Hello all, this is the most recent sermon that I gave for Columbus First Church of the Nazarene. I believe that this prayer of Jesus is important for us to understand today.
Did you know that there are good Christian magazines out there that you can get for FREE? If you like to read, but are looking for something to read in addition to books, then it may be worth your time to check out these free Christian magazines. Some of them are hard copies, and some of them are pdf versions of their magazine. Either way, they are free, and they are chock-full of good information. 1. The Voice of the Martyrs The Voice of the Martyrs was founded in 1967 by Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand. After the USSR took over Romania in 1944, Wurmbrand worked with the underground church, which eventually led to his arrest and 14 years of torture and persecution in Communist prison. Eventually, Wurmbrand was ransomed out and came to the United States. Since Wurmbrand founded the organization, it has worked tirelessly to keep Christians in the Western world informed about the persecution that our brothers and sisters around the world are going through, as well as providing ...
There are different beliefs within the King James Only Movement. I would like to explore two of them in this introduction. It is important to understand some key distinctions between these two groups, or else it may seem that I am attacking a position that I am not attacking. Therefore, I will draw a distinction between two different groups within the King James Only Movement. The first camp simply asserts that the King James Version is the best English translation. This claim could be labelled the "Classic KJV-Only" position. This is the position that was held by what appears to be the majority of people who advocated for the King James Version's superiority to other translations up until about the middle of the 20th century. Typically, a person in this group will hold to the idea that the Textus Receptus is divinely preserved, and the King James Version is the best translation from the Textus Receptus. Or, in some cases, that the Textus Receptus is the best Greek basi...
Dear Reader, If you are reading this letter, you may have walked away from the church at some point. I understand, because I have been there, too. I once left the church, and later came back. Today, I am glad that I gave the church a second chance. If you have walked away from the church, I want to meet you where you are at in this letter. At least, I want to do this for as many of you as possible. The reasons why people have left the church are varied, and it is not possible for me to talk about everything in a single letter. It is my hope that the conversation that I am trying to start does not end at this letter. It is my hope and prayer that this little letter simply serves as a beginning to a bigger, and longer, conversation. Some of you grew up in the church and walked away when you reached adulthood. Some of you came to church as an adult, but left after a short time. Some of you may have attended church once and never looked back. No matter what your situation is, I want ...
The title of this post is a claim that I woke up to from an atheist in one of our debate groups. It is not a new statement, to say the least, but it seems that this claim is making the rounds once again. Although this claim has been shown fallacious in the past, that doesn't stop it from being parroted again after a short cooldown period. This is not the first time this claim has made the rounds, and it will not be the last time. So how do we, as Christians, respond to this? In short, it depends on the nuance behind the argument. Let me explain what I mean. The claim that was made in a theist/atheist debate group If, by this response, the person giving it means that, if you have to argue for something, it must not be true. Or, at least, it must not be obvious enough to accept. However, this nuance to the argument is simply a non-sequitur. This is easy to show by simply parodying the argument. Take some examples: "If gravity were real, you wouldn't need scientists to argue ...
The book of James is one of the most practical books in the New Testament. James was written early in the life of the church and focuses primarily on practical issues in the Jewish-Christian communities that he wrote to. Issues such as pride and humility, faith and works, the tamed and untamed tongue, trials and temptations, and the proper treatment of the poor were issues that James felt compelled to address in these new communities of believers. The timeless nature of James addresses these issues that still need to be addressed in some corners of the church. This letter is both thoroughly Jewish, yet distinctly Christian. James has rightly earned the title "The Proverbs of the New Testament." This book reads less like a theological treatise and more like a sermon. Perhaps because of this, the book of James has been notoriously difficult to outline. Dr. J. Michael Walters notes, "For centuries, the conventional approach to the book of James was to view it as a loosely...
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