The Inconvenience of Serving God

We have our daily and weekly routines.  Work, Wednesday small group, family time, and Church on Sunday.  We often and easily forget that God does not work by our schedule.  Sometimes, God gives us an opportunity to serve him and glorify him at times that interfere with our daily or weekly routine.  How we respond to this reflects where our heart stands with God's Will and our ultimate desire to worship and serve him.

Public Evangelism

Before setting out to conduct street evangelism and open air preaching it is a good idea to research the county and city ordinances regarding noise violations and disturbing the peace.  Odds are someone will get offended and call the police claiming one of the two.  When police are called, they have reasonable suspicion that a crime or ordinance violation has been committed.  They are obligated to respond and investigate.  This should be expected. (check out Is Street Preaching Biblical?).

Is Street Preaching Biblical?

People have probably heard a preacher on the side of the road with a mega phone preaching.  Some people stop in listen while others carry on shaking their head.  In modern times, most feel that it is not the best approach to evangelism.  Some will go as far to say that it is too judgemental and pushes people away from God.  But is that true?  Is street preaching unbiblical, unnecessary, and harmful?  First, we must always look to God's word and see what his faithful servants have done in the various cultures.

John of God, The Spiritual Healer from Brazil

John of God is a fairly well known spiritual healer based out of Brazil.  He has been interviewed by Oprah and featured on ABC News, Newsweek, and other international news outlets.   He is a medium and spiritual healer that performs odd 'surgeries' that heal the individuals illness and spirit.  He claims to be possessed by 'entities' such as dead saints and doctors.  He claims that all his spiritual encounters and healings are done by God's will.  Given his region of the world is predominately catholic and mentions the 'saints' it would seem that the God he is referring to is The God of The Bible.  BUT is he serving God's will?  Is allowing himself to be possessed by 'entities' God's doing?  Is he OF God?

When Someone Says "The Lord told me..."

Some people will claim God spoke to them directly, either verbally, in a vision, in a dream, on their private air plane, or they were lifted up to heaven and met God face to face.  But are their claims true?  If these claims are true, what are the implications?  If they are not true, what does that mean for the person making that claim?  How can we know the trustfulness of their claims?  We need to seek God's actual word to test these type of claims.

A Different Gospel

There is an original and true Gospel message proclaimed by The Apostles.  Sense then, there have been attempts by others to add to it, change it, or preach something entirely different.  How do we know what is the true gospel and what is a different gospel?  That means we must first know what the true gospel is before we can discern a different one.  Everyone knows the most basic form but not everyone understands its supreme and ultimate value and meaning in relation to the identity of God himself.

Are There Prophets Today?

Much like Apostles, there is the Office of The Prophet and gifts of prophecy; two separate things.  We know both existed and used in the days of The Bible but did they continue on after all the Apostles of Christ died?  The word itself, prophecy can mean various things.  We need to see the biblical definitions and uses of the word, then analyze the character of its use in scripture, research church history and compare with modern claims.

When An Angel Teaches A Different Gospel

Since the foundation of the Church, there have been many claims of supposed truth that has come down from heaven after what Jesus, and The Apostles of Jesus have made known in scripture.  Three most notable is what founded Islam, Mormonism, and Jehovah's Witnesses.  All of these claim an Angel revealed something to their founders, different from the gospel that was proclaimed in scripture; either attempting to correct or add to it.  But, interestingly, The Holy Spirit knew this would happen and thus specifically said something about it.

Muhammad, a Prophet of God?

When a person is chosen by God to be God's Prophet to the people they have unique characteristics that support their claims.  There are 4 key elements that reveal a true Prophet of God which can be used to test and see if this individual is from God.  Was Muhammad a true Prophet of God?

The Quran: Who Wrote It?

Is the Quran today the same as the original teachings from Muhammad himself?  Of course Sunni Muslims would say yes.  In fact, all Muslims must agree that they are, but, in the Shiite sect of Islam, not all are in full agreement of the source of the final product of the original teachings.  To remove Christian bias, we will look at the historical quotes from Muslims themselves and see how accurate the Quran is.

Commonalities of Cults

There are many subgroups of the Christian faith.  These subgroups tailor their teachings and focuses in different ways.  That is exactly how the Body of Christ functions BUT there are some groups that claim to be 'Christian' when in fact, they are not.  Some deny being 'Christian' but claim to have similar beliefs and 'more correct' views than that of orthodox Christianity; but how can you identify a cult?

The Nashville Statement

The Nashville Statement is a document published online and authored by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood that clarifies the orthodox Christian faith position on human sexuality.  Over 150 predominate orthodox Christian teachers from around the world have signed the statement.  Of course it is not without controversy given our day and age and with some rejecting Christians.  Regardless, much like in the days of The councils of past, it addresses and clarifies the orthodox Christian faith in this specific matter.  But is it biblical?  Read the statement here: https://cbmw.org/nashville-statement/

Who and What Is Satan?

Scripture reveals everything we need to know to recognize Satan and his schemes and temptations.   We will address where he came from, who he is, what he does, how he does it, and what his effects are and what they look like in the world around us.  We are commanded to test the spirits, and we can't do that if we don't know the difference.

Discussion with a Jehovah's Witness

Evangelism takes shape in many forms.  At times God has random strangers walk up and ask random questions that spark spiritual conversations.  Other times major life events causes us to reflect on deeper matters which leads to spiritual conversations.  And at times, God even uses the internet.  In this case, God chose to use the internet.  A devout Jehovah Witness reached out and shared a screen shot image from the JW website about who they think Jesus is.  Given the massive importance of the topic, we felt it was necessary to engage in a dialog with this individual but it quickly changed in tempo, tone, and agenda.

Are You Fearless For Christ?

Are you fearless for Christ?  Seems like a basic and simple question but it is much deeper than most of us actually think.  The deeper question is, are you so dedicated to Jesus that you risk your own life to make him more known?  This is the question we must all ask ourselves in our daily lives.  Reflecting on what Jesus, the Apostles, and the early church had to endure and sacrifice should give us some pause and self reflection.

The Watchtower's New World Translation of the Bible

There are many bible translations but none that contradict each other except for the New World Translation.  This translation translates words and ideas differently causing conflict with the other translations.  Both can not be true so is the New World Translation a true biblical translation?  This article will look a a few areas of the translation where words are changed or added and explore the true meaning found in the Alexandrian, Byzantine, and Old Testament ancient texts.

The Creed of The Universal Christian Faith

The World Changes, The Worldly Hearts Do Not

When reading through the Bible and take note of social norms in the early cultures all the way through the early church writings about social norms of those times; a pattern becomes apparent.  A social norms pattern that conflict with God's moral standard.  Then, when looking at our modern times and its escalating social norms, we see the pattern continuing.  The pattern of child sacrifice and freedom for sexual immorality. But what is at the source of it and what is wrong with it?

Being A Confessional Church

What does it mean to be a confessional church and why is it important?  In this day and age most people do not even know what being a confessional church is, in any shape or form.  This article will address a very important issue in the Body of Christ that most Christian leaders have neglected for generations.  We will review what 'confessional' is referring to, why it is important, discuss statements of faith, and clear up common misconceptions about historic Creeds and Confessions.

What Makes Christianity The True Faith?

 What Makes Christianity The True Faith?  Can it be trusted and what makes it different from all other faiths?  We will briefly provide unintentional historic support, modern secular historians opinions, archeology and philosophical supports; as well as discuss the support from the death and resurrection and biblical prophecy for what makes Christianity true.  Again, these are brief to allow for self reflection and research.