Blog

Introduction The Corinthian church had many problems. One of these was their pride of position. They thought that one who was used to speaking in tongues was truly spiritual. In chapter twelve of his letter, Paul defines the source, owner, and one who bestows ‎pneumatikw=n as the Holy Spirit. This is only logical since these are literally “gifts of the Spirit” (BDAG #4152). After showing that these gifts are for all saints “for the common good”, he delineated pers

Some might wonder what the difference is between these two groups, but it is quite clear within Scripture. In fact, no place in the Bible commands the growth of the congregation. The Church, which is the Body of Christ made up solely of believers, is the focus of every passage about growth. The congregation is the same as the local church. Its members include both believers and non-believers. This situation benefits the congregation because it serves as a place for ministry a

Faith is a straightforward thing. Faith has an owner and an object. Who needs faith? The answer is anyone who cannot do something. They are the owner. The object of faith can do the thing the object needs. For example, if you (owner) cannot fix your plumbing but know a plumber (object), you need faith. Faith is made up of belief and trust. In the above example, you know the plumber exists, and if you trust that he/she will fix your plumbing (reward), you have faith in that pl

The content of this post is a summary of the things discussed in class. If you miss a class or if you have a question, please comment here or ask in the next class. You are important, and if you do not understand, then I need to help you understand. The first four or five weeks are an overview of covenants and promises that the following weeks will detail. Week 1: The first thing to understand about Bible prophecy is that it revolves around people, especially the people of Go

The role of the people of God within God’s Kingdom is consistent in terms of the qualifications of the constituent groups placed within it. While the spiritual leaders of the old covenant had the same mission as their new covenant counterparts, they failed to keep God as the focus of their lives. This situation resulted in their replacement with the leaders of the new covenant. This chapter demonstrates the cause of this replacement through an exegesis of the announcement in

The Two Kinds of People of God Because the Church consists of only redeemed persons, as opposed to the church as an organization, there is no need to differentiate between redeemed and non-redeemed persons within it. However, there is an ethnicity called Israel, a nation called Israel which includes Gentiles, and an Israel that is a component of the people of God, consisting of only redeemed persons. God calls ethnic Israel “my people,” which is true because God created Israe

The key difference is that Pentecostals emphasize the ongoing, active work of the Holy Spirit and the use of spiritual gifts (like speaking in tongues and divine healing) as a central part of Christian life and worship. At the same time, other evangelicals generally do not focus on these "charismatic" experiences. Shared Beliefs Pentecostalism is generally considered a movement within the broader evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity, and thus shares core evangelical t

Spiritual Gifts and Missions Introduction The Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit are an integral part of the life of the Christian, the Church, and the ministry. We will discuss the role of the spiritual gifts in ministry in their biblical, practical, and personal contexts. Because of the brevity of this discussion, we will discuss only the gifts outlined in 1 Corinthians 12, verses eight through ten. What does the Bible say as to the place of spiritual gifts

This post concerns cults or heresies that the class has mentioned. Feel free to comment to have me add a discussion of any of these issues. The first group we discuss is Jehovah's Witnesses. This group believes that Jesus is not God but only the Son of God and a god in the sense of an angel being a god. To them, he is the incarnation of Michael the archangel. They see the Holy Spirit as merely an impersonal force that God uses. Salvation is not by grace but through a complex,

To properly understand the background of this section, one must consider the topic of the preceding chapter. Chapter ten’s emphasis was...

This post intends to serve as the beginning of a discussion about God. Its basis is the Holy Scriptures, and the discussion conforms to...

This discussion contains excerpts and data derived from Kenneth E. Bailey’s Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, which presents a balanced case for a better understanding of the Christmas event. A List of Errors The Wednesday class before Christmas is a time for reminding us what happened that glorious night. The traditional understanding of the account in Luke 2:1-18 contains a number of critical flaws. These include: 1. Joseph was returning to his hometown. In the Middle

Euthanasia comes from the Greek EU, which means well, and Thanatos which means death. Therefore, its meaning is an easy death. For the...

The story of Job is the most ancient story within Scripture, likely by more than 100 years. His encounter with Sabeans shows this....

Q: The woman with the issue of blood had confident and faith to know that touching Jesus would make her well. But why was she trembling and fearful ? what was all the truth she told him? A1: The source of her fear and trembling was that because she had an issue of blood she was ceremonially unclean and anyone touching her would also be unclean for a while. This would make the crowd likely to be angry with her. A2: The answer to your second question is found in the parallel a

One divisive creation of fallen humanity which came into being after the finalization of the cannon deserves mention. When God gave...