Tag: Eternal

By micoots
31/01/2017 0

Why You Shouldn’t See The Shack – but Why so Many Will

Mainline, Western Christianity has long had a problematic understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. This has played out in various ways, whether it is through the various cults like Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses, or simply due to biblical illiteracy and a painful lack of historical teaching on this doctrine. However, it must be stated: this is certainly not due to a lack of proper teaching on the matter, even when books/movies like The Shack are available. We live in an age where there i..

By micoots
31/01/2017 0

7 False Teachers in the Church Today

The history of Christ’s church is inseparable from the history of Satan’s attempts to destroy her. While difficult challenges have arisen from outside the church, the most dangerous have always been from within. For from within arise the false teachers, the peddlers of error who masquerade as teachers of truth. False teachers take on many forms, custom-crafted to times, cultures, and contexts. Here are seven of them you will find carrying out their deceptive, destructive work in the church today..

By micoots
31/01/2017 0

God’s Plan is Never Trumped

Hodge continues, “The interpretation of Divine providence is indeed often a matter of great difficulty and responsibility. It requires humility and caution. Some of His dispensations are, as to their design, perfectly clear, others are doubtful, and others to us and for the present inscrutable.” Then Hodge comes out with evidence that he is willing to “go there” and try to bring some meaning out of the recently concluded great civil war.

Many Reformed and Evangelical Christians had to struggle ..

By micoots
31/01/2017 0

When They Walk Away

“This man had approached Jesus asking how he might obtain eternal life. When Jesus pressed the demands of God’s Law on this man, in order to show him his sinfulness and need for redemption, the man went away sorrowful because he was unwilling to part with his possessions. Jesus didn’t run after him.”

I recently had a friend tell me how distraught she was over the fact that someone she had been discipling wanted to be left alone. My friend was expressing the pain that she felt over this experien..

By micoots
31/01/2017 0

What Do We Mean When We Speak of the “Sanctity of Human Life”?

“The words of Jesus have vital significance for our understanding of the sanctity of life. Here Jesus broadened the implications of the Old Testament law. He was speaking to religious leaders who had a narrow and simplistic grasp of the Ten Commandments.”

In biblical terms, the sanctity of human life is rooted and grounded in creation. Mankind is not viewed as a cosmic accident but as the product of a carefully executed creation by an eternal God. Human dignity is derived from God. Man as a fin..

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

Did Jesus Ever Speak About Homosexuality?

Whenever I get into a discussion on homosexuality I almost always encounter the line, “Jesus never spoke about homosexuality.” The pro-homosexuality party uses it as a trump card, as if it utterly shows the Christian view to be inconsistent and wrong. In this article I wish to show two things: first, how even if it were true, the “Jesus never spoke about homosexuality” line utterly fails as an argument; and second, how it is completely false.
First, as an argument, “Jesus never spoke about homos..

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

What is Biblical Preaching? The Messenger and the Message

an ongoing series on biblical preaching

In the last decade I have invested a lot of time in public speaking. With employee meetings, plenary sessions, breakouts at conferences, consulting ministry leaders, and speaking on books I have written, I have given hundreds and hundreds of leadership and ministry presentations. I have also preached weekly for the last several years as executive pastor, teaching pastor, interim pastor, and now a bi-vocational senior pastor. Preaching is different. In bot..

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

LCMS president on immigration issues

Cuban immigrants head to Ysleta Lutheran Mission in El Paso
When it comes to immigration issues, there is the obligation of the State to enforce the law. But, for the Church, there is also the obligation to minister to those in need. Now that President Trump is cracking down on immigration–rightly so, many of us would say–our Lutheran Hispanic congregations and our various Hispanic ministries are dealing with a sense of panic and insecurity among many of those to whom they are ministering. LCMS ..

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

ETERNAL PRAYERS

MERRY MONDAY BY PARRIS

“Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.”

ACTS 10:4
God never forgets his prayers he puts within us. He needs our voice to utter his promises over the earth. Each season that passes he sends his Rain to water our precious seeds. His word says we plant them into the ground weeping but there will be a time or a season that we will rejoice over the harvest of our prayers. I bet if you close your eyes you can remember specific place..

By micoots
30/01/2017 0

Saying Farewell to the ESV

After a flurry of articles and blog posts, Crossway announced that the 2016 ESV text would not be permanent. While many were relieved to read this, some of us noted that nothing was said about the controversial change to Genesis 3:16 and 4:7. Would that be changed? To date, nothing has been said regarding changing these passages back. I know that published text takes time to be changed. As such, I expected that the ESV Bibles published last year would reflect the “contrary to” translation. And t..