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…
A Delusion, an Error, and a Lie There’s an interesting verse, in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 11, that says; “And for this cause, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” And the cause, for this “strong delusion” from God, is stated in the previous verse, verse 10; “..because they received not, the love of the truth, that they might…
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…
The Works of the Word I want us to consider six separate, but related works, that the Word of God has accomplished, and continues to accomplish, and will accomplish. First, the Word of God has created life, as we know it. Second, the Word of God creates faith in God the creator. Third, the Word of God became the sacrifice for the sins of the world. …
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…
Each One Is Tempted I want to talk to you today about temptation. And when I talk about temptation, I’m specifically talking about the temptation to commit sin. I’m not talking about the temptation to have another piece of chocolate cake, or the temptation to splurge on something that you know you really don’t need. I’m talking about the temptation to sin. The temptation to do something…
The Promised Gift of the Holy Spirit This part of our study of the Holy Spirit, deals with receiving the Holy Spirit. To begin with, we need to understand that receiving the Holy Spirit, is not the same thing as receiving “the gift” of the Holy Spirit. Receiving “the gift” of the Holy Spirit is spoken of in Acts 2:38. In that verse, the “gift” being spoken…
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”?…
A Saved Condition, and a Lost Condition This is Part 2 of the lesson called “Spiritual Conditions”. In “Spiritual Conditions – Part 1, I referred to this as “food for thought”. And I’d like you to look at this lesson as more “food for thought”. The reason I call it that, is because there’s more than one way to look at this subject, and so this…
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…
He Has Risen! Would this be a good day to talk about the resurrection of Christ? Personally, I think every day, is a good day to talk about ALL things Christ. So then let’s go ahead and talk about Christ’s resurrection. Let me read a few things that the bible has to say about it.. Mathew 28, verse 6 simply says; “He is not here, for He has…
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…