Podcasts about other christians

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my DISCIPLE must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (NIV) Matthew 7:21–23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (NIV) 1. The Salvation Stage 2. The Milk Stage 1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn INFANTS, long for the pure spiritual MILK, that by it you may GROW UP into salvation 3 If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (ESV) 1 Corinthians 3:1–3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere INFANTS in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are STILL WORLDLY. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? (NIV) Hebrews 5:13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. (ESV) 3. The Maturing Stage 1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. (NIV) Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the MATURE, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (NIV) 4. The Others Stage Ephesians 4:12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (ESV) 4A. Mature Christians Get Connected to Other Christians 4B. Mature Christians Get Equipped for Ministry 4C. Mature Christians Serve Others So The Body Can Grow 1 Peter 4:10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (NIV) 5. The Disciple Making Stage Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (NIV) Hebrews 6:1 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and BECOME MATURE in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. (NLT) Hebrews 5:12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! (NIV) Acts 6:7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. (ESV)

Welcome to Day 2591 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – How Many Times Is Jesus Coming Back? – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible. Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2591 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2591 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Today is the 48th lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor the late Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church. The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God's redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it's also a book that seems strange to us. While God's Word was written for us, it wasn't written to us. Today's lesson is: “How Many Times is Jesus Coming Back?” [Few things in the Bible attract more attention than prophecies about the end times. Even people with only a passing acquaintance with the Bible know that it foretells a second coming of Jesus. Those who study the Bible know the book of Revelation reveals that the second coming brings an end to the reign of the antichrist (the "beast"; Rev 19:11-21). The risen Christ, the incarnation of God, returns to earth not as a suffering Savior, but as the glorious warrior- king. But does the Bible describe an earlier return of Jesus—one that precedes this triumphant arrival? The “Rapture” Some Christians believe that 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 describes how all believers will be taken from earth, dead or alive, at an appearing of Jesus before the second coming described in Revelation 19. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thess 4:16-17). This earlier return of Jesus is called the "rapture" by believers who embrace this idea. The term is derived from the Latin word rapiemur (from rapio, meaning "to carry off") used by the translator of the Latin Vulgate for the Greek word harpazõ (drtráw), translated "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Other Christians, however, reject the idea that 1 Thessalonians 4 speaks of a different event than the return of Jesus to earth described in Revelation 19. For them, there will only be one return of Jesus in the future. So, who's right? Harmonizing The answer to the question is "it depends." If we were to read all the passages in the New Testament that speak of Jesus' future return, along with Old Testament passages that speak of a final, climactic visitation by God on earth that will put an end to evil ("the Day of the LORD"), we would notice immediately that they do not agree in the details or descriptions. For example, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 seemingly has Jesus returning in the air, gathering believers into the clouds, whereas the prophet Zechariah foretold the physical arrival of the pierced Lord on the Mount of Olives...

Summary of 1 Samuel 3- The Lord establishes a prophet [Samuel] who speaks and acts on His behalf in the dark days of Israel. Big Idea: The Lord establishes ambassadors who speak and act on His behalf in our dark world. Ambassadors:1. Listen (to God) [How does God speak to us? The Bible, the Holy Spirit, Other Christians, Creation, etc.]2. Grow (in the Lord)3. Go (sharing the good news of Jesus)

John Farley Pastor Teacher Sunday, January 19, 2025 She has Been a Helper of Many 1. God has placed a burden on your heart. 2. God has filled your heart with a special love for the people who most need to be ministered to with the gift. 3. You are willing to suffer in order to serve others with this gift. 4. You have a supernatural ability when you operate in that area. 5. Other Christians sense that God is at work when you exercise this gift. 6. You sense that this is your purpose in life. 7. God has prepared you for this gift in a unique way. 8. When you observe a person with this gift, you have a great desire to do that work. 9. Mature believers encourage you to practice the gift. 10. God is providing what you need to be effective in the gift. 11. God is opening doors for you to exercise the... for full notes: http://www.lbible.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1721

Miami-Dade school board votes against recognizing LGBTQ+ History Month for 3rd year in a rowFor the third year in a row, the Miami-Dade County school board voted against a proposal to recognize October as LGBTQ+ History Month.The 5-3 vote on Wednesday came hours after the school board heard a mix of passionate opinions about whether to approve item H-10.VOTE NO ON AMNDMENT 4 NO Definitions Unlike other Amendments, Amendment 4 does not define any of its key terms. For example, it does not define “viability,” “health care provider,” “patient's health,” or how serious a health concern would need to be to allow exceptions for late-term abortions. These uncertainties create loopholes resulting in more abortions later in pregnancy than voters intend. Too EXTREMEAmendment 4 goes TOO FAR by allowing late-term abortions, far beyond when science says the baby is capable of feeling pain. Amendment 4 would overturn current laws requiring a parent's consent BEFORE a minor can have an abortion, thereby making abortion the only medical procedure that can be performed on a minor without a parent's permission. Amendment 4 pretends to “just bring things back to how they were with Roe vs. Wade” – but it actually goes much further – creating a constitutional right to abortion throughout all nine months with no protections for the unborn baby.Should Christians be in politics?Can politics save America?For years, RLR has urged Christians to take seriously theirobligations as citizens, starting with exercising the right tovote. In the public square and at the ballot box, we must bemore engaged, not less. Q. But what happens in a race where Christians are facedwith two morally problematic choices? Q. Should voters cast a ballot for the lesser of two evils?When it comes to citizenship in our current political context, Christians are plagued by two opposite mistakes.  The first is French theologian Jacques Ellul called “the political illusion,” or, assuming that everything rests on political outcomes. “If our guy is in office, all will be well. If their guy is in office, all will be lost.” The political illusion, to be clear, plagues both sides of the political and theological aisles. To describe a particular candidate in messianic terms is to suffer from the political illusion. To describe him or her as the anti-Christ is also to suffer from the political illusion. No political candidate will “save Christianity.” No candidate can “irreparably harm” it either. Other Christians are plagued by the political delusion, the idea that political engagement of any kind is pointlessly unnecessary or perhaps even implicates one in evil. Of course, there are cases throughout history where an election is a farce, or where political engagement aligns one with unmitigated evil. Neither is not the case for American Christians today. I will put it bluntly, for American Christians, voting is both a civic duty and a Christian responsibility.  The late, great Chuck Colson once wrote: The next time you hear someone tell you that Christians ought to take a vacation from politics, tell them to go fly a kite.  Listen, it's our duty as citizens of the kingdom of God to be the best citizens of the society we live in.Brothers and sisters, Christianity and good citizenship go together.

Some Christians think of spirituality as a key aspect of our life in God and justice as subsidiary work. Other Christians see the work of justice as primary and spirituality as secondary or even unimportant. This week, Pastor Juan Carlos Huertas, invites us to think about our life in God as a life rooted in a just spirituality: What it looks like, What it means, and how it's practiced.

Welcome to Connections Church Online! Pastor Rob Byker has a message from Acts 12:1-19, “Surprised by Prayer”. Even though the church of Jerusalem prays for God to deliver Peter out of prison, they are shocked when God does it and Peter stands before them free! This shows us that even when we pray, there is often some levels of unbelief in us when we pray. Some Christians notice this and then pray more, praying for better faith. Other Christians notice this and stop praying altogether. We need to avoid that response at all costs. Prayerlessness is a serious sin and our Lord Jesus charges us to “always pray and not give up.” In this message, we will address some barriers to prayer as well as look at some truths that help us to return to prayer again. Visit our website: https://myconnections.church/

In Romans 14, Paul addresses two specific issues that are causing disunity in the church. Out of this, he presents four ideas to stop them from judging one another.1. Other Christians don't report to you.2. You should develop personal convictions.3. Opposite actions can glorify God.4. Don't look out the window until you've looked in the mirror.This message was recorded live at Transform Church in Memphis, TN. For more information about our church, visit transformchurchmem.comLINKSFacebook: facebook.com/transformchurchmem  Instagram: instagram.com/transformchurchmem  Website: https://www.transformchurchmem.com/

Quick Clips: MATT Patrick Kearon shares Ramadan Greeting with Muslims around the world MELISSA Special Issue of FSY magazine MATT BYU to require incoming students to read Holland's musket speech. MELISSA Truman Brothers MTC concert MATT Opportunity for UK Member to Sing with TABCATS TEMPLE NEWS MELISSA New Temple Presidents called MATT Manti Temple Open House Related: Dinosaur Mural Urdaneta Philippines Temple ready for open house Ground Breaking for San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple Famous Mormons: Which television news personality was raised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Glenn Beck Carrie Sheffield Jason Chaffetz Big/Little/No Deal: MELISSA Women may boycott church this Sunday in reaction to women being asked to step down from the stand, and in conjunction with Women's History Month and the Relief Society Birthday. MATT US Army chief of chaplains meets with Church leaders at Church headquarters MELISSA Guiding Principles for the Church's Use of AI , Article 2 MATT White Evangelicals stand out from Other Christians on immigration issues MELISSA Why do Mormons write such good YA fiction? MATT BYU conference about the history of slavery in Utah seeks reconciliation MELISSA Interfaith academic conference about tv show 'The Chosen' will take place at BYU MATT After Kirtland artifacts, What else could the LDS Church buy? General Conference Predictions: Topics (discussion about current issues/protests?, discussion about recent LDS artifact purchases?, Refugees?, Things in the news?) Temples: (Matt: Scotland, Kampala Uganda, Kirtland Ohio, El Paso Texas, Price Utah, Flagstaff AZ, Abuja Nigeria)  (Melissa: Rigby Idaho, Fillmore Utah, Kiboko Kenya, Puerto Carreno Colombia, Limon Costa Rica) Policies/Programs (missions for the young men and women will be paid for by the church, Missionaries will have an opportunity to self-select their term (6, 12, 18, or 24 months), Girls will be allowed to pass the Sacrament, Women can serve in the Sunday School presidency, or said presidency will be dissolved altogether, Women can serve as Ward Mission Leader or assistant clerks) Some are saying that April 7, 2024 will be the Second Coming

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Love for Other Christians Subtitle: 24' Winter Conference - 1 John Speaker: Bryan J Wilson Broadcaster: Calvary Baptist Church Event: Sunday - PM Date: 2/11/2024 Bible: 1 John 4:7-21 Length: 53 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Love for Other Christians Subtitle: 24' Winter Conference - 1 John Speaker: Bryan J Wilson Broadcaster: Calvary Baptist Church Event: Sunday - PM Date: 2/11/2024 Bible: 1 John 4:7-21 Length: 53 min.

