Head-dibs

Here's a question often heard (or something like it): "So, why does your church do ____ and that church does ____ ?" or "Why does your church say _____ and this church says _____ ? Who's right?" This is actually an ancient question, easily answered with two words. Our Lord Jesus Christ walked this earth and  met many people, one of whom was an outcast woman who lived in the city of Sychar. She asked Jesus directly: " Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship .” (John 4:20 [ESV2011]) In other words, "Who's right?" Jesus answer: "Believe Me . . ." That's enough right there. Think it over.

"The picture is whatever the vine is, the branch is going to produce in fruit. So if Christ is the vine, then the production of fruit from us--the branches--is really going to be His life manifested through us. What do we see, first and foremost, when we look at Jesus? I think the very first thing that we would probably have to say in consideration of the life of Christ is that Jesus is love. He was loving. He was full of love for people. Jesus was not aloof or detached from people. Jesus loved people, not theoretically, but practically. . . . We can easily forget that the ministry is about loving people. Preaching is an important thing, obviously. Teaching the Bible is vital to any ministry, but you can sort of undermine what you say by how you treat people. How you deal with people and the attitude that you demonstrates toward them is vital. people always knew one thing about Jesus--they knew that He loved them. And if we are really bearing fruit, I think that God's peopl...

"The Gospels say that women were the first to see the resurrected Christ (Mary first and then to the other women) and then to Peter and then to the Twelve. Later in the New Testament, Paul says that Peter (Cephas) was the first one to see Christ after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:5). Which is correct?" Since men’s testimonies were considered legal (official) in the first century, it is understandable that the apostle Paul would not list the women as witnesses in his defense of the resurrection in his letter to the Corinthians. Jesus did appear first to Mary Magdalene, then to the other women, and then to Peter. Paul was not giving a complete list. The order of the appearances of Christ is as follows: The order of the Resurrection appearances is as follows: Mary and the women (Matthew 28:1-10; John 20:10–18); Peter (1 Corinthians 15:5); Two disciples (Luke 24:13–35); Ten apostles (Luke 24:36–49; John 20:19–23); Eleven apostles (John 20:24–31); Seven apostles ...

This question reminds me of those lateral thinking problems: “A man and his son are in a car crash. The father is killed and the child is taken to hospital gravely injured. When he gets there, the surgeon says, 'I can't operate on this boy - for he is my son!!!' How can this possibly be?” Some evidence has been withheld behind the question, so the problem appears to be more difficult than it really is; for example: Matthew 28:2-5 describes at least one angel who seemed to be the one responsible for rolling the stone, as witnessed by the guards, not the women. “ And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men .” When the women arrive, there is no mention that they see the one who sat on the stone. We do know they see at least one sitting inside t...

Matthew 27:57-60, Mark 15:43-46 and Luke 23:5-53 each state the Joseph of Arimathea took down and buried the body of Jesus. John 19:38-42 says the same thing, only adding one piece of information the others did not: Nicodemus helped Joseph. That’s not a problem, nor is it a contradiction. So what? Well, Acts 13:27-29 says that the Jews and their rulers crucified, took down and buried the body of Jesus. “ For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb .”  Ok, so who are the Jews and their rulers? Mark 15:43 shows that Joseph of Arimathea is both a Jew and a ruler, “ Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who hi...

Satan tried to keep the student body at CIU from hearing this message, but Claude Alexander of The Park Ministries was able to deliver " Resisting the Wrong Time " during Tuesday's Chapel.  Don't miss this!

The word “abide” is a term that occurs often in the New Testament. As a verb, we understand that abiding does not always depend on an object; that is, in its range of meaning, to “remain, stay, dwell, lodge, remain, last, persist, continue to live, wait,” can be literal or figurative. This becomes clear as we appreciate the depth of meaning by examining in John’s Gospel the one doing the action as well by investigating where the action is performed. Categorically speaking, the action of abiding is accomplished by God the Father (14:10), God the Son, Jesus (1:38-39; 4:40; 6:56; 7:9; 10:40; 11:6, 54; 12:24, 34; 14:25; 15:4-5; 19:31), and the Holy Spirit (1:32, 33; 14:17). God’s Word is described as abiding (5:38; 15:7). The disciples, Jesus’ mother and his brothers, even John (the disciple whom Jesus loved), are observed to “abide” (in some form of the word) where Jesus was (1:39; 2:12; 21:22). Considering eternal matters, we find positive and negative aspects of abiding. Positively, ete...

