The Gospel Of Repentance

  The best person to imitate when dealing with our enemies is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that when He was reviled, He did not revile back, but committed Himself to Him (The Father) that judges righteously (1 Peter 2:23). Jesus said in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” That will never be easy to do due to the corruption of our minds and flesh. We want to quote the words of the “Godfather of Soul” James Brown. We want our BIG PAYBACK! Waiting on the Lord to settle the score against our enemies takes much prayer, patience, faith, and endurance. Many will fail their fiery trial and take matters into their own hands and exact their own revenge. I want to explain Biblically why this is tragic. Proverbs 24:17 tells us, “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath from them.” If we rejoice

  Old Testament legislation was better known as the Law of Moses or the Mosaic Law. God started instituting the Law on the day the Hebrews exited Egypt during the inaugural Passover. Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel saying, ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for the household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You make take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And

  “For assuredly whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and cast into the sea’, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore, I say to you whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you have received them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:23-24). These verses have been used like a magic formula in the Charismatic-Neo-Pentecostal-Name-it-and-claim-it movement. They have been used to write a blank check type of prayer to get whatever you desire from God. Of course, these verses like so many others, have been aborted from their original context so that a pretext has been created around them – to make them mean other than what Jesus said it means. So, let’s go back to verse twelve to get the context and flow of thought, Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He (Jesus) was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something

  I often wonder if God speaks to people audibly today. Many Christians’ replies are, “Yes! Of course He does!” Many evangelical leaders claim God is telling them specific details about someone’s life; like they are going to get a financial breakthrough in 10 days. Or their prodigal son and daughter will come home in the next 30 days. What happens when these predictions do not come to pass because most of them do not happen as the preacher “prophesied” they would? Some of them have and will blame the person they prophesied to that they lacked faith in the “word of the Lord” they heard so it neutralized the prophecy. No. What actually happened is the preacher either presumed they heard from God (some inner unction?) like several false teachers did when they claimed the Lord told them Donald Trump would be re-elected in 2020, or they willingly lied and put Jesus’ name on their false prophecy to give it “divine authority.” It has and will be continually argued that modern day prophecies

W hen we are going through the trials of life, it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I realize that is cliché. The stress is often so painful we want to give up. Quitting should never be an option. Those that quit have guaranteed their failure to see what their endurance would have shown them. Tough times are designed to test us for sure, but the pain of our trials if we endure them is building us up and making us stronger. The gospel group Commissioned captured this well in one of their songs, “One Step After Another” Trials of life can be a teacher for us if we do not just look at them negatively although the trial itself is negative. Trials come to us from the Lord, and trials can come from the devil. We suffer trials due to our own sins, and we can suffer trials from the sins of others. We are not responsible for the sins of others, but unfortunately we can become collateral damage because of their sins. Remember, be careful who you keep company with. Bad comp

  Who determines sainthood; does God or man? Many people throughout history have been given the illustrious title of saint: Saint Peter the apostle, Saint Nicholas (i.e. Santa Claus), Saint John the apostle, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Patrick of Ireland. Mother Teresa (1910-1997) was canonized as a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church on September 4, 2016 – nineteen years after her death. The word saint is the Greek word hagios. Saint is connected to the word holy. A saint is one that is holy, sanctified and separated to God. A saint is anyone who is a Christian (Eph 1:1; Jude 3; Rev 13:7) or in the Old Testament those whom God chose as His own (Psalm 116:15; Dan 7:22,25). A saint is a position that God confers upon those He saves. Jude 1:14b says the Lord comes with ten thousand of His saints. The New International Version (NIV) uses the words holy ones instead of saints. Both versions are correct. Contrary to popular belief, sainthood is conferred

  T he word Antinomian is not a term we use in everyday language. It is a theological word. It is a compound word. The prefix anti means against. The suffix is nomos which means law. So, an Antinomian is someone who is against the law. In particular the law of God. The apostle Paul was accused of teaching Antinomianism. In Romans 8:1-2 we read: There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of the life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. The child of God should always give praise to God for this above reality. Because we are saved, we are also free from sin and death. To be judgment free speaks of the mighty power of God. Prior to Christ’s salvation we were bound by sin. Now we are free to serve God instead of sin. We have a new Master. Sadly, many Christians have taken terrible advantage of God’s grace. They be

With no direction from learned and skilled theologians, the Bible can be a very difficult collection of books to understand. The Bible is indeed a collection of ancient documents written thousands of years ago. Because the books are so old, many say they are antiquated, outdated and not relevant for today. Others are convinced the Bible contains numerous errors, and that it contradicts itself. The ones that have this attitude toward the Bible are those who do not want it to be true. For if it is, it will bring certain conviction and judgment on those who hate its truth. Social Media has allowed many to easily become critics of the God of the Bible. Many people no doubt are parroting others who discount its truth having never investigated the claims of the Bible for themselves. These individuals are the ones that are making a fool of themselves – thinking that somehow blaspheming God and His word is a virtue. It is important that the writer point out why so many are quick to ride on t

  This phrase is often echoed by those in the charismatic movement. When their Pastor / Elder / Bishop is criticized for unbiblical teaching, they will cry out, “Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm!” This phrase is referenced in 1 Chronicles 16:22 and Psalm 105:15. Who was in view when this phrase was uttered? Was it the Pastor Elder or Bishop? No. Let’s examine 1 Chronicles 16:22 in context. Starting at 1 Chronicles 16:19-22 (Amplified Version) we read from King David “When they (the nation of Israel, parentheses mine), were but few, even a very few, and only temporary residents and strangers in it; when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people; He allowed no man to do them wrong; yes. He reproved kings for their sakes (Gen 12:17; 20:3; Exod 7:15-18). Saying touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm” (Gen 20:7). David is praising God and giving a brief history of his people; how they began very small in number when they were in Canaa

  In John chapter six Jesus miraculously feeds over five thousand people with five barley loaves and two fish. This sign should have clearly shown them that He was the Messiah. Jesus has to get away from them because they try to make Him their King by force (vs 15). Jesus made it clear later to Pilate in John 19:36 that His kingdom was not of this world. Jesus and His disciples make their way across the sea to Capernaum. The multitude finds Him and inquires when He arrives there (vs 25). Jesus rebukes them and says, “Most assuredly you did not seek me because you the saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life…”(vv 26-27a). What the Lord was telling them is not to look only for temporary fulfillment, rather seek everlasting fulfillment which only He can provide. The conversation takes a drastic turn when Jesus tells them that He is the true bread come down from heaven that

  This question is more serious than it is satirical. This question will cause a professing Christian to check their heart. It should be obvious from the title that the writer is not talking about an actual murder. I am talking about murder of the heart. This is a matter Jesus relayed to His audience when He taught His sermon on the mountain in Matthew chapters 5-7.              “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you,   love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who   spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes     His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those  who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet  your brothers only, what do you do more than the others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?