And the Lord Gave Daniel 1:1-21 by William Klock We like to say that actions often speak louder than words.  When things are hard, it's one thing for someone to promise they'll be there for you, but it's something else entirely when they actually are.  And we know from experience, some people are all talk.  They say they'll be there, but they may or may not show up.  But we all know people who say they'll be there and we know from our past experience with them that we really can count on them being there.  Some people just prove themselves to be imminently dependable.  When it comes to God, we should know that he is imminently more dependable than even the most imminently dependable human being, but sometimes we doubt—especially when the dark seems so utterly overwhelming.  Israel was no different in that way.  God had spoken.  They had his word through the Law and the Prophets, but still, some day it was just so hard not to doubt.  Think of those awful days for Second Century Judah that we read about last week in 1 Maccabees.  Pagans defiled the Lord's temple.  Pagans were killing Jews for obeying the Lord's law.  A lot of Jews were giving in and apostatising.  Their children were being enticed into a pagan way of life.  The faithful cried out to the Lord with pleas like that of Psalm 68, “Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered!”  They prayed and prayed.  They were faithful and they watched as their friends and family were murdered for their faithfulness.  Where was God?  Did he really care for his people?  And so the author of Daniel looked back to the last time this happened, to the days of the Babylonian exile.  The purpose of Daniel was to remind the people of the Lord's past faithfulness.  It was an exhortation to stand firm in faith, trusting in the Lord.  And so he begins in Daniel 1 and writes: In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.   In the third year of King Jehoiakim of Judah.  Assuming that number isn't being used symbolically—which it might—these opening events of Daniel took place in 605 or 604 BC.  Jehoiakim was put on the throne as a puppet king of the Egyptians, but when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt, Jehoiakim a puppet of the Babylonians.  Jehoiakim was an evil king.  The rabbis described him as a godless tyrant who engaged in incest and murder.  Through the Prophet Jeremiah, the Lord repeated rebuked him and warned him of coming judgement.  And here we see the beginnings of it.  What's described here in Daniel 1 sounds very much like the siege that Nebuchadnezzar laid against Jerusalem in 598 BC—which would mean we need to do more work to sort out the date given—but it's possible that the Babylonians began applying some of this sort of pressure earlier—a warning, letting Jehoiakim and his people know who was in control.  So Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest of the Neo-Babylonian emperors, came to Jerusalem and showed the city and the people who was boss.  He took sacred vessels from the temple.  The text isn't specific, but it implies that these were vessels and tools associated with the altar and with sacrifices.  The point wasn't their monetary value.  The point was that Nebuchadnezzar wanted to demonstrate the defeat of the God of Israel.  Taking the city showed the people that they were now the subjects of the Babylonian king, but taking the consecrated vessels of the Lord from his temple showed that Israel's God was now subject to the gods of Babylon. And along with those temple vessels, Nebuchadnezzar took with him a group of young men—the first of the exiles—so that they could be taught the ways of the Babylonians.  They were hostages. Nebuchadnezzar probably expected some of them to be sent back to serve a Babylonian administration in Jerusalem once they'd been convinced of Babylon's superiority.  But, I think, taking these men from the royal and noble families, more than anything else, was meant to show the rulers of Judah that Nebuchadnezzar was now sovereign over them.  Even their children belonged to him and to his gods. But notice that little note slipped into verse 2.  You might even have missed it.  Verse 1 tells us that Nebuchadnezzar came and laid siege to Jerusalem, but verse 2 tells us that it was the Lord who gave him King Jehoiakim and the temple vessels.  The Lord not only allowed this, he orchestrated it.  The Lord is the one who is sovereign, not Nebuchadnezzar…not Antiochus Epiphanes…not Ceasar…not Charles III or Justin Trudeau…the Lord, the God of Israel is sovereign over kings and nations—and, maybe most important, over his own people.  And in those few words in verse 2, we're reminded of the Lord's faithfulness—not just to rescue his people as he promised, not just to prosper his people as he promised, but also to discipline them when they were unfaithful, just as he promised he would.  And there's something else that might slip by us.  In the biblical literature most closely related to Daniel, it's usually “God gave”.  In fact, we'll see that later on.  But here it's “the Lord gave”.  This is not merely the God of Israel, but the God who is Lord over all—over every nation and over every king, even mighty Nebuchadnezzar. Brothers and Sisters, whatever is happening today, remember that God is sovereign and in control.  That someone living through the terrors of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes would point his people back to Daniel to remind them that the Lord is in control, ought to cause us to do the same sort of thing: to look back not only to the history of God and his dealings with his people, but to do that while hearing his words and his promises to them through the prophets.  Why would God allow Christendom to fall after two-thousand years?  Why is God allowing the church in the West to wither and die?  I think we need to look back to the story of God and his people.  In Israel he established an earthly kingdom to represent his rule in the world, to witness his light in the midst of the darkness.  He didn't expect perfection, but he did expect faithfulness.  And when Israel refused to be faithful, the Lord disciplined her—as a witness to the nations.  He preferred to be known through his blessing, but if that wasn't going to work out, his sovereign holiness would be shown through cursing and, eventually, through his restoration of his people in fulfilment of his promises. Christendom, I think, has befallen much the same fate.  The gospel went out and it conquered an empire.  Christendom was born and, a lot like Israel, it represented Jesus' rule on earth—prefiguring that day when the gospel and the church have finally accomplished their mission to usher in God's new creation.  Christendom wasn't perfect—not by any means—but it did represent a people and nations that lived the gospel—people who were faithful.  And the dramatic transformation that took place in the conversion of those pagan empires and nations into Christendom are profound witness to the power of the gospel—a witness I think we're often unaware of, because we now live in a world transformed by that gospel.  But as the centuries passed, our gospel light began to waver and dim.  The gospel had once put an end to slavery in the Roman world, but then slavery was restored—to our shame.  Christian kings began to colonise and exploit less developed peoples.  And, yes, the Lord used those efforts to carry the gospel to new corners of the world and often to judge wicked peoples, but then those Christian kings plundered those nations and mistreated their people.  Wars broke out and Christian nation rose up against Christian nation.  I don't think it should be any surprise that the Church in Europe began its rapid decline and godless philosophies and secularism quickly replaced it in the years following World War I—a war in which ostensibly Christian countries brutally fought each other for regional hegemony.  In the years after that war, Karl Barth wrote that his seminary student had lost the ability to smile.  The gospel light was all but stamped out.  The joy of Jesus was all but gone.  In the century since, Europe has become almost entirely secular.  And now here, across the Atlantic, the trend marches on.  And it shouldn't be any surprise.  As a people we worship the gods of money and self, of materialism and sex and all of that.  We murder our children before they're even born.  We here in North America were once Christian nations, but—as with Israel in the Old Testament—the Lord will not allow a wicked nation to represent him.  Discipline will come to both the nation and its church and I think that's precisely what we're seeing.  But how often do we hear Christians acknowledge that it is the Lord who has given us into the hands of our enemies? If there's something we can learn from Daniel—and from the bigger biblical story—it's to recognise how the Lord works and, more importantly, that he is at work.  Brothers and Sisters, the Lord was as present with his people in Babylon as he had been in Jerusalem.  And while it's a terrible thought to think that we might be living under the disciplining hand of the Lord, we can take comfort in knowing that we are, nevertheless, in his hand.  Let us pray that we will learn the lessons he wants us to learn and that he will restore his blessings. Now, let's continue with Daniel 1, picking up at verse 5 with those young men exiled to Babylon. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.  (Daniel 1:5-7) Again, it looks like Nebuchadnezzar has won.  These four men's Hebrew names all reflected their faith in the God of Israel.  Daniel means “God is my judge”, Azariah “Yah is my help”, Hananiah “Yah has been gracious”, and Mishael “Who is what God is”.  They are all renamed.  It's not clear exactly what all four of their new names mean, but they're all intended to express that these four young men now belong to the gods of Babylon.  And the King of Babylon will now take care of them.  They will eat from his table as they're trained in the superior wisdom of Babylon.  But, the story goes on: Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.  (Daniel 1:8-16) Why did Daniel and his friends reject the rich food of the king?  Our first guess might be that they insisted on keeping the dietary laws of the torah, but they refused the king's wine and wine wasn't part of those dietary laws.  We might guess that it was because the king's food was first offered to idols, but the vegetables they ate would have been offered to idols like everything else.  Or maybe it was because to eat from the king's table meant making a public display of accepting his lordship over them.  I don't think it was any of these things.  First, this was temporary.  Daniel didn't have any problem eating rich foods later in life.  And, second, they did this in private.  No one but the four of them and the steward knew about this arrangement.  I think the context of the story gives us the reason.  Nebuchadnezzar had taken them to Babylon; had renamed them, effectively submitting them to his gods; and he'd engaged them in this rigorous programme of reeducation for service to his court.  As I read this I remember learning about the Janissaries when I studied Islamic Civ.  The Janissaries were the elite corps of Ottoman troops, serving the sultan's own household.  They were known for their discipline and, above all, for their loyalty to the sultan.  The creepy thing about the Janissaries was that the corps was made up entirely of men who had been stolen as young boys from the Christian families of the Ottoman Empire, a tax on those who refused to convert.  These Christian boys were converted to Islam to serve the sultan.  It sent a message: “You can refuse Islam, but at any time we can take your children and make them ours.”  I felt queasy the first time I read about that.  I think there's more than a little of that same idea going on here—and in our present culture, too. Maybe there was some doubt of the God of Israel in the minds of these four.  They knew the scriptures.  They knew the promises of God and they knew his faithfulness.  But here they were in Babylon, given the names of pagan gods, forced to learn the ways of Babylonian wisdom, and fed from this foreign king's table.  I think we can forgive them for having faith, but still wanting some kind of confirmation.  If they were going to be the elite of the Babylonian court, would it be because of Nebuchadnezzar or because of the Lord.  And so they worked out a deal with the steward in charge of their food.  The chief eunuch wasn't going to cooperate.  He was part of the programme, after all, but the steward—well, he could have all that food for himself.  And these four young men would know that if they prospered despite a meagre diet of vegetables and water, that the Lord was truly with them.  Nebuchadnezzar had no idea what had happened, but this was not for his benefit.  This was for the four young men, that they would know with absolute certainty that their God was with them in Babylon. Continuing with the text at verse 17 we see what happened. As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.   There it is again: “God gave”.  Just as he gave over Jehoiakim and Jerusalem, and his own sacred vessels from the temple into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, he gave to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  When they stood before the king on exam day, they had ten times the wisdom and understanding, not just of the other young men in this programme, but of the experienced magicians and enchanters of the court. And then that final note that anticipates the whole book of Daniel.  “Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.”  That's sixty-six years.  The Lord would be with Daniel and the Lord would preserve Daniel and he would outlast and outlive Nebuchadnezzar and all of his successors.  He would see the fall of the kings of Babylon and their conquest by the Persians.  This last statement makes the point that kings and kingdoms rise and fall, but the Lord is sovereign over all. In closing I want us to think about these statements that it was God who gave.  First, that he gave his people over to Nebuchadnezzar in discipline.  We've looked at what that means.  But here we see God giving to these four faithful young men wisdom that they might persevere in faithfulness in those difficult times.  They were thoroughly steeped in the wisdom of Babylon, but it was wisdom the Lord gave them by which they persevered and that gave them favour in the eyes of the pagans.  What are we to do in the midst of trials?  What are we to do in a world in which the Lord has sovereignly allowed Christendom to collapse and his church to dwindle and fall into disfavour?  Brothers and Sisters, ask the Lord for wisdom.  Learn from the world, but listen to the Lord and pursue his wisdom.  That's not an easy thing to do.  Torah, the law, that was black and white.  Do this and don't do that.  Wisdom is harder.  Wisdom is knowing what to do in situations where things the answer may not be a matter of black and white.  Wisdom is knowing where to draw the line in those times when there's no law to make it obvious.  Sometimes walking in wisdom is to walk a tightrope.  The church today is struggling to walk that rope.  Some Christians fall off one side into Progressivism or Wokeness or whatever you want to call it.  Other Christians fall off to the other side into and culture waring or Christian nationalism.  Some of us capitulate to our Babylonian conquerors, taking the path of least resistance, and end up in apostasy.  Others of us fail to recognise that the Babylonians are the agents of the Lord's discipline and instead of listening for the Lord's rebuke, instead of listening to hear what he would have us learn, we go to war with Babylon—a fight we cannot and will not win until we've first learned the lesson the Lord is teaching us.  What we need instead is the godly wisdom to remain faithful in our exile, while allowing the Lord to do a work of repentance and reform in the heart of his church. Again, it's not easy.  I guess you could say that's why it's called “wisdom” and why the scriptures call us so earnestly to seek after it.  Wisdom doesn't fall in your lap.  The great sages of Israel tell us that the beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord—again, to pursue him, to pursue his plans, to pursue his ways, to pursue holiness and to cast off all worldliness.  And to pursue the Lord, Brothers and Sisters, that means to steep ourselves in his word, in the very place where he reveals himself and his ways, where he speaks to us.  If you are not steeped in his word, you have no hope of obtaining godly wisdom.  But to pursue the Lord also means to speak to him.  Pray!  When was the last time you prayed for wisdom?  Let God speak to you through his word and then speak to him and while you're speaking to him, while you're worshipping him, ask for wisdom.  This is what we see of Daniel and his friends.  They were steeped in the law and the prophets, in the psalms and in the story of their people.  And they prayed.  And they worshipped the Lord.  Second, we need the fellowship of the church.  You can't pursue the Lord on your own; you need his people.  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, none of them went into this alone.  They stood firm and in doing so they stood together.  They strengthened and exhorted each other.  So should we.  We need not only the support of fellow believers in order to stand firm, but in the pursuit of godly wisdom, we need the witness and discernment of the Church—of all those who have gone before us and of those who stand with us today. Brothers and Sisters, it's hard.  I fully expect things will get harder.  And yet you and I have something far greater than Daniel and his friends had or that those faithful Jews living under Antiochus Epiphanes had.  They had the promises of the Lord to their people.  They had his promises in the Exodus and in Deuteronomy.  They had his exhortations and his promises and his warnings given through the prophets.  They had his words.  And they knew their story.  They could look back to the Exodus—and they did every year at Passover—and they were reminded of the Lord's faithfulness.  Those men and women living in the days of Antiochus could look back to the faithfulness of God to Daniel and know that he would be just as faithful to them.  But Friends, consider that you and I not only look back on all of that, but we also look back to Jesus.  When we come to his Table, when we eat the bread and drink the wine, we participate in the events of that greater exodus by which the Lord fulfilled his promises to Israel.  We can look back to the cross and see the love and the grace and the mercy and the faithfulness of the Lord on display as it had never been before.  The Lord of glory humbled himself to become one of us and to shed his blood on a cross for our sake, to shed his blood that we might live with him and know his new creation.  And, too, he has poured out his own Spirit on us and made us his temple.  Brothers and Sisters, in Jesus and the Spirit we have the sure and certain assurance that God is with us, that we are in his hands, and that he will see us through the valley of the shadow of death to know green pastures and still waters.  He will see us through, as the Psalmist sang, for his name's sake—for he has not only given us his promise, but he has sealed that promise with his own name, with his own reputation, and with his own blood.  In response, Brothers and Sisters, let us be faithful—faithful stewards of his word, faithful stewards of his gospel, and let us pray for and seek his wisdom that we might fear him and walk as a gospel people—light in the darkness. Let's pray: Almighty and everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities and our trials; and in all our dangers and necessities stretch out your right hand to help and defend us; give us humility to know your chastisement; and pour out your wisdom on us that we might discern your will and walk in your way; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 2:1-6"We had such cool visitors in our social studies class today!" Ollie told his parents one evening. "Mrs. Berg invited a Vietnamese family to talk to us about their culture and tell us what it's like to try to fit into the American way of life without losing their heritage.""Interesting," said Dad. "What was the hardest thing for them?""Learning English." Ollie got up and took a paper out of his backpack. "This is what their language looks like."Mom and Dad looked at the foreign words. "I know it would be hard for me to learn this," said Mom. "And life would be confusing and scary if I couldn't talk to people or understand what they said to me.""It sure would," agreed Dad. "And I'm sure it's just as scary and difficult for them to learn and understand our culture and language." He reached for his Bible. "Time for devotions."Ollie, who had started to get up, sat back down. "Okay, but you know what? Some of the things in the Bible are hard for me to understand--about as hard as some of these foreign words." He shrugged. "I know our Bible is written in English, but some parts of it still don't make sense to me.""Tell me," said Dad, "did the Vietnamese family finally figure out what our English words mean?""Not all of them, but they understand a lot more now than when they first got here.""How did they learn the meanings of English words?" asked Dad."They studied and studied," said Ollie. "They got help from some teachers and friends too.""In other words, they were persistent--they kept studying," said Dad. "We need to be persistent in studying the Bible too. The more we study it, the better we understand it.""And we need to ask for help," said Mom. "Your dad and I can help you understand some things, and Pastor Baxter and your Sunday school teacher can help too. But most of all, God can help. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and understanding about Jesus and the truth of His Word. When we read the Bible, He helps us understand what God is saying to us."Dad nodded. "As you read and study the Bible, ask God for wisdom, and He will help you." – Nance E. Keyes How About You?Is reading the Bible hard for you? Don't give up. Other Christians can explain hard words or verses you don't understand. You can also get a translation of the Bible that uses the kind of language spoken today. The more time you spend in God's Word, the more you'll understand. Above all, ask God to help you understand what He's saying to you.Today's Key Verse:The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. (NKJV) (Proverbs 2:6)Today's Key Thought:God gives understanding

