about God’s Law Has Consequences
Pentecost, the Spiritual Connection
There are many things that we can learn and understand in our walk with God when we observe God’s walk with the nation of ancient Israel. There’s much about the nation of Israel that sets a pattern for us to learn from. By covenant, they became a called-out people who were destined to live according to the will of God as expressed by His law. The feature of the special relationship was the fact that God would dwell among them: “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among … [Read more...] about Pentecost, the Spiritual Connection
The Age of Depravity
In observing developments and trends, I am always drawn to the state of the human mind. I am constantly amazed these days at what the human mind is capable of. On the one hand what the mind can achieve in the area of technology is almost beyond belief. But the area of the mind's activity that comes up more often these days is in the area of depravity. A secular definition of depravity is simply defined as “moral corruption and wickedness”. The Bible also emphasizes the aspect of … [Read more...] about The Age of Depravity
An End Time Indicator
In Matthew 24:12, the context of a statement by Christ is the time indicating Christ’s coming and the end of the age. There are two points that immediately stand out with this statement. First, we can know as a fact that lawlessness will increase. Second, love will grow cold as a result. We can easily acknowledge the first by observation of the world around us. That lawlessness is increasing is an absolute fact. Lawlessness is defined as, “illegality, that is, violation of law or … [Read more...] about An End Time Indicator
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
A Future and a Hope
We have seen lots of cultural revolutions in this country, but now the foundations of this country are being razed. And part of that foundation is simply God. At least God was mentioned and a certain amount of the moral underpinnings of this country came from that source. And that is being eliminated. We live in an increasingly difficult environment and as followers of Christ we need a perspective to help us deal with the real world. We need a clear vision of how God views and feels about us … [Read more...] about A Future and a Hope