Our Resolute Hope Podcast

Pastor Frank and Dr. John continue their conversation with Ernest Rafique of Abounding Grace Ministries in Pakistan (agmpak.org), focusing on the growing partnership between ORH and AGM.

Guest Ernest Rafique of Abounding Grace Ministries in Pakistan (agmpak.org) shares the challenges and opportunities that the message of graces faces in that region.

There are nearly sixty ‘One Another' commands in the New Testament.  We're to love, honor, welcome, forgive, be kind to, comfort, care for, and encourage one another.  And yes, these imperatives apply even during divorce.

Divorces often are battlegrounds, leaving wives, husbands, and children wounded and deeply scarred.  But Christ's life enables us to be kind, compassionate, and forgiving, no matter the circumstances.

God Himself is a divorcee.  And in Jeremiah 3:8, He shows us the pattern for doing it with honor and respect.  But despite this, He is always willing to forgive, reconcile, and restore.

We all are familiar with Malachi 2:16, ‘God hates divorce'.  But do we understand what the original text really says?  What He hates is the treacherous and violent act of putting away a wife without a written divorce decree.

We all are familiar with Malachi 2:16, ‘God hates divorce'.  But do we understand what the original text really says?  What He hates is the treacherous and violent act of putting away a wife without a written divorce decree.

Accurate translations of key passages fail to support the rigid injunctions against divorce that many claim.  Instead, they reveal God's compassionate heart against the helpless and His desire to restore and redeem them.

For centuries, the church's attitude toward divorce was based on incorrect translation of the original Greek and Hebrew.  As a result, it left no room to consider any of the myriad painful circumstances, aside from abandonment and adultery, that fuel divorce.

Historically, the church has recognized only two justifiable reasons for divorce:  adultery and abandonment.  But have we misunderstood what Jesus taught?

God's original intent was that marriage, one man and one woman, would last a lifetime.  But just because He made husband and wife one doesn't mean they wouldn't ignore the Spirit, walk in their flesh, and do serious harm to their relationship.

The word ‘anti' can mean against or in opposition to, or it can have a more subtle meaning – in place of.  This compels us to ask ourselves two difficult questions:  In which ways am I acting against Christ, and which things in my life do I allow to take His place?

Opinions about antichrist abound, and they vary greatly.  Yet Apostle John describes antichrist not as a world ruler but as a spiritual mindset or attitude in false teachers.  This spirit of antichrist was present in his day … and in ours..

Apostle Paul calls singleness a gift from God, which allows unmarried believers to focus their ministry efforts without the distractions of spouses and children.

Many believe that people are incomplete without spouses, deficient in some way and less able to bear fruit in God's kingdom.  But God honors both conditions and equips both to bear fruit abundantly in their unique ways.

When we trust the Savior, God Himself makes His home in us.  And to bear fruit for His kingdom, we must continually choose to make our home in Him, remaining in intimate dependence.

Must Christians forgive every offense and confess every sin to receive God's forgiveness?  No, our forgiveness is once for all, because it's based on the death of our Savior.

The Bible tells us that, as Christians, we have become the righteousness of God.  And How is that righteousness displayed?  In our behavior and how we treat others, because righteousness is a word of personal interaction.

When we don't experience God's promises in our daily lives, we can think His truths are positional – that they'll be true about me someday, just not today.  But the Scriptures say otherwise.

Emotions mustn't be obeyed, but they must be acknowledged.  Neither should they be indulged because expressing emotion doesn't deplete or lessen it.  And indulging emotion can lead to addictions.

Emotions serve an important role:  they tell us what's going on deep inside us, and they never lie.  Even negative, painful emotions can be good.  We shouldn't repress or ignore them, or try to hide them away.

Scripture describes our Lord as intimately familiar with grief, pain, and sorrow (Isaiah 53:3).  He experiences every emotion fully, but there's a critical difference between him and us:  Our God never lets them control His decisions or actions.

Gifts from God, emotions can be powerful forces in our lives.  And Christians exhibit the full gamut of reactions to them, from being totally governed by them to stuffing them completely.

Grace does the most loving, constructive, redemptive, and honoring thing possible for someone.  That's how the Person of Grace, Jesus Christ, treats us.  But when we live licentiously, we show that we really know little about His grace.

In Christ, we're free to do anything we want … but we're not free from the consequences.  Some choices can wound us, wound others, and place us in bondage.