Some Christians posit that fear and anxiety are sinful, evidence of a lack of trust in God. Other Christians consider that viewpoint an oversimplification that can lead to destructive denial, guilt, and shame. The Bible, they say, offers compassion and answers, not condemnation.Join host Chris Bolinger as he explores healthy ways to overcome fear and anxiety.This week's Bible passage:  Matthew 6:25-34 Podcast resource: 52 Weeks of Strength for Men (ebook, paperback)Other resources:Chris Bolinger's other devotional: Daily Strength for MenMike Hatch's book: Manhood: Empowered by the Light of the GospelRelational men's discipleship programs: CLCarticle from Australia referenced in this episode

How should a Christian approach holidays? Some Christians choose not to celebrate any holidays. Other Christians choose to go along with the flow and celebrate holidays as they were taught, and often very similarly to how the world celebrates (i.e. Halloween, Santa, Easter Bunny). A growing number of Christians are opting to be more intentional in their approach to holidays, doing their research concerning the roots of certain holidays, and instituting purposeful traditions that point their families to Christ. Of course this is a spectrum and not everyone lands in the same place, and that's okay. Our goal in this podcast is to help Christians think through some of those details and at least start you down a path of intentionality in your celebrations. Let us know what you think by leaving a 5-star review or leaving a comment. We would love to hear what traditions you have in your home! Resources Listed in this Episode: >> Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper >> The 4 Things Halloween Teaches Our Children >> How to Organize a Reformation Day Event >>OCTOBER FREEBIE: Ten Men Who Led the Protestant Reformation Lesson (Just use coupon code "ReformationDay" at checkout through 10/31/2023) Keep Up with Reformed Faith and Family in the Following Ways: Never miss an episode, article, or a new FREEBIE by joining our weekly newsletter here: https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/subscribe/ Build your library with our recommended resources: https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/recommended-resources/ Read the latest articles: https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/blog/ Download your FREEBIES in our store: https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/store/ Check out the Swag Shop: https://reformedfaithandfamily.com/swag-shop/ WE HAVE A FAVOR TO ASK! If you are excited about our mission at Reformed Faith and Family to guide men and women as they seek to learn more about Reformed theology and equip families as they disciple their children, then please leave our podcast a 5-star review and share it with a friend. We appreciate each one of our faithful listeners, but we also depend on you to help us get the word out. Thank you for your continued support! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reformed-faith-and-family/message

Jesus brings us back to farming again. He again gives us a head scratcher. Leaving weeds in the ground for us would mean for us that it would choke out the vegetables and/or flowers. This is where most of our experience is in farming. Jesus uses wheat which is probably not somethings most of us have planted. We were informed in our Bible study this past week that what Jesus is talking about with wheat is actually how it works. The roots of the wheat and the weeds intertwine and if you pull out the weeds, the wheat will come out also. What we have here is Jesus telling those gathered that the kingdom and life in general is a bit complicated. It is so easy to get distracted into the complexity of life. What is healthy for me, may not be healthy for you. It is sometimes difficult to see where God is at work and where God isn't at work. This is where it is so easy, as we are figuring this out to start getting off course and pointing fingers. It would be so much easier if all Christians interpreted the Bible in the same way. Unfortunately, we don't. We would like to tell everyone how they are supposed to interpret the Bible, but that does not work. We know that as a gay person I am loved and accepted here. I know the love part may take a while. We also know that I would not be welcome and affirmed in every church. Or at least I would be told who I was supposed to be and how I was to act. I like contemporary music with boundary lines. The majority of contemporary music in the past was mainly done in more law-oriented churches. I always felt a little uncomfortable even before I realized who God made me to be. Of course, this has been the case in many Lutheran churches that I have been in also. This is the first church that I feel that I can be who God made me to be. I could easily say all of the other churches must be where the weedy people are. Jesus says no I am present in those churches too. In reality, Jesus says the wheat and weeds are in all churches. There is justice and injustice in all churches as they are made up of human beings. We all have different views and ways of interpreting what God says about who we are and how to live in the kingdom. As human beings we may think and feel that we have the right answers and do the right thing, but it may still harm people. It really becomes a fine line sometimes. It becomes frustrating when we see things said and done that harm others. For me it becomes power and control over others. It was one thing to share how we feel and think, it is another thing to exert power and control over another. The question becomes, is it better for the community or our individual view. As Christians, we can easily say right away say that God is very clear and wants something this way. My first response is where did you learn that and have you studied the original language? I'm not sure that this is really what this Gospel lesson is about. Jesus is saying, I am asking you to work alongside people as you are able to. It is one thing to have a discussion, it is another thing not to listen because we have all the right answers. People of God, the more that we study the Word, the more that we find out that we don't have all of the answers. It would be so much easier if we could get all of this separation done between the wheat and the weeds, those that think the way we do and those that don't. Jesus reminds us in our Gospel lesson for today that we are in this tension or struggle until the day we die. As Christians who try and lean more toward the Gospel than the law are challenged by Jesus today to focus on what comes at the end. Jesus continues to remind us that we are not the judges and specifically in our Gospel lesson today it is not our responsibility to decide who are the weeds. The ones who are the children of the evil one. Jesus says we are called to live and work together until the harvest. I believe that what can keep us focused on the hope that we claim in Jesus Christ's forgiveness, salvation and new life, is when we focus on the fact that we are still students of the Gospel. Jesus says earlier in Matthew in the sermon on the mount, Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It is when we attempt to have power and control over others that we lose sight of the kingdom of God. The Psalmist today, which we believe to be David, prays: Teach me your way God, so that I may walk with you alone. We are reminded that God constantly loves us and lifts us up out of our low and alone places. This puts us in the same boat as everyone else. We are called to find places to connect with all people that are open to it especially when reaching out to those on the margins. Other Christians may not be able to come to this place and that is not our responsibility. We again are only responsibility for where our focus is. Jesus reminds us today that following him and living in his kingdom is not easy. Culture and society teaches that we should do the weeding out of people that do not think the way we do quickly. Kingdom living says no it is not our responsibility as Christians to do this. It is important to state how we interpret what Jesus is saying about kingdom living, but also be willing to listen to those who are willing to listen. This does not mean that we are called to be disrespected. Boundary lines do have to be drawn and stated. When one attends Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Jesus love is interpreted in our welcoming statement. This will not change, and it is up to individuals whether they choose to attend and participate. If you disagree with the welcoming statement you are still welcome here, but this is how we interpret Jesus' love for all. Our challenge is to realize that there will always be people who disagree with how we interpret Jesus teaching on kingdom living and God loves them too. I believe we are challenged to keep looking forward and be willing to be taught by Jesus through our study of the Word. We are called to focus on the hope that we have in Jesus' forgiveness, salvation, and new life that we begin to experience here and is completed when we leave this earth. JB Phillips paraphrases vs. 19 in our Romans text today- 18-21 In my opinion whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us. The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the people of God coming into their own. The world of creation cannot as yet see reality, not because it chooses to be blind, but because in God's purpose it has been so limited—yet it has been given hope. And the hope is that in the end the whole of created life will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay and have its share in that magnificent liberty which can only belong to the children of God! Our challenge is to keep looking forward, to have the hope of what is to come. This is what will help us not get bogged down in all of the complexities of life. Remain students of the Word and realize that we are still learning how to live on earth in this kingdom.

June 30: First Martyrs of the Church of Rome 64 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red or White A madman burns Christians like human torches Wave after wave of huge British and American bombers, pregnant with ordnance, opened their bays over Dresden, Germany, on February 13 and 14, 1945. Fire joined fire until the city itself was a raging, screaming bonfire. A tornado of flames hungered for oxygen, sucked all air from the atmosphere, and suffocated to death anyone caught in its vortex. The center of Dresden melted. Only some stone walls remained erect. Human skeletons were mixed into the rubble of a skeletal city. In the old town of Dresden today, a modest memorial marks a mass grave, the location where an unknown number of civilians' scant remains were cremated shortly after the fire. It's easy to walk by without noticing it. Any number of countries have similar memorials marking the mass graves of the victims of plane crashes, sunken ships, war atrocities, or natural disasters. Many countries also have a memorial to an unknown soldier. That unknown fighter represents all those drowned at sea, lost in the jungle canopy, eviscerated by enemy fire, or simply never recovered in the heat and sweat of battle. On civic feast days, presidents, governors, and mayors lay wreaths and flowers at the graves of the unknown. In honoring him, they honor all. A nation's official remembering—in stone, statue, speech, or ceremony—preserves the past. A nation's common memory is preserved by its government, which guards against national forgetting through official acts of national remembering. The Church's liturgical calendar is a continual, public remembering of saints, feasts, and theology, by mankind's most ancient source and carrier of institutional memory—the Catholic Church. Today's feast day commemorating the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome did not exist prior to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Instead, the sanctoral calendar was crowded with various feast days to particular martyrs from this early Roman persecution. Apart from their centuries on the calendar, however, little else supported these particular martyrs' existence. Today's feast is a liturgical expression of the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or the flowers left at a mass grave marker. This feast commemorates those unknown and unnamed men and women who were cruelly tortured and executed in the city of Rome in 64 A.D. But instead of meeting in a park to sing a patriotic hymn and to see an official lay a wreath, we do what Christians do to remember these martyrs. We meet as the faithful in a church, in front of an altar, to participate in the sacrifice of the Mass and to remember our remote ancestors in the faith who died so that the true faith would not. In 64 A.D. a huge fire of suspicious origins consumed large sections of Rome. A deranged emperor named The Black (Nero) blamed Christians for the conflagration and executed large numbers of them in retribution for their supposed treachery. A vivid description of the persecution survives from a Roman historian named Tacitus, who relates that some Christians were sewn into the skins of animals to be attacked and consumed by beasts. Other Christians were slathered with wax, tied to posts, and then burned alive, human torches whose glow illuminated Nero's garden parties. Still others were crucified. This was not the barbarous hacking off of limbs and splitting of skulls later suffered by missionaries in the forests of Northern Europe. Nero's madness was highly refined evil. Today, we commemorate these Christians in the same fashion in which they would have commemorated the Lord's own death—by prayer and sacrifice. We are separated from 64 A.D. by many centuries, but we are united to 64 A.D. by our common faith. We remember because the Church remembers. Anonymous first martyrs of Rome, your blood is still wet, and your sufferings still felt, in the same Church of Christ to which you belonged through baptism. Through your intercession, help the baptized of today be as courageous as you in all things.

