Questions and answers relating to Christian conduct
A Sanctuary Church I saw an advertisement on the internet last week that made the proclamation that The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has passed a measure declaring their entire denomination to be a “sanctuary church” for migrants, including those who entered the United States illegally. How should we feel about that? Is that a good thing, or is it a sad thing? How should a Christian…
1 Samuel Chapter 17; David and Goliath Read 1 Samuel 17:1 thru 11.. All the people of Israel, including king Saul, were afraid of Goliath the giant of the Philistines. You know, Saul was a big man himself, especially compared to the average Israelite. It’s estimated that the average height of an Israelite was only about five, or five and a half foot tall. One…
Disappointment Have you ever been disappointed by the actions of another? Sure you have, everyone, at some time or another has been disappointed by what someone else has done. Have you ever been the one who has disappointed someone else? I’m sure that I have. I’m not happy with that fact, but I’m sure that it’s happened. In just very casual relationships, I’ve come to…
God’s Math Is Not Our Math In the world we live in, two plus two always equals four, and two divided by two always equals one. But that’s not always true in God’s world. God seems to add and divide differently than we do. Let me give you an example of that.. In Mathew 14, verses 17 thru 20, we have the story of how Jesus feed…
Help Me Choose A Church Here’s a question that someone posted on Facebook last week.. I have a friend, a single older lady, who just moved here from Iowa, and she’s looking for a church to join. She’s used to a not so large church. What church do you go to, and what do you like best about it? Now, the last time I checked, there…
Malachi 1:6-8, and 13-14 God wants certain things from us. A few weeks ago I talked about the fact that God wants our patience, and God wants our loyalty. But here’s two more things that God wants; He wants our best, and He wants what’s first. Let me read a few verses from the book of Malachi. God says in Malachi 1, verses 6 thru 8; …
Is It Biblical to Love the Sinner, and Hate the Sin ? I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, that we should love the sinner, but hate the sin. Some people probably think that saying comes from the bible, but it doesn’t. The idea expressed in that saying, comes from the bible, but the saying itself was made up by man. I believe the saying was first…
Two Things God Wants From You I want to talk about just two things, that God wants from you, as individual. If we wanted to, we could put those two things into just one category. And that one category would be, our love. What God wants from you, and what God wants from me, is our love. If we fully gave our love to God, we’d be…
Words of Encouragement I’m with you. I’m listening to you. I’m praying for you. I care about you. You matter to me. You make me happy. Just a few simple words like that can lift someone up, and be an encouragement to them. The bible says in Hebrews 10:24; “And let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and good works.” We…
A Familiar Verse A verse that most people are very familiar with is John 15, verse 13. In this verse, Jesus tells us something about love, and about friends; “Greater love has no one, than this; That one should lay down his life, for his friends.” In the next verse, Jesus says; “You are My friends, if you do what I command.” And of course,…
A Religious “Tract” A friend of mine found a little religious tract the other day, and he showed it to me, and here’s part of what it said; One day John’s friend stopped him.. “John, I’ve got some good news for you! “Really?” John said. “Yes, the bible tells us that heaven can be our home, since Jesus Christ died for our sins! “That is good…
The Book of Life You’ve heard about the book of life, haven’t you? Most people have, if they’re at all familiar with the bible. It’s spoken about in the old testament, and it’s spoken about in the new testament. In Exodus 32, verse 32, Moses speaks these words to God; “And yet now, if You would, forgive their sins; But if not, blot me I pray, out…
Who is “Poor” in Spirit? Jesus said in Mathew 5, verse 3; “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” I was reading in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, and it says that “poor” means.. “to be beggarly, and destitute, and afflicted”, and that it refers to “one who is crouched in wretchedness”. And then it says; “It has always had a bad…
Are You For God, Or Against God? Would you open your bibles to Mathew chapter 12; I want to read verses 30, 31, and 32; Verse 30 says; “He who is not with Me, is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” Jesus is teaching that there is no “middle ground” when it comes to God. You’re either for God, or you’re against…
The Fatness of God The bible says, in Psalm 36, verses 7 & 8; “How precious is Thy lovingkindness O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Thy wings. They drink their fill, of the fatness of Thy house, and Thou does give them to drink of the river of Thy delights.” What’s “the fatness of God”?…
What’s the “Nature” of Man? The bible tells us that a human being is made up of two “natures”. We have a physical nature, and we have a spiritual nature. Genesis 2, verse 7 tells us; Then the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, (that’s our physical nature) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life..” (that’s our spiritual…
Literal Translations vs Paraphrasing Most English versions of the bible do a pretty good job of trying to give a literal translation of what has been written in the original Greek text. However, at times, the translators personal opinions have entered into their decision on how to translate a word. An example of this is how the KJ translators, have translated the word “Passover”, in Acts 12,…
Faith or Works, or Both? The title of this lesson is ” Justification By Faith, Perfected By works”. But let me explain exactly what is meant by that.. The justification that God gives to a person, is because of their faith, which has been “perfected”, or “made complete”, through their works. The word “works” simply refers to deeds that are done. But I’m not talking about doing…
Are You in as Good a Condition, as You Used to be ? Suppose you needed to buy a car, but you didn’t have much money, you’d probably have to look for an older car, that didn’t cost so much. But then you’d have to worry about what condition it would be in. So you find someone advertising an old car, and you ask him; How does…
Blushing Have you ever felt embarrassed, and blushed because of it? Listen to what an encyclopedia says about blushing; “If we blush about doing something we shouldn’t have done, it shows that we are ashamed or embarrassed, that we recognize that something is out of place. It shows that we are sorry about this. It shows that we want to put things right. To blush at…