It was one of those topics I avoided at all costs. It seemed to have been popping up more on social media with videos having a similar theme and question: Should women preach? Should women be pastors? Shortly after leaving the hyper charismatic movement, I had worked up the nerve to search the Scriptures on several matters to see what Scripture had to say in context. Even sharing these things publicly took time because of the stigma as to what…
The character of God is the guarantee that all wrongs will be righted someday; when the ‘day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed’ arrives, retribution will be exact, and no problems of cosmic unfairness will remain to haunt us. God is the Judge, so justice will be done. J.I. Packer In Luke 16:18-31, Jesus gives the account of a poor man named Lazarus and a rich man whose name we do not know and their eternal…
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3 ESV We all have particular verses that encourage us in various ways as believers in Christ. These verses from Colossians 3 are beautiful reminders where the…
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 1 Colossians 1:13,14 ESV If a person indwelled by the Holy Spirit can at the same time be sovereignly controlled by an evil spirit, then our redemption is meaningless. R.C. Sproul I recently came across a post challenging those disagreeing with the teaching that Christians can have indwelling demons and that deliverance…
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV A while ago, I heard a teaching from…
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:3,4 ESV In 2019, footage from a baptismal service at Bethel Church in Redding, California surfaced online sparking questions, concerns, and even satire. A…
Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. T.S. Eliot Imagine you attend a corporate gathering at a church where you believe you will learn spiritual things that are said to deepen your walk with God and how to have all your prayers answered. The speaker teaches from a book he wrote about praying from the heavenly realm, and he goes on to talk for the next hour and a half about himself…
On June 23, 2008, numerous apostles took the platform in Lakeland, Florida to participate in a ceremony for the apostolic alignment and commissioning of Todd Bentley. Peter Wagner presided over this ceremony and was accompanied by Bill Johnson, John Arnott, Che Ahn, Rick Joyner, and other recognized apostolic leaders. In preparation for the commissioning, Wagner invited the Holy Spirit to come with power and direction. He then proceeded to lay a “Biblical foundation” for what was to follow, reading from…
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1 “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16 The past few years have brought a gamut of emotions and realizations while pondering on the trials of life and the things we endure in this world. The words of Jesus Christ have…
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV There was a time when my…