"Disagreeing with Other Christians" | Watch This Episode on YouTube Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel Support Our Podcast Join Our Mailing List Watch Us On Rumble Related Messages The following sermons will help us to think further through our approaches to the differences we have with other believers: The Behavior of a Healthy Church The Church in it's Right Mind Continue Reading The post Disagreeing with Other Christians appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

A new MP3 sermon from Founders Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Disagreeing with Other Christians Subtitle: 01 Straight Truth Podcast Speaker: Richard Caldwell Jr. Broadcaster: Founders Baptist Church Event: Podcast Date: 5/17/2023 Length: 11 min.

A new VIDEO from Founders Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Disagreeing with Other Christians Subtitle: 01 Straight Truth Podcast Speaker: Richard Caldwell Jr. Broadcaster: Founders Baptist Church Event: Podcast Date: 5/17/2023 Length: 11 min.

Fr. Roger J. LandryColumbia Catholic Ministry, Notre Dame Church, ManhattanWednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter Memorial of St. Damien of MolokaiMay 10, 2023Acts 15:1-6, Ps 122, Jn 15:1-8   To listen to today's homily, please click below:  https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/5.10.23_Homily_1.mp3   The following points were attempted in the homily:  Today in the Acts of the Apostles, we […] The post Communion with Jesus and Other Christians as Branches to the Vine, Fifth Wednesday of Easter, May 10, 2023 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.

Why we believe what we believe - Other Christians. How to treat and love other fellow believers.

Why we believe what we believe - Other Christians. How to treat and love other fellow believers.

Some Christians are constantly chiding themselves for their lack of progress. Other Christians have never really grasped what God can do for them. Pastor Colin talks about how to find the right balance.

Some Christians are constantly chiding themselves for their lack of progress. Other Christians have never really grasped what God can do for them. Pastor Colin talks about how to find the right balance.

As Paul draws to the end of his letter, he doesn't end abruptly but lets his thoughts run back over the letter. His final remarks were added to affirm the most important themes to his readers. These themes are all about spiritual relationship. These last verses contain two doxologies intertwined with a few brief words of greeting. Behind these words we see the importance of spiritual relationships with God, people, and Christ. We will consider this text under three broad headings: 1. Relationship to God (v. 20) 2. Relationship to Other Christians (4:21–22) 3. Relationship to Jesus Christ (vv. 21–22)

On today's episode, a listener writes in and asks Dave, “Can Christians Make New Year's Resolutions?” What You'll Hear on this Episode Reading the Bible. Studying the Bible. Meditating on the Bible. Learning from Other Christians. The Local Church. Subscribing, sharing, and your feedback You can subscribe to the Servants of Grace Podcast via iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. If you like what you've heard, please consider leaving a rating and share it with your friends (it takes only takes a second and will go a long way to helping other people find the show). You can also connect with me on Twitter at @davejjenkins, on Facebook, or via email to share your feedback. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Servants of Grace theology segment!

On today's episode, a listener writes in and asks Dave, "Can Christians Make New Year's Resolutions?"What You'll Hear on this Episode• Reading the Bible.• Studying the Bible.• Meditating on the Bible.• Learning from Other Christians.• The Local Church.Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Servants of Grace theology segment!

Benjamin Netanyahu finally succeeded in forming a government and will once again become Israel's prime minister by January 2nd, 2023. By our standards, this is likely to be the best government that the state of Israel has seen in decades, and perhaps in their entire history. Other Christians however, have a different perspective, with many evangelical leaders in Israel citing public concern about Netanyahu's new coalition. Since we have quite a different perspective, we'll break it all down on today's program.

Benjamin Netanyahu finally succeeded in forming a government and will once again become Israel's prime minister by January 2nd, 2023. By our standards, this is likely to be the best government that the state of Israel has seen in decades, and perhaps in their entire history. Other Christians however, have a different perspective, with many evangelical leaders in Israel citing public concern about Netanyahu's new coalition. Since we have quite a different perspective, we'll break it all down on today's program.

