October 20, 2009

The Fourfold Foundation of the Gospel

Cross

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

As Paul wrote to the brethren in Corinth, he reminded them of the fundamental truths in the gospel upon which everything else was built. In the verses above, the apostle mentioned four facts that are “of first importance” to God’s saving message.
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October 14, 2009

More Righteous than the Religious

Jesus and the Pharisees

The title of this article may sound a little odd. But let me begin by stating that this article is not about how organized religion is wrong – it is not. The point of the article is not to say that religious people are not righteous – many of them are, and they should be. So what is the purpose of this article?

The title is based on one of Jesus’ statements from the Sermon on the Mount:

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).

The scribes and Pharisees were regarded as the religious leaders of that day. Jesus’ point was that in order to follow Him, we must live up to a higher standard than what is commonly accepted – even commended to us – among the religious world. Doing just enough to blend in with those who are religious is not enough to be part of His kingdom.
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October 12, 2009

The Rapid Spread of Islam: Should Christians be Concerned?

Muslim prayer

A new report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has found that approximately 1.57 billion people are now Muslim. This means that nearly 1 in 4 people in the world practice Islam.

To have this kind of growth, the religion is obviously spreading beyond the countries already dominated by Islam. The report noted that “more than 300 million Muslims, or one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population, live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. These minority Muslim populations are often quite large.”

Should this rapid growth of Islam be of any concern to Christians? The answer to that is a resounding yes!
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October 8, 2009

Noah Found Favor in the Eyes of the Lord

Rainbow

In Genesis 3, we read about sin being introduced into the world. Just three chapters later, the sins of man had progressed and compounded to such a point that “the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). It is because of this great wickedness that God decided to destroy mankind (Genesis 6:6-7).

In the next chapter, God sent a flood which destroyed nearly all of mankind (Genesis 7:23). But Noah and his household were spared. “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). We read a few things about Noah before, during, and after the events of the flood that show how he was different from the others who perished and why he found favor with God and was saved.
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October 4, 2009

Everything Pertaining to Life and Godliness

Hand on Bible

Peter wrote that God has “granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). We can be assured by knowing that there is nothing that we need that God has not provided or will not provide for us. In order to make it to heaven, we simply need to take advantage of what God has given. Peter mentioned three things we need to receive our reward.
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September 30, 2009

A Biblical Examination of the Problem of Racism

Racism has long been a problem in our society. While it has evolved and changed forms over time, sadly, it still exists. Society as a whole suffers because of it. As race relations naturally pertain to how we interact with our fellow man, the Bible has some important lessons for us on this subject. There is a good article about racism written by Wayne Jackson that has recently been posted on the Christian Courier website. Below is an excerpt from the article:

“Racism is an insidious evil. It dishonors God’s plan of human development and ethnic diversity. It is judgmental. It constitutes “respect of persons” and thus is not God-like (Acts 10:34; James 2:1); the Greek text literally reads, “God is no respecter of faces.” Human beings ought not to be either.”

You can click on the link to read the rest of the article: The New “R-word” Label.

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September 28, 2009

Number of Women Pastors has Doubled in a Decade

According to a recent study by the Barna Group, the percentage of U.S. Protestant women serving as senior pastors has doubled over the past decade. In the 1990’s, about 5% of Protestant senior pastors were women. In 2009, that number has risen to 10%. A large number of women pastors were associated with “mainline” churches as opposed to more “traditional” churches.

When we consider the topic of women serving in leadership roles in the church, there are a few basic points that need to be understood. This has nothing to do with whether or not women are capable of teaching or directing a group of people. The Barna Group study notes that women pastors are, on average, more educated than men in the same position. The fundamental question is this: What role has God given women in the church?
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