I was handing out gospel tracts during a visit to the grocery store (I come close to emptying my pockets sharing the gospel this way. I primarily keep my eye out for bored people who are tagging along while someone else does the shopping—they would do nearly anything to pass the time, so gospel tracts are a great diversion). I rounded the corner and passed by a small elderly African-American woman pushing her basket. I extended a gospel tract to her, “May God bless you as you read this.” She put her hand out to take it, and asked, “What is it?” “It’s a gospel tract,” I replied, then repeated, “May God bless you as you read this.” This dear old lady snapped her hand back like I had slapped it and turned her head as if I’d suddenly gone invisible. “No! I don’t want that from you!” She quickened her pace away from me. My heart broken from her reaction, I was nearly weeping when I spoke a half-hearted “Good evening” to her. I don’t know how to wish someone’s grandmother (or great-grandmoth...

John 5:1-18 is the record of Jesus showing a particular kindness to a lame man. Why not say Jesus performed a miracle? There certainly was a miracle performed, but there is much more, which will become clear. The man received not one, but three acts of kindness in the miracle. First, we notice that Jesus gave this man freedom from his physical condition. Immediately I recall and contrast the request (and failed attempt) of Houdini to restore the amputated leg of a French actress (see previous post on “Kindness”). The man had not been able to walk for many years, until Jesus confronted him, “Do you wish to get well?” Obviously the man not only answered in the affirmative, but also provided a history of what had been attempted for him previously. There is nothing anyone could have done to help the man and he remained immobilized in his condition. Jesus heals the man, who is immediately “up and running,” so to speak. The second kindness we notices is that Jesus gave this man freedom from ...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." So reads the Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4, 1776. Members of the American Colonies were declaring themselves free from British rule, free to make their own decisions, free to buy and sell as they wished, and free to make their own laws and impose justice as they saw fit. The important document ends thus: " And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor ." What stirring words! No doubt much thought, and even prayer, went into the writing of them. Our early fathers believed in the all-powerful God and we can be thankful that our nation was founded by men who read their Bibles and put Scriptural principles into pra...

" You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life ." (John 5:39-40) Within this wondrous volume lies The mystery of mysteries; Happiest they of human race To whom their God has given grace To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, To lift the latch, to find the way; And better had they neer been born Who read to doubt, or read to scorn. (Sir Walter Scott, "Explore The Book," Vol. 1, J. Sidlow Baxter, p.8.)

" There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light ." (John 1:6-8) Perhaps you have heard from time to time about some of "those" phone calls pastors receive. "A word from the LORD" has been "recieved" by someone with nothing more than good (or bad) intentions: thoughts regarding the pastor, the church, his sermons and/or delivery, and the list goes on. Pastors often listen and thank the caller, hang up and go back to work with little or no consideration. Some calls get screened. Once in a while, a trusted friend calls. James Ryle (not to be confused with J.C. Ryle of the 19th Century) tells of a call he once received from a friend that had a deep impact on his ministry. He describes this friend as "a man who rises early in the morning and spends great lengths of time in prayer; a man of si...

Rose was blind for fifty years. “I just can’t believe it,” she gasped, after finally undergoing delicate surgery in an Ontario hospital. For the first time in her life she saw a beautiful world of form and color. Here’s the stunning part of the story: twenty years of her blindness had been unnecessary. The surgical techniques used could have given her vision when she was thirty; the operation had already been perfected by then. The doctor said, “she just figured there was nothing that could be done for her condition.” Why did Rose live twenty years assuming her situation was hopeless? Probably she was not looking for a remedy, had given up hope, or perhaps those who knew of the operation just never told her about it. Millions of people walk in spiritual blindness needlessly, for there is a remedy. Why do they continue groping in darkness? Two reasons: the first is that some have quit searching, assuming their condition is hopeless. But don’t give up! God has provided what you need, so ...

I think the best answer one could give would begin by turning this question into a statement: “What I believe matters because loving Jesus is enough;” or, “Love for Jesus matters for what I believe.” The problem this question exposes is that as God has put within mankind the knowledge of Him, and mankind must acknowledge He is there; however, mankind does not want to bow to anything above him. Man would rather take something from below him and worship that instead. The difficulty lies in the attempt to place something from below into the place above, between him and the Highly Exalted One who deserves all worship. One wants to believe, only not “Him.” One wants to believe, only one does not want to do what He says. The other problem this question exposes is that one wants to be as religious or devoted to the object of worship as possible, only one feels threatened by the doctrines associated thereunto. What must one know in order to believe effectively? Jesus actually addressed our que...

" This sickness is not unto death ." John 11:4 From our Lord’s words we learn that there is a limit to sickness. Here is an "unto" within which its ultimate end is restrained, and beyond which it cannot go. Lazarus might pass through death, but death was not to be the ultimatum of his sickness. In all sickness, the Lord saith to the waves of pain, "Hitherto shall