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic BostonChurch. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Bostonand our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visitmosaicboston.com. Heavenly Father, as we find ourselves in a text that speaks about submission to the governing authorities, we also find ourselves as a nation the Sunday after an election. Lord, we thank you for this sovereign timing. We pray that you speak to us now and continue to shape our minds by the renewing of your Word, with the washing of water with the Word. Lord, there are manmade categories in our minds. I pray that you break through them with the power of your holy Word. For each one of us, Lord, we pray that you give us an extra measure of grace to continue to humble ourselves before your kingship so that we do submit every single aspect of our lives to King Jesus. We pray all this in Christ's name, amen. On this November 13th, we find ourselves in Romans 13:1-7. The historical context is this is a few decades after Pentecost. The church has started. The Apostle Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles. He's preaching wherever he goes, planting churches. Part of the reason why he had the freedom to plant church for a few decades is because the imperial authorities didn't distinguish between Christians and Jews. They said, "Oh, Christians are just a sect, just another stripe of Judaism." Left them alone. For several decades, there was no systemic persecution of Christians by the Roman state. Things turned bad, and they turned bad fast. Eventually, in the Book of Acts, we see Paul on the run from the governing authorities, spent several years in prison, eventually put to death by the Roman government. For what? For resisting the state. The state told him, "Stop preaching the gospel." He said, "I will not." Continued to preach even to the death. Same thing with Peter and the other apostles. When Paul wrote Romans, the situation wasn't as severe as it would become. Even then, no one thought that the Roman state was a friend. They just crucified Jesus, although at the instigation of the Jewish Sanhedrin. It's important for us to recognize that the issues raised by this paragraph have been largely theoretical to believers in the United States. In the United States, for the last few centuries, we have experienced relative freedom to preach the gospel, partially why this land has been blessed. Other Christians in other nations at other times have had to ask serious questions, adult questions, sober-minded questions, "Well, what if the government is forbidding me from worshiping God? What if the government is forcing me to do that which is against God? What if the government is preventing me from speaking truth? What about at those moments?" We'll get into all of this. Just to set the context, before the theme of civil government, Paul talks about vengeance. This is in Romans 12:18-21. The passage right before ours, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine. I will repay,' says the Lord." "To the contrary, 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by so doing, you will keep burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." This is a precursor for Paul's treatment of the civil government. He starts with God has the prerogative for vengeance. "Vengeance is mine," says the Lord. Then he tells the personal Christian, "Your personal duty is not to take vengeance." Take not vengeance, and leave it up to the Lord. God has vengeance. You can't take vengeance. Between this, He gives us His command about the civil government, that the civil government has been entrusted by God with a sword in order to curb which is evil, to bring down the sword on the evil person. That's the context. God keeps for Himself the prerogative of vengeance. He establishes order on earth with the civil magistrate to carry out justice under the authority of God. There are different spheres that we're talking about here. That's the civil sphere. We went from the personal sphere, "No, you don't have the right to take... " to the civil sphere. This is all in the context, this conversation, of the church, that God has established the church with its redemptive mission. Our job is to go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. The government is also given special task by God for common grace ministry, to further their common good, to further shalom. The church dispenses elements of special grace. That has to do with salvation, whereas the civil government attends to the common good of the human race, not just for Christians but for all people. Both church and state are established and governed by God. This conversation about separation of church and state, well, that... originally, a division of labor. State, you focus on what you focus on, your God-given duty to promote good and curb evil, and we're going to focus on what we need to focus on, which is preaching the Word of God. That's the division of labor. Today church and state means a church that is separated from God completely, divorced from God. Don't even mention. God don't speak about God in public sphere, public schools, or anywhere. No, keep your religion to yourself. That's private. It's true that when the state declares independence from God and seeks autonomous rule apart from Him, well, that government... Be it the United States, or Russia, or any other nation, it becomes demonized and exists as an agent of opposition to God Himself. Such nations truly become godless. That's the context of Romans 13:1-7. Would you look at the text with me? "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad." "Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer." "Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this, you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them, taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." This is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, authoritative Word. May He write these eternal truths upon our hearts. Three points. First, submit to the governing authorities. *Second, to a point. Third, submit to King Jesus always. First, the principle is given to us that we should submit, submit to the governing authorities. This is verse 1, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." Paul begins with the basic rationale for Christian subjection to the state. The scriptures testifies that it's God who sets up governments. Even the bad ones, it's all under His sovereignty. Who elected the person in power? It doesn't matter who put that person into power. It was God Himself. God allowed for this to happen. When there's a wicked ruler ruling over people, scripture is clear. It's judgment from God over the people. At those moments, if we don't like our rulers, yeah, vote. Yeah, yeah. We get on our knees as a nation, and we beg God, "God, please assuage your wrath. Remove your judgment from this nation." It only happens with the people who are humble before God. Yes, God puts them in control, even the bad ones. When Daniel gave the prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar's fall, he began by saying, in Daniel 2:20, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and... He changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kingdoms. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding." Later, he summarized what Nebuchadnezzar had learned through his well-deserved humiliation. God punished him because he wouldn't give glory to God. Then Daniel 5:21, "Until he," Nebuchadnezzar, "knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will." Christians are to recognize that God is sovereign over whoever He puts in charge of me. Christians should be models of civil obedience. That's where we start. This should be the natural spirit fill... We'll get to the disobedience part. Point two is spicy. I like it. First, we start here. We start with, yes, we want to obey. We want to do everything. Jesus was the model of this for us. In Micah, it's prophesied that Jesus will be born in Bethlehem. How did he end up in Bethlehem when His parents were from Nazareth, where Joseph and Mary were following the order of the emperor to go back to your hometown to be counted for the census. For what purpose? So that the emperor gets the most tax amount that he can. Jesus in Mary's womb... Joseph and Mary taking the arduous journey at the risk of the unborn. They're risking the unborn child, all in obedience to the civil magistrate. In the second century, the apologist, Justin Martyr, gave a defense of the faith to the emperor, Antoninus Pius, in which he argued. He's like, "Look, emperor. You want Christians. Leave the Christians alone. That's all they want. They want to be left alone, so they can preach the Word and build up their households and their churches. That's all they want. Leave them alone." What he wrote was, "Compare them to any other citizens in the empire. The Christians pay their taxes in full, scrupulously, and they're in obedience to the civil magistrate. They're a humble people. Leave them alone." The reason Christians must obey the state is because it has been instituted by God, and its authority derives from the Christian's own heavenly Father. All throughout the history of the church, we see God's people suffering to a phenomenal degree. Beautifully, they heeded the council of this great and important text from the earliest days. They also heeded other injunctions from scripture. The St. Paul tells us, "Pray for those who persecute you. Pray for them." Even as they are about to slaughter you, you're praying for them. It was martyrdom of the Christian Church. Their blood was the seed for the church because there's no more powerful testimony. Yes, these people really believe that the second that you slaughter them, they will meet Jesus Christ. They're dying with smiles. They refuse to lift up arms against their rulers. They're often mistreated above any other group of citizens. They remain obedient and dutiful citizens. To be sure, they refused to do wrong when it was demanded of them. They refused to worship Caesar as God, but their refusal was made all the more powerful because they had shown themselves so ready to be obedient and loyal citizens in every way that they could. Then martyrdom was their ultimate resistance. "I obeyed you in absolutely everything, but in this, I will not. No, Caesar, you are not God over me. I will give onto God's what is God's, which is ultimate allegiance, ultimate authority. Government, you are not God over me." The one thing the Roman government could count on was that Christians would pay their taxes, keep the laws. As Augustine would later explain in The City of God, "The patience and faith of the saints wore down the fury of the churches' persecutors." He continues in Romans 13:2, "Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." This is a sober warning, and you have to take it at face value. If we resist the authorities that God has appointed, we might be regarded as heroes by some, but we can expect the visitation of God's judgment. That's on face value. Verse 3, "For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you'll receive his approval. For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer." Oh, this is masterful. Paul, this is masterful. Along with giving Christians our charge, "Submit to the authorities," he gives God's charge to the authorities. He's saying, "Government or anyone in a position of authority, this is your job." The government has two roles. Promote good, bring down the sword on wrongdoers. Promote good and restrain those who are evil by force, if necessary. That's why God gave you the sword. In Romans 13:4, we read of the state as an avenger who carries out God's wrath on wrongdoers. That same verb was used in 12:19, talking about vengeance. Yes, this is God's sort of government. You are God's servant to wield God's sword upon the evildoer as you promote good. That's your job. The state is to do a private individuals, and Christians in particular are never told to do. The state has a different function in the economy of God. It has different callings and authorities. The government's job is to protect us from evil. That is, they are to preserve the security of people. They are to protect us from attack from without and crime from within. For that purpose, governments properly have armies, and police systems, and courts of justice to preserve us from evil in our midst. Submit to governing authorities but never blindly, never blindly, just like you don't submit to anybody blindly, except for Jesus Christ and God's Word. As soon as those in authority over you contradict God's Word, they lost all authority over you, completely. That's a point. To a point, we submit to governing authorities to a point. We must realize what the passage does not tell us. It does not directly say what we ought to do when a government departs from the role God has given them. What if the government starts using the sword to promote evil and bring down the sword upon those who do good? Wait, what about those cases? It doesn't specifically explain what to do when the government is committing a moral wrong. Neither are we told what to do in the midst of a revolution. What if evil people came into the government, and evil people infiltrated, and now evil people are using the government for evil means? You got to ask hard questions. It also does not show us which form of government is best. It doesn't even commend democracy. I'm mentioning these things because many of the difficulties found in this chapter result not from what we read in the text, but they result from what we read into the text. For example, Samuel Rutherford, in his classic 17th century work of political philosophy called Lex Rex: The Law Is King... He was arrested for writing the book by the king's men. He would've been executed had he not died of natural causes while seized by them. He explained why Romans 13 does not prohibit Christians from rising in violent resistance to a tyrant. He goes through the scriptures and scholastic theologians. Basically, his point... This is what Lex Rex means in Latin: law is king. God's law is king. God's law is above the king. When the king starts promoting evil and curbing that which is good, we got to ask some heavy questions. I say this because, look, it's a heavy text, and it's a heavy subject. It's important because we no longer look at the government as benign. I do not. You should not either. My family immigrated from the Soviet Union to get away from tyrants that wouldn't let us preach the gospel. That's how we got here, on religious refugee status. We got here in 1989. I'm telling you, the '90s were the glory days. If you did not grow up in the '90s, man, you missed out. It was a different America. It was tremendous. No, no, no, no, no. The things have changed: the way we're raising our children, what they're being taught. We now have to ask, will our children or grandchildren face a state overtly hostile to our Christian convictions, to our Christian way of life? Will our children be taken from us, as children have been taken from Christians before by rogue states, hostile governments determined to ensure that our children are not raised with our principles? What do we do in those moments? What do we do in those moments when the state encroaches on the church, encroaches on even my family and my household? What do I do? Well, you got to recognize that Romans 13 is to be interpreted in the whole council of God. This text, as so many biblical texts, must be interpreted according to the principle of ceteris paribus. In the Latin, ceteris paribus means all things being equal. I take that from equal, as in from the whole perspective of the council of God. You can't just take one text by itself in isolation and use that as a proof text for theology. No. How does this text read in light of all of the canon? We do not have the teaching of the scripture on any subject unless we have examined all of the relevant passages. Not all the qualifications of a complex subject are to be found in any one passage. The principle that one must obey, the existing government, and that it is God's will that the government shall exist, and that lawless person is resisting this government that was ordained... In that context, yeah, that makes all the sense in the world. When the government is doing its job, and, yes, it punishes bad people for doing bad things, and it approves of good people for doing good things, when all of that is function... Yeah, all things being equal, yes, submit to the governing authorities. But there are also exceptions. The Apostle Peter and the Apostle John are preaching the gospel. All of a sudden, the Jewish leaders are like, "Stop." They said, "No, no, we must obey God rather than men." Well, that's an exception. If there's an exception to a moral rule, then it's not a moral absolute. A moral absolute... This is true always. That's the Ten Commandments. True always, there's no exceptions. This is not a moral absolute. You submit, but if Caesar calls you to do something that God's Word prohibits or against God's Word, no, no, no, we're not submitting. If authority commands us to do something that God forbids or forbids us from doing something God commands, we must obey. I'll repeat that. If authority commands us to do something God forbids or forbids us from doing something God commands, we must disobey. If the civil magistrate calls us to sin, we must say no. History is replete with examples of governments that have commanded the citizens to do evil, right? This is the Nuremberg trials, right? If fascists after... Now all these Nazi lieutenants and high-ranking members, their whole case, justification-wise, "I was following orders." You know what they said? "That's not enough." No, you should have followed your conscience that told you that this was evil. What were they appealing to? They were appealing... the moral law in the heart. You knew. You knew this was evil. When you know this is evil, whoever in authority tells you to do it, say, "No, no." It wasn't an excuse then, and it won't be. I'll bring this example. Ephesians 5, "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." Oh yeah, tremendous text. Keep going. Then, "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord in everything." My wife and I have had very extensive theological conversations on what the word, everything, means. What does everything mean? Let's go to the original. Let's go into the dictionary. It means everything. It means everything. We know. We know there are exceptions. What if your husband is abusive, huh? In everything? What if your husband is telling you not to worship Jesus, not to go to church? In everything? No, of course not. At that moment, when he goes against God's Word, he's lost all authority. No, there are exceptions. At some point, yes, divorce is actually encouraged. Well, apply that to the nation. What if the government is an abusive spouse? You can't speak. You can't believe. You can't say things that are true about gender and about sexuality. What about those moments? It can happen in any country, even our own. We must know that God has the highest authority. This comes from not just our text, but also Matthew 22:15-22. "Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him," Christ, "in his words. And they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians, saying, 'Teacher, we know that you were true and teach the way of God truthfully. You do not care about anyone's opinion.'" Sad. "'For you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us then what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?' But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, 'Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.' And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, 'Whose likeness and inscription is this?' They said, 'Caesar's.'" "Then he said to them, 'Therefore, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.' When they heard this, they marveled. They left him and went away." They're trying to trap Him. Bring a coin. It says inscription in the Greek's icon. Whose icon is on this coin? It's Caesar's. Okay, give onto Caesar's. What He's saying is, "It's not that important. Give unto God's what is God's. That which is created in the image of the government, give them that. That which is created in the image of God, give that to God. Who's created in the image of God? That's you." Meaning, ultimately, it's not the government that owns you. The government has no jurisdiction over your soul. It has no jurisdiction over your mind. It can't tell you what to think. It can't tell you what to believe, what to love. No. We are to love God with our highest affections, heart, soul, strength, and mind. God has stamped His own image on us through our intellect, our will, the soul. It all bears the divine stamp. Thus, man may give outward things to Caesar but never inner loyalty, never inner allegiance, never hope. Don't put your hope in people. Don't put your ultimate trust in people. The coin's use is determined by its likeness, and your use is to be determined by the likeness you bear, that of the Lord. 1 Peter 2:17, look at the order. "Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor." Before we get the emperor, yeah, yeah. It was Nero. Yeah. We'll give you the honor that your offices do even if you don't deserve the honor. We'll honor you. First, we fear God. Here in the text, he talks about a sword, that God's sword is given to civil authorities as restrain. The first sword that we see in scripture is the angelic sword at the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, God puts the sword there as restrain. I am restraining you. I'm restraining your depravity. In the Old Testament, several offenses were considered so heinous that God in the civil code of Israel required the death penalty. Death penalty wasn't just from the Mosaic Law. It was actually grounded in creation. We get that from Genesis 9... Excuse me, 1-6. "And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to him, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.' The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand, they are delivered." "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I gave you everything, but you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood, I will require a reckoning. From every beast, I will require it, and from man. From his fellow man, I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 'Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.'" God, rooted in creation, requires the death penalty for murder. Distinctions are made in the law code of the Old Testament that corresponds to our distinctions between first and second-degree murder or murder and manslaughter. In the case of manslaughter, the penalty was not death but banishment to cities of refuge. If someone kills someone by accident, that was different than first-degree murder. When it was committed, the civil magistrates of Israel were commanded to execute the guilty one. The law of capital punishment for murder isn't restricted to law code of the civil penalties of Israel. No, it was grounded in creation. Here I pause, and I want to deal with an abjection that you hear all the time. Christians are so inconsistent. How are you pro-life by being against abortion, but you're for capital punishment? That doesn't make any sense to people. That's inconsistent.  I would submit to you, it's absolutely consistent because at the heart of it, of our worldview, is the sanctity of human life. Human life is so sacred that if you rise up without just cause and kill your neighbor, you forfeit all your rights and privileges to your own. That makes all the sense in the world. It's not consistent. It's not consistent. You're right. It's not consistent to say, "Abortion is murder, but we're not going to do anything about it." If we were to be consistent, if we would truly be consistent, we would say abortion is murder because life begins at conception. That's the Word of God. We should, or to make it illegal. Anyone who participates in abortion deserves capital punishment. That would be consistent, including the man. The man that fathered the baby, you commit the abortion. That should be a capital offense. I'm telling you, that law would absolutely transform this country. Men would actually start taking responsibility. People wouldn't be so flippant about sexuality anymore. Yes, it creates life. When we go against God's law, obviously, God's going to pour out His judgment on this nation. That's if we were truly consistent. Then this also brings up the just war theory. The same verse, Romans 13:4, serves as a locus classic. It's in historic Christian ethics concerning just war theory. What is the fundamental principle of just war theory? If a nation or a people aggressively invades or attacks another nation, the attacked nation is the victim of external aggression, so has the right and responsibility to protect itself from the invading aggressor. Yes, it's the sanctity of life that's at the heart of just war theory. Human life is so sacred that the civil magistrates have been given the sword to protect the innocent from the evildoer. When the civil magistrate uses reasonable force to restrain the evildoer, he serves not only the community but also God. In terms of just war, those principles are simply elevated to a larger domain of national security. Also, I would say, Christian, we must be sure that whatever cause that we're picking up a gun or sword for is truly just. You got to ask the hard questions because it's silly to assume that the government can be trusted to engage in only just military activity. No, history proven that that's not true. I remember I was 22 years old. One of my first jobs out of college was to work for the CIA as a Russian analyst. I hadn't thought through any of this. It was a job. I remember I had the Holy Spirit. I remember driving into the compound in Langley, and I remember just a darkness would come over me. All day, I was walking around in darkness as I'm writing these little reports about people. I'm showing up. A week later, I find out that that person I wrote a report on is dead. Well, that forces you to ask some questions. Is this a just organization that I'm working for? Are the causes just? I was led by the Lord to believe, "No, it's not." I peaced out. There are more important things to do like building the church of Christ. No, when the government turns its back on its primary responsibility, it's acting in utter defiance of the law of God and is exposing itself and the nation it governs to the judgment of God. The sword is necessary because there's sin in the world, and the sword is given to work against evildoers and restrain them. The primary responsibility of any civil government is to protect, defend, and maintain human life. Third... This is where I land on all of this. I don't like talking about politics or any of that. Submit to King Jesus always because at the end of the day, look, you can only control what you can control. You are responsible for what God has entrusted you to bring all of what you influence, to bring it all in submission to Jesus Christ. That's your mind. That's your soul. That's your body. That's your relationships. That's your finances. That's sexuality, everything. You are to bring in order unto the law of Jesus Christ. Submit to King Jesus always. By the way, this is the posture of God. Remember when Israel was like, "Yeah, I think we want to be like other people. God, send us a king." God's like, "You don't want a king. You don't want a king. Trust me, you don't want a king. You want to pay taxes? You don't want to pay taxes." God literally had that conversation with them. He said, "Look, the king's going to take your daughter. He's going to take your sons. You don't want a king." They said, "We want to be like everyone else. We want a king." God's like, "All right." This is what God told the prophet, "They rejected me, not you." They rejected the ultimate rule of God. This is why God gives us scripture, that we are to be independently dependent on God, independently submissive to God's Word. When you do that, when you get a faithful populace of people who are submitting to God, you don't need as much government as we have. This is my plan to take over the world. You tell everyone to submit to Jesus Christ. "Everybody, let's just submit our lives to Jesus Christ." The more of us there are, like democracy... Let's just use it. The more of us there are, we just vote our own people into power, and then we just dismantle the government. Just dismantle it. No more taxes. Because I want Christians to pay fewer taxes and more to the church, so we can build up the kingdom of God. That's just me. This is verse 5, "Therefore, we must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience." Why does he bring this in? Why not just stand back and say, "I said everything there is. Submit to the authorities." He brings in conscience. We're not to submit simply because we're afraid of law enforcement agencies in our nation. We're to submit because it's a matter of conscience. Jesus told us to. If magistrates are oppressive and we disagree radically with them, we're still to render obedience because our consciences are held captive to the Word of God. This is how God initially ruled, through His Word. Now what if your conscience is in submission to the Word of God, and the government calls you to something that is against your conscience? Well, if your conscience is to submit to the Word of God, at that point, believers must never go against their Christian conscience in order to obey the government. This is crucial. If the Holy Spirit through your conscience and in God's Word is calling you a certain way... I bring the conscious part in because there's some things that it's not just black and white. It's not right or wrong. Those are morality issues. There are questions, discernment and wisdom. Which way is right or left? Which way should we go? I'll bring you an example. For example, COVID, in 2020, March, we have to make a decision as a church. As the elders of the church, what do we do? By the way, we were one of the first churches to shut down because we got the data from the doctors, and they're like, "Yeah, this is going to be crazy." All right, two weeks to flatten the curve. Let's do it. We just stayed closed. I remember we wrestled. The elders were wrestling. This is a question of discernment. It's not a question of law. We're wrestling. My conscience was not easy because in scripture, it says, "Do not forsake the gathering of the saints," the physical gathering of the saints. That wrestling led us, by the Lord, to open up much sooner than most churches. Why? Because we were trying to obey all of these texts. Fundamental to Christian's loyalty to God is his submission to the state at every point possible, but we don't do it blindly. There are limits, of course. We must obey God rather than man. 1 Peter 2:13-14, "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good." Then in Romans 13:6, everyone's favorite topic, taxes. "For because of this, you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing." I find it interesting that he calls tax collectors, ministers. Also, in the Word, in the Greek, it's deacon. These are deacons of God. They just hired 87,000 more of them. Make sure you're paying your taxes. The Roman government was, in terms of taxation, tribute policies and oppressive government. A lot of Christians are like, "Yeah, but my tax money is going to things that are immoral." Well, so it was during the Roman Empire, right? Jesus still paid the taxes. Paul still said to pay the taxes. We are to pay the taxes. I will say to you, pay as little as possible, legally speaking. You pay as little as possible to Uncle Sam. When you're doing taxes, they're like, "Do you want to pay extra?" No, don't even ask me that. You should pay me extra for having to read. No, no, no, no, no. Pay as little as possible. That's what the rich people do. That's what they do. They figure it out. They get the accountants. You know about foundations. You know about starting businesses and then K-1. You can look into that. Pay as little as possible because a lot of these rules are freaking arbitrary. They are just arbitrary. You cross the border of New Hampshire, from Mass. to New Hampshire, and you go from paying 7% sales tax to nothing. All right? That's just arbitrary. Fake line, arbitrary rules. Manmade rules, you got to obey, but sometimes to an extent. For example, driving, speed limit. I'm not the guy that's going to tell you to obey the speed limit because the governing authorities don't obey the speed limit. If there's exceptions sometimes, then it's not a moral absolute. If my wife's pregnant and I'm in the car, I'm going to be going 120 because we got to get the baby to the hospital, or we're going to heaven together. I don't know. We're going to get her there.At that moment, you're not going to be like, "Romans 13:55." No, of course not. There are things that take precedent over these manmade rules. Okay. One of the great ethical debates in Christian ethics pertains to the sanctity of truth. Are we always in every circumstance obligated to give the unvarnished truth? Rahab lied to protect Joshua and his people, and she made the roll call of saints for her valorous action. The midwives of Egypt were instructed by Pharaoh to kill every male born to Hebrew women. The midwives disobeyed, protected the newborn babies, and then lied about it to the authorities. God commended them for that. Why? Because life takes precedent. Do you always tell the unvarnished truth? Well, here you got to say, "Well, what's the point of truth?" The point of truth is justice. Will this truth be used to further justice or not? Here we got to pause and say, "How do you define justice?" How do you define justice? You wrestle with that. That's hard to define. I think the biblical definition... This is a good shot at it. Justice is giving a person his due. Justice is giving a person his due. What you deserve, that's what you get. That's justice. We deserve because we are condemned because we have transgressed God's law. The justice that we deserve, the celestial justice, is damnation for eternity. We deserve that, but God is a loving God. He wants to forgive us our sins, but He can't just forgive us our sins because He is just. This is why the gospel of Jesus Christ is so powerful because God gets to remain just, and He justifies us because Jesus Christ got what He did not deserve. Jesus Christ on the cross got the sword of God's wrath. He did not deserve it. He was the only flawless one. He was the only sinless one. Never transgressed the law. Through your repentance, and faith in Jesus Christ, and the work of the gospel, that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, bearing the justice that I deserve... The very moment that that sinks into your heart, becomes a reality that you are Christ's follower, you're submitting to Christ, all your sins are wiped out, and Christ's righteousness is counted to you. That's justice. Justice is giving a person his due. The biblical principle is that we should always tell the truth when justice requires it, but righteousness and justice do not always require it. Case in point, a Nazi shows up to your house in the '40s and says, "Are you hiding a Jew?" Right? This is a classic example. If you say, "Oh, Romans 13. Yes, I am. Here they are," no, you'd be just as wicked as the fascist for doing that. You know exactly what this truth will lead to. Yeah, if someone says, "Do I look fat in this dress?" you tell them, "No, you look tremendous." Just make them feel better. It's okay. Pastor Jan said, "It's okay." Everyone feels tremendous. The principle that defines justice and righteousness is that which is due, owed, or obligatory. That's why he tells Roman Christians that we are obliged to pay our taxes. Give him what is due. We must give the state what is due the state. Justice and righteousness require that we submit to taxation. We are to honor the king even if the king isn't honorable. He is to be honored. It's his due. We are to honor our father and mother even if they do not deserve. Because they're our parents, it's due. Romans 13:7, "Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom our honor is owed." I close with this. Hopefully, everyone voted on Tuesday. I voted. I primarily do it to get the sticker. Also, I like writing my name in. There are a bunch of boxes. That's not democracy. Jan Vezikov. A lot of people in the country were hoping for a red wave, right? As we find ourselves in church on Sunday after the midterm elections, people were hoping for a red wave because things are so bad, right? It didn't materialize for reasons. This is what I say to you. This is my pastoral encouragement. Stop hoping in people. Stop hoping in red waves or blue waves. The only red wave that will actually change this country, that will actually save this country, that will actually make a difference is the red wave of the blood of Jesus Christ that needs to pour over like a tsunami over this nation, bring us to our knees, and beg God for grace and mercy. That's the only way I see forward. In the meantime, if you're not a Christian, repent of your sins. Trust in Jesus Christ. Have your sins forgiven, and then submit your life to Jesus Christ. Order your life according to God's Word.For dear Christians, for the rest of us, if there is a place in your life where you are not submitting to Christ, where you know that His Word does not reign in authority, repent. Repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of grace. We thank you for the message of the cross. We thank you, Lord, that you remain just and that you became the justifier to all those who trust in Jesus Christ. Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit upon each one of us in a measure that we've never experienced before, and use us powerfully to do what your church is called to do, to make disciples of all those who trust in Jesus Christ. In whose name we pray, amen.

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:Our Gospel reading today is Jesus's prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. Jesus said these things about 40 years before it actually took place. This prophecy is also, at the same time, about the end times and the last day. At the end of our reading Jesus says that he will come with great power and glory. What I would like to focus on today, then, is how we should prepare for the end times according to what Jesus says in our reading. However, before we speak more positively about how we should be, it is helpful, I think, to point out two very common false beliefs about the end times. First of all, there are many Christians who do not believe that there will be any end times at all, or at least they never wish to talk about them. We confess in our creeds that Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead. You heard Jesus say that there will be signs and wonders in the sky and tribulations on earth. Peter says in his second epistle that the elements will melt as they burn. For many people these kinds of things are just too unusual. We want life to go on as it always has. It is unsettling to think that the existence of the universe could be so devastatingly altered. Plus, probably in the back of our mind, we think it is just mythical make-believe anyway. You know those ancient people. They weren't too smart. If they knew what we know they wouldn't have made such wild and impossible prophecies. This false belief is common among us Lutherans. We are pretty staid and steady people. We don't like to get too worked up about anything, and, in general, that's a positive thing. The teaching in the Bible is clear. If it's alright to disbelieve in the wrath of God at the end of days, why should we believe anything that we don't like? The other false belief seems like it is almost the opposite. Instead of despising the end times, never talking of them, there is an obsession with end times things. This is understandable. The signs and wonders are stupendous if you are willing to take them seriously. It can be thrilling to know things that others don't know. I remember as a kid sometimes seeing on TV a man named Jack Van Impe and his wife, Rexella. They would have a stack of newspapers on their set and they'd go from one to the next, citing bible passage after bible passage: “This news story fulfills this passage, and this news story fulfills that passage.” The take-away was always the same: “The end is near. There is going to be widespread collapse.” And there was always a kind of glee in the prospect of the widespread collapse. The TV prophet was quite happy to tell you about it. You can be happy too if you believe him, because you can prepare accordingly. Make sure you've got food and water in the basement. Maybe these days you need to make sure that you've got some crypto-currency. Be one of the smart ones so that you can ride out the end of days in style. You can be comfortably sitting in your bunker, armed to the teeth. Although these folks seem to be highly believing because they only want to talk about these conspiracies and prophecies, they, too, are unbelieving and unprepared. How may anyone escape the wrath that is about to be revealed? The true and infallible preparations are being baptized, feeding one's faith with the Word of God, receiving the Lord's Supper, praying, praising, and giving thanks. Repentant faith in Jesus, who has turned away God's wrath, is the only way to make it through any terrors or difficulties. As for what we should eat and drink, or what we should wear, Jesus tells us that we should not worry about these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of them. These two false beliefs look like they are practically opposites. Some Christians never think or speak of the end times. Other Christians never stop thinking or speaking of the end times. Neither approach avails anything. Baptism is our spiritual ark. Faith in Christ is the only preparation. Flesh and blood cannot see the kingdom of God, but only a new creation. We must be born again by the water and the Spirit. As we now turn to Jesus's words in our Gospel reading, I would argue that this is Jesus's concern as well. He wants us to guard our faith. He forthrightly says that terrors and convulsions are coming. How we are to be prepared, however, has to do with our faith and the confession of our faith. So that is what we will turn to now. Jesus's talk is begun by the disciples commenting on the massive and impressive temple. The temple truly was a sight to behold. If anything seemed permanent, it was this temple, but Jesus said one stone would not be allowed to remain sitting upon another. Then the disciples asked Jesus to tell them more about that. I'd like to you pay attention to how Jesus does not tell them to form militias or shadow governments. He doesn't tell them to make any kind of physical preparations. The wrath of God is coming and there isn't anything anybody can do to stop that. Instead Jesus wants to guard their faith. Jesus said, “Watch out so that you are not deceived! For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,' and ‘The time is near.' Do not follow them. Whenever you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end will not be right then.”  As you know there are many people who rise up all the time, saying that they have their finger on what is going on. They know the secrets. They know what is going to happen. Follow them because the end is near. Their exciting messages of doom and deliverance through prudent preparations stir up those who believe in them so that they gain their cliques and cadres of people in the know. Jesus says to beware people like that. Why? Because they are worthless. You already have all that you need in the true Jesus. If you have Jesus you don't need some guru to read the tea leaves or the newspapers. Gurus might tell you all kinds of secret and exciting things, but their wisdom is nothing compared to the wisdom even of our humble little Catechism. If you want to know what you are to do, turn to the Ten Commandments—and you won't find anything about crypto-currency or bunkers in there. If you want to know what you are to believe, consult the Creed. These truly make you wise for salvation. Let us turn again to Jesus's words, and he goes on for some time: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and diseases in various places. There will be horrifying sights and great signs from heaven. But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, handing you over to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name's sake. It will turn out to be your opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand how to defend yourselves, for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all people for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By patient endurance you will gain your lives.” Jesus lays out frightening things: wars, earthquakes, famines, and diseases. Perhaps the most frightening things, though, are the personal betrayals and tests of one's confession of faith. It's like it was with Peter on the night when Jesus was betrayed: “Are you one of them? Are you one of Jesus's disciples? Are you an enemy of enlightened progress or an enemy of the state?” But, again, notice where Jesus directs us—not to swords or guns. We are to maintain our faith in him. If we have faith in him, then we can even rest assured that we will say what he would have us say before those who persecute us. The one thing that Jesus tells us we should make our mind up about beforehand is that we are not going to defend ourselves. The kingdom of God is not the product of human cunning, logic, or political manipulations. The kingdom of God is the testimony of Jesus, the one who has overcome this world. And if you have him, then not even a hair of your head will perish. Even if you are put to death for our faith, not one hair of your head will perish. By patient endurance in your faith you will be saved. One outward action that Jesus does recommend is the fleeing from Jerusalem. He told his disciples that when they see the armies coming upon Jerusalem that they should get out. Forty years later it appears that the Christians remembered Jesus's prophecy. They fled before Jerusalem was surrounded and hemmed in on every side. So also we Christians may flee from danger. You see this in the book of Acts. When Jerusalem was thrown into an uproar with the stoning of St. Stephen the Christians fled to other lands and cities. This was, in fact, how the Gospel came to the Gentiles. The Christians who fled Jerusalem preached the Gospel to their Gentile neighbors and by the power of the Holy Spirit they were converted to faith in Christ. You also see in Acts that St. Paul did not purposely hand himself over to those who were wanting to put him to death. Once he escaped under cover of night, being lowered down from the city wall in a basket. When he was arraigned in Jerusalem he appealed to Caesar, which was his right as a Roman citizen. So we do not need to go looking for trouble and martyrdom. However, if we are called upon to make the good confession, then we must do so regardless of the consequences. I can give you a contemporary example. Years ago a militant Islamic group called ISIS rose to power in the Middle East. They conquered some territory in Syria and Iraq. There are some towns in that area that have Christians in them. When ISIS would come to a town they would round up the people and ask them if they were Christians. If they said they were, their heads would be chopped off. They would do this even with Christian children. If you were one of those Christians, you would need to continue to confess Christ, come what may. If you confessed Christ and your head was chopped off, ultimately not even a hair of your head would be harmed, for you will live again. It is not optional for us to confess Christ. If we deny him we would be like faithless Simon Peter. As the Scriptures say, “If we deny him, he will deny us.” However, on the other hand, if you know that ISIS is heading towards your village, you do not need to stay there. You do not need to hand your children over to be slaughtered. You should try to go where you will be safe. However, if you end up before the executioner for your Christian faith, or if you should be fired from your job for your Christian faith, or some other persecution comes upon you, then you should know that this is God's will. He will keep you safe even if your head gets chopped off. It is your opportunity to testify of this hope that is within you. So, to sum up: The only true way to be prepared for the end times is always internal. Being prepared for the end times is a matter of repentance and faith. If we fear God's wrath for our sins and believe in Jesus Christ who has saved us from our sins, then we are in good stead. With such a faith we are in good stead even if the earth gives way and the mountains go crashing into the sea. Jesus has reconciled you to God. All things, then, must turn out for the best for those who trust in him. So when you see Jesus coming on the clouds with power and great glory, do not curl up into a ball or put your tail between your legs. Straighten up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near.