If Christians no longer have a sinful nature, why are we tempted to sin?  Apostle Paul tells us that sin, a personified governing power, dwells in the members of our body, enticing us to walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit.

Do Christians retain their sinful nature after salvation?  The clear answer from Scripture is no.  Romans 6:6 explains that the old man was crucified with Christ the moment we were saved.

As believers mature in their faith, they become more alike in character but more diverse in personality.  That's a benefit of being partakers of His divine nature.

Working and bearing fruit in the Kingdom:  Is it I or is it Christ in me?  Yes!

Pastor Frank and Dr. John continue their conversation with Mike Q. Daniel about misconceptions in the modern church regarding the gospel of Grace and Christ as our very life (MikeQDaniel.com).

Guest Mike Q. Daniel discusses Christ as our life and some of the confusion and pushback against the truth that he's experienced over the years.  Learn more about him at MikeQDaniel.com.

Luke 15 presents what we've come to call the parable of the prodigal son.  But in truth, it's a sober reminder of how greatly God's children can struggle when their beliefs about their Father are wrong.

Our Abba's perfect love works constantly to give us what we need most – to be conformed to the image of Christ.  Yes, suffering is crucial, but after that?  Glory!

The intimate name Abba goes hand in hand with suffering.  When we're in great distress, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, we should follow the example of Jesus in Gethsemane … and cry out to our Abba for help.

As His sons and heirs, knowing our God as Abba comes with responsibility.  Like Jesus, we must respect and trust Him, following where He leads, even if it's through the valley of the shadow of death, and even if we're crawling instead of walking.

The most personal name for our God is Abba.  It's intimate, one of deep feelings, a cry of the heart.  Abba reflects our deep respect, trust, and obedience to our Father, knowing confidently that He'll do what's best for us … even when we don't understand.

Christ came to demonstrate Who God is, what He's really like when you take a close look.  Jesus is the perfect imprint of our Father God, and He invites us to investigate Him and discover for ourselves His incredible love for us.

Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh to show us what our Father God is really like.  Embodying every divine attribute, His words and actions had a single purpose:  to point us toward our Father.

Father is a name of summation, wrapping up in a single word all God is and all He longs to be to us.  A father is strong.  He provides and protects.  And He loves his children immeasurably, doing only the very best for them.

When we trust Christ, God abides in us, makes His home in us, and we abide in Him.  But we must continue to abide if we wish to bear fruit.  Unless our minds are set on Him, we can do nothing for His kingdom.

When God makes His home in us, He gets busy immediately.  He becomes to us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.  And He begins to train us to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives that honor Him.

God in us means that He lives His miraculous life in and through us - our circumstances, our choices, and our personalities.  His abundant life is more than sufficient for every situation we will ever face.

God making His home in us forges a deep, spiritual union that goes beyond the idea of God with us.  It's a shared existence where we can experience our unity with Christ through the daily reality of His presence in us.

When God pledged to be our Immanuel, He promised to redeem and restore us, no matter what we've done.  To be with us, no matter the enemies and struggles we might face.  To be our sufficiency.

God's New Covenant was revealed in stages, with hints and glimpses scattered throughout the Old Testament.  Its complete fulfillment was in our Lord Jesus Christ, Who was more than God with us – He was God in us.

The angel revealed to Mary and Joseph much about Who Jesus is and what He will do.  As son of the Most High, He will reign forever as king.  And as Messiah, He will save His people from their sins.

Warrior.  Shepherd.  Leader.  Man of deep faith in God.  All these, and more, describe Joshua, a stunning type of the ultimate Yeshua, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We may wander and stray, but the heart of El Shaddai toward us never changes.  When we choose to live face to face with Him, He promises to make us complete and to supply all our needs, so that we lack nothing.

This name, above all others, shows the heart of our all-sufficient God toward His children.  When we are weak and vulnerable, He is our nurturing, comforting El Shaddai, the One Who promises to meet all our needs.

Safety, welfare, contentment, and completeness are all wrapped up in the word peace.  When God gives us His peace, He gives us the Person of Peace, Jesus Christ.  And through Him, we can cast our concerns in the lap of our God and enjoy His rest.

Come, let's reason together.  That's the compassionate invitation from our Lord to safely share all our sins and struggles with Him.  He will show us the truth about our circumstances and, through that truth, empower us to live lives that honor Him.