A series of divine appointments begins as we open to Acts 16. These circumstances will change the lives of several individuals. As we think through that, we'll focus our time on five ways God can call us:1. Direct Communcation2. Visions3. Circumstances4. Other Christians or People5. ScripturePrepare your heart for action and ask the Lord for a willing spirit so that when the time comes and he calls you to something, you are aware and can act for His glory.This message was recorded live at Transform Church in Memphis, TN. For more information about our church, visit transformchurchmem.comLINKSFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/transformchurchmem Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/transformchurchmem/ Website: https://www.transformchurchmem.com/

Some Christians claim Jesus explicitly told us to prepare ourselves for self-defense. Other Christians claim Jesus expressly prohibited us from doing so. How can there be such a wide chasm of opinions on this matter? And what does the Bible really say? We discuss in this episode. Topics include: - How both sides of the debate often misunderstand Jesus - What the Old Testament teaches us on the matter - Situations such as home intrusions, active shooters in the church building, war, and the like

Being under the scrutiny of a fellow believer is such a painful place to be. And when someone judges our kids, we often feel it more than they do. If we don't deal with the judgements of others properly, the wounds can lead us and our kids away from the body of Christ and from the faith.Judging is going to happen in the church, and as we have learned in this series, that is by design. We are supposed to keep one another accountable, and we need to respond properly.Catherine gives the most practical advice yet in this final episode on judging by properly defining the criteria of a Godly judgement. Then Catherine show us how to respond when we are judged. SCRIPTURES CITED IN THIS SERIES:Hebrews 4:12-131 Corinthians 5:1-13Psalm 139:23-24Psalm 51:10-12Proverbs 27:6Galatians 2:11—212 Peter 3:15Luke 23:34OTHER EPISODES IN THIS SERIES:Episode 39: Have You Ever Been Judged by Other Christians? https://bit.ly/3BfoQVn Episode 40: Is It Ever Right to Judge Others? https://bit.ly/3ekZs7M Episode 41: Six Problems When We Encounter When It Comes to Judging https://bit.ly/3Dgb7yY

As parents, we have to judge the actions of our kids. And we live in families, neighborhoods, communities, and churches where we hold each other accountable. So sometimes that requires us to assess the actions of other people. (Especially the little people who live with us.) We have to consider the fruit in people's lives, as Jesus said to do. And they have to do that with us as wellBut in that process, there can be some problems. If not done properly, judging can create wounds in our lives and in the lives of our kids. We want to avoid these pitfalls, so we need to address them head on.In this episode, Catherine continues in a series on judging by discussing the problems we encounter when it comes to examining the lives of others. They are:1. Judging the motive, not the action.2. Adding to God's standard.3. Judging without love.4. Judging with grace.5. Thinking that stating God's standard is judging.6. Not judging at all.Knowing these difficulties can help us to avoid some serious spiritual hazards and heal from relationship wounds.SCRIPTURES CITED:Matthew 7:1-31 Corinthians 5:9-13Luke 19:11-12Psalm 103:12John 8:1-11EPISODES CITED:Episode 11: What Does It Mean to Speak the Truth in Love? https://bit.ly/3q9xYom OTHER EPISODES IN THIS SERIES:Episode 39: Have You Ever Been Judged by Other Christians? https://bit.ly/3BfoQVn Episode 40: Is It Ever Right to Judge Others? https://bit.ly/3ekZs7M

Some would say that it's never right to judge another person. Others say that it is. So which is it? At some point in our Christian walk, we are going to be judged by other believers, and so will our kids. It is important that we know what Scripture says about this issue.In this episode, Catherine continues in a series on judging by examining what the Bible has to say on this critical topic. Everyone knows Christ's instruction to “judge not lest ye be judged,” but most people don't know that just after these words, Jesus told us to examine the fruit coming from the lives of fellow believers. And the Apostle Paul gives us some vital guidelines on judging as well. Join Catherine to discover the when, where, why, and how of judging. SCRIPTURES CITED:1 Corinthians 1:5, 9-13Matthew 7:1-3, 15-20SOURCES CITED:CPCW Episode 26: What Every Parent Needs to Know About the Prodigal Child: https://bit.ly/3KAaaU4OTHER EPISODES IN THIS SERIES:Episode 39: Have You Ever Been Judged by Other Christians?: https://bit.ly/3AWELIk

Romans 12:13 — In this sermon on Romans 12:13 titled “Fellowship of the Saints,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones challenges the listeners to show hospitality. Preaching from Romans 12:13, one of the first things he clarifies is the true Pauline meaning of hospitality. In the book of Romans (and in other places in Scripture), the biblical meaning for hospitality is “loving strangers.” This means that when the biblical authors command believers to show hospitality, their command is one of evangelism rather than only fellowship with the saints. An important element of the Christian existence paired with hospitality is indeed contributing to the needs of the saints. Separate from hospitality but similar, Dr. Lloyd-Jones preaches that contributing to the needs of the saints shows the love of God within the hearts of Christians. A privilege that God has given His believers is that they may share in their suffering instead of enduring alone. Other Christians should be a welcome and wonderful sight for believers because of the burden and the privilege the saints carry. Dr. Lloyd-Jones exhorts his listeners by saying that Christians submit too much to the needs and expectations of the world. Rather, Christians must be the light of the world and share the good news of Jesus Christ with all those they come in contact with, especially through hospitality.

06/26/2022: Other Christians can rob you: Dennis Tucker

Some Christians are “doctrine people” who are deeply committed to orthodox theology and ethics shaped by Scripture and the best of the Christian tradition. Other Christians are “piety people” who are mostly concerned with walking closely with Christ and pursuing personal holiness and spiritual maturity. Still other Christians are “justice and mercy people” who are committed to challenging injustice and promoting the common good. Finally, some Christians are “Great Commission people” who are passionate about spreading the gospel to the spiritually lost and promoting mission work among the unreached. While this sort of division is overly simplistic, we are always tempted to overemphasize some elements of the Christian life at the expense of others. In William Wilberforce (1759-1833) and his close friends, the so-called Clapham Saints, we have a historical example of holistic Christian faithfulness that embraced the importance of both doctrine and piety, both justice and evangelism.

Some Christians are “doctrine people” who are deeply committed to orthodox theology and ethics shaped by Scripture and the best of the Christian tradition. Other Christians are “piety people” who are mostly concerned with walking closely with Christ and pursuing personal holiness and spiritual maturity. Still other Christians are “justice and mercy people” who are committed to challenging injustice and promoting the common good. Finally, some Christians are “Great Commission people” who are passionate about spreading the gospel to the spiritually lost and promoting mission work among the unreached. While this sort of division is overly simplistic, we are always tempted to overemphasize some elements of the Christian life at the expense of others. In William Wilberforce (1759-1833) and his close friends, the so-called Clapham Saints, we have a historical example of holistic Christian faithfulness that embraced the importance of both doctrine and piety, both justice and evangelism.

June 30: First Martyrs of the Church of Rome64 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red or WhiteA madman burns Christians like human torchesWave after wave of huge British and American bombers, pregnant with ordnance, opened their bays over Dresden, Germany, on February 13 and 14, 1945. Fire joined fire until the city itself was a raging, screaming bonfire. A tornado of flames hungered for oxygen, sucked all air from the atmosphere, and suffocated to death anyone caught in its vortex. The center of Dresden melted. Only some stone walls remained erect. Human skeletons were mixed into the rubble of a skeletal city. In the old town of Dresden today, a modest memorial marks a mass grave, the location where an unknown number of civilians' scant remains were cremated shortly after the fire. It's easy to walk by without noticing it. Any number of countries have similar memorials marking the mass graves of the victims of plane crashes, sunken ships, war atrocities, or natural disasters.Many countries also have a memorial to an unknown soldier. That unknown fighter represents all those drowned at sea, lost in the jungle canopy, eviscerated by enemy fire, or simply never recovered in the heat and sweat of battle. On civic feast days, presidents, governors, and mayors lay wreaths and flowers at the graves of the unknown. In honoring him, they honor all. A nation's official remembering—in stone, statue, speech, or ceremony—preserves the past. A nation's common memory is preserved by its government, which guards against national forgetting through official acts of national remembering.The Church's liturgical calendar is a continual, public remembering of saints, feasts, and theology, by mankind's most ancient source and carrier of institutional memory—the Catholic Church. Today's feast day commemorating the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome did not exist prior to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Instead, the sanctoral calendar was crowded with various feast days to particular martyrs from this early Roman persecution. Apart from their centuries on the calendar, however, little else supported these particular martyrs' existence.Today's feast is a liturgical expression of the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or the flowers left at a mass grave marker. This feast commemorates those unknown and unnamed men and women who were cruelly tortured and executed in the city of Rome in 64 A.D. But instead of meeting in a park to sing a patriotic hymn and to see an official lay a wreath, we do what Christians do to remember these martyrs. We meet as the faithful in a church, in front of an altar, to participate in the sacrifice of the Mass and to remember our remote ancestors in the faith who died so that the true faith would not.In 64 A.D. a huge fire of suspicious origins consumed large sections of Rome. A deranged emperor named The Black (Nero) blamed Christians for the conflagration and executed large numbers of them in retribution for their supposed treachery. A vivid description of the persecution survives from a Roman historian named Tacitus, who relates that some Christians were sewn into the skins of animals to be attacked and consumed by beasts. Other Christians were slathered with wax, tied to posts, and then burned alive, human torches whose glow illuminated Nero's garden parties. Still others were crucified. This was not the barbarous hacking off of limbs and splitting of skulls later suffered by missionaries in the forests of Northern Europe. Nero's madness was highly refined evil. Today, we commemorate these Christians in the same fashion in which they would have commemorated the Lord's own death—by prayer and sacrifice. We are separated from 64 A.D. by many centuries, but we are united to 64 A.D. by our common faith. We remember because the Church remembers.Anonymous first martyrs of Rome, your blood is still wet, and your sufferings still felt, in the same Church of Christ to which you belonged through baptism. Through your intercession, help the baptized of today be as courageous as you in all things.

Have you lost a sense of who you are? Are you trying to fit in with the people around you? Do you sometimes feel out of place and you ask yourself, Is there something more? Other Christians may not always understand you, but that doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. In fact, it may just mean that you're called to be different. To be like Christ. And that's nothing to be ashamed of. So don't give up and don't conform to what others expect of you. Be who God has called you to be. Be like Christ. This is the first step in your journey towards finding purpose: TO BE LIKE CHRIST. Join Pastor Christine Desiree on this podcast episode as she shares an inspirational message on why we are not called to be like others but called to be like Christ. For more information about Pastor Christine Desiree, check out her website at purposeandlifeministries.com. Like and follow her ministry on facebook.com/pastorchristinedesiree and instagram.com/purposeandlifeministries twitter.com/pastorcdesiree JOIN HER COMMUNITY GROUP FOR TEACHINGS, DISCUSSIONS, COMMUNITY, AND A SENSE OF FELLOWSHIP. www.facebook.com/groups/purposeandlifeministries www.facebook.com/groups/unshakablewomancommunity

You are no stranger to this. The world is constantly calling for attention. Other Christians are constantly calling for our attention. There are only so many ways that we can divide our attention. Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Let's give attention to the focus of a healthy church. Thanks for joining us for this episode and please take a moment to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you enjoy this content, please don't hesitate to leave us a 5-star review and share this podcast with your friends. We'd like to extend an invitation to you and your family to join us for worship this week at Grace Baptist Church. We'd also love to connect with you online at https://gracekettering.org. Thanks again for checking out this episode, and we look forward to having you join us again right here on the Grace Baptist Church Podcast!

Today we're kicking off our Christmas series – “The Bible Never Said That… Even if Christmas Songs Do”Notes:Songs Referenced: Santa Claus is Coming to Town by J. Fred Coots and Haven GillespieBooks Referenced: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. LewisVerses Referenced: Isaiah 43:11, Isaiah 44:6, Psalm 139, Romans 1:25, 2 Peter 1:6, 1 Timothy 4:7-10, Matthew 6:4, Acts 7, Hebrews 11, Galatians 3:5-6, Hebrews 12:1-2, Romans 14:10-14, 1 Corinthians 10:23-31Articles Referenced:Who is Santa, and What Does He Have to do with Christmas? By Angie Mosteller: https://bit.ly/3Dm30hEThe Real Santa by Sarah Phillips: https://bit.ly/3cltpAw12 Principles on How to Disagree with Other Christians by Andrew David Naselli and J. D. Crowley: https://www.9marks.org/article/romans-14/On Disputable Matters by D.A. Carson: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/on-disputable-matters/***You can find Chara at: https://anchoredvoices.com/ https://www.facebook.com/CharaDonahue/ https://twitter.com/CharaDonahue/Episode Image Credit: Getty/Angyee054

I can only imagine that a true scholar would be rolling their eyes at much of this, given my amateur and immature understanding of theology, philosophy and the history of the Catholic Church. Likewise, I don't expect that I've stumbled onto anything new and that this may read as a typical recovery story. It's unlikely that someone will say, “Stop the presses: Here's a leftover that found God after trying everything else. Wow, and an ex-drinker too?!” How unoriginal, I know.Still, I'll continue in case one person out in the ether finds any of this pertinent to their own life situation. The major events that drove me to this spot in life where I'm writing this at all are as follows: the faith of my childhood, the discovery of drinking, the pursuit of knowledge, my varied and failed attempts to quit drinking, the arrest for drunk driving, my subsequent search for meaning, and the eventual return to faith.Which takes me to my next stumbling block, “The Fall of Man” and original sin. These loaded terms were always a sticky point, and I would guess might be for other religious “nones.” I thought this took a negative view of humanity, and that we actually had more goodness inside than evil. Back in college I felt this smacked of an “opiate of the masses” argument. Then I spent 20 years trying to behave myself and failed miserably.The tree of knowledge of good and evil, when taken literally, does seem a bit simplistic, but when taken literarily becomes genius. As I mentioned in one of my prior takes on drinking, the apple on the tree of knowledge could have been a bottle of Jack Daniels, or Coors Light, or a fancy cocktail. As Jim Gaffigan said, “An apple? Have you ever been tempted by an apple? I would have been like ‘put some caramel on it and come back to me.'”Strange, but it seems familiar to me, this path of innocence, temptation, knowledge, suffering, separation from God, focusing on self, and wandering in search of meaning…and…wait a minute. I have heard this before. It's the summarized version of my entire life!Obviously the author of Genesis didn't need as many words as I do to make a point. Using only a tree, serpent, and apple, the whole tale of “What's wrong with me?” was told in a few pages. Yet I need many thousands of words and asides to get to the same point. Apparently I write much like I swim, zig-zagging instead of aiming directly for the buoy.The apple is not an apple. The apple is the source of temptation and the vices we cannot give up. The apple is drink, drugs, porn, news, possessions, fame, fortune, jealousy, hate. It's one or more of these, or additional items not included on that list, but in summary it's something other than God.G.K. Chesterton said “…the only dogma for which we have empirical evidence is the dogma of original sin.” Watch the 11 o'clock news at night, or even better, watch what's going on inside of you. You'll see the evidence…of original sin there. This deep level dysfunction that we can't solve on our own. And that is an enormously important door into Christianity. (WOF Episode 270 at 11 minutes in)St. Augustine famously said, “Lord let me be pure - but not yet!” There is a yearning for goodness, somewhere, inside everyone, but we want to cling to our will and vice because it's fun or we believe that these sideshows represents freedom. I didn't want to let go of drinking even though I knew that drinking continually disabled me from living the life I wanted to live. With alcohol in my life, I could never live up to the morals that I pretended to hold. I could not stick to an exercise program, could not be honest with people. Every regret in my life came from a night of drinking. Without exception, every hurt I caused in this world could be drawn directly back to drinking. Removing my “freedom” to drink gave me all of the good things that I wanted and I became more free precisely because of self-denial.Unfortunately, vices and sin can be like a game of whack-a-mole, where you knock one vice down and another pops up. Pride, vanity, lust, anger, the urge to dominate others - knock any of these down and they will re-emerge in another form, shape shifting, always looking for cracks to crawl back into. Like a house, the slightest of gaps in windows or doors allows the outside air to seep inside and you never notice the draft, until suddenly you are shivering on a bitterly cold night. Only then you will notice the source of the problem, but it's been there the whole time, even during the days of fair weather.There is much chatter in the past two decades about being “Good without God.” Sure you can be good without God, but the hollowness of that state crumbles under duress. I recall the time I saw Richard Dawkins speak at a bookstore. At the time I thought he was cool. I liked how he was undermining the faithful Pharisees of the modern age and sowing discord among the Christian hypocrites.But in watching and listening to Dawkins it dawned on me after only about ten minutes how miserable he seemed, even in his arguments. The smugness filled the room. In contrast I thought of my grandmother with her rosary and the never-ending joy in her that she brought to her family. I thought of the billions of people who found hope in faith. His uninspiring message made me leave that talk feeling empty, the opposite of how I felt around my grandmother and other Christians. I entered as a Dawkins fan, only to leave repulsed by his message. This put me in a no-man's land because I couldn't accept God, nor could I reject God. If the “selfish gene” was the driver of all motivation, then we are selfish, and therefore sinners anyway. Worse, without redemption we are hopelessly evil. If there is only the rule of law to constrain our actions, put on your seatbelts, things will continue to get bumpy. Some people may be good without God, but not for long, and not when times get hard. Yes, plenty of people pretend to be Good with God, too, and I know some atheists and agnostics that have a stronger moral compass than some Christians I know. But without God, in the end, it's every man for himself.What Revelation makes known to us is confirmed by our own experience. For when man looks into his own heart he finds that he is drawn towards what is wrong and sunk in many evils which cannot come from his good creator. (CCC 401)By my own experience, I am cognizant of this problem. If and when I remove my focus from God, I will soon start to scowl and stew, and distrust people and hate them for their foibles. When I keep prayer and hope alive, when I turn toward God, I can love my neighbor and expect nothing in return. My story is like that of Peter being invited out of the boat to walk on the water. “Courageous in the boat, but timid on the waters*” I too will sink when faced with fear and uncertainty if I lose focus. I take my eyes off of Jesus and fall, letting doubt discourage me, and I will quickly turn my back on the one place from which I can draw strength. The dysfunction takes over, the creature within rises, and I look for my apples, the ones I like to eat when I think God is not there. My favorite apple is knowledge. It's like a HoneyCrisp apple to me. And I can only think of the Screwtape Letters, # 1, as the method of distraction to pull me away from what is good, back toward sin. To wind me up with doubt, I only need to apply racing thoughts:Your man has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to having a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside his head. He doesn't think of doctrines as primarily "true" or "false," but as "academic" or "practical," "outworn" or "contemporary," "conventional" or "ruthless." Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church. Don't waste time trying to make him think that materialism is true! Make him think it is strong or stark or courageous—that it is the philosophy of the future. That's the sort of thing he cares about. *I already know that I will lose focus and return to negative thinking and trip myself up over political, theological, or personal diversions. It's inevitable. Other Christians will likely be the ones that push me away, but instead of letting that happen I need to hold the focus. Because after spending two decades searching for God, it would be a shame to do it all over again, when I already know the answer. Maybe Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings said it best, summing up the condition: “the hearts of men are easily corrupted.” The Catholic Church and Pat Benatar agree: Love is a battlefield.Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield, man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God's grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity. (CCC 409) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.whydidpetersink.com

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Eschatology - Study of last things   27% of the Bible is prophetic. 1 out of 30 verses refers to the Second Coming of Jesus or the End Times. 300 verses prophecy Jesus first coming. 600 verse prophecy Jesus second coming. What will happen when Christ returns?   Jesus tells us: “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3)   Jesus also says: “the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:44)   So, what is the healthy way to view this?  Fear - obsession with end times? Apathy - no urgency for the lost?   Jesus told His disciples: Matt. 24:42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Most of us are familiar with the “Left Behind” views of End Times:   Signs are fulfilled Believers are raptured Tribulation for 7 years - (Some will persevere, Jewish Witnesses, Israel saved) Christs return (parousia)- battle to defeat Satan- Armageddon, bodily resurrection of believers Millenial Kingdom (in one form or another) believers reign with Christ, non believers separated Great White Throne Judgement New Jerusalem - Heaven Comes to Earth The Rapture Traditional view - pre-trib Secondary view - mid-trib Another view - post trib   Signs -  “The gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations” (Mark 13:10; see also Matt. 24:14)   “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel” - Ezekiel 37:21-22   Millennialism Rev 20:1-6 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.   View 1 — Amillennial: The millennium is now, and when it ends, Jesus will return The simplest view of the millennium is that Revelation 20:1 – 6 describes not a future time but the present church age. Christians who hold to this view believe that many or all of the previously mentioned signs occurred early on in church history and that Christ could really return at any moment.   View 2—Postmillennial: The millennium will come gradually, and Jesus will return after the millennium Other Christians believe Jesus will return after the thousand years mentioned in Revelation 20:4-5. As the church grows and Christians continue to have a greater and greater influence, society will begin to function more and more in line with God's standards. Gradually, a “millennial age” of great peace and righteousness (not necessarily a literal one thousand years) will come about on the earth. Christ will not physically reign on earth during this period; instead, Christians will have a tremendous influence in society, and Christ's reign will come about through this influence of Christians.   View 3—Premillennial: The millennium will come suddenly, and Jesus will return before the millennium. Finally, there are Christians who believe Jesus will return before the events of Revelation 20:1 – 10. This is called the premillennial view because it holds that Christ will return before the millennium. This view also holds that prior to Jesus' return there will be a time of great suffering suffering on the earth, sometimes called the great tribulation (see Matt. 24:21 – 31). According to the premillennial view, Christ will return and physically reign on earth for the thousand years mentioned in Revelation 20:4 – 5 (not necessarily a literal one thousand years). When Christ returns to begin his millennial reign, all who have believed in him will be raised from the dead to reign with him. This is the meaning of Revelation 20:4, “They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” In this premillennial view, after the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth, the final judgment will occur, and those who believe in Jesus will continue to reign with him for eternity; those who rejected him will be condemned for eternity.   Response: We don't obsess over it We don't dismiss it   Blessed are those who read this prophecy - Revelation 1:1-4 Watch - Jesus said to watch for his return The Kingdom of God is now. Things are on motion towards His return. Holy urgency - Go and and make disciples of all nations. Love Your Neighbor. Understand who you are in Christ -  perspective, we are not of this world… Live with the joyful anticipation that Jesus will one day return bringing healing, justice and shalom to His Creation.   Additional reading:   The Non Prophet's Guide to the End Times by Todd Hampson The Book of Signs by Dr. David Jeremiah   Submit Q&A Questions and episode suggestions here.

In this entry, I take a biblical approach to talking about feelings and emotion. A lot of Christians believe their feelings can never be trusted and that God only speaks to their intellect. Other Christians have an unbalanced dependance on their emotions and can neglect the truth of Scripture. This episode is all about how God wants to use our feelings for His kingdom. Our feelings can be renewed by the Holy Spirit, and God can speak to us directly through our emotions. Support this ministry! https://bit.ly/2Y5GGGs Visit Troy's website for books and more content: https://bit.ly/3h5XrZH Watch Troy's videos on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3kSLg4y

Other Christians will stand as evidence on the last day that you truly loved the Lord Jesus during your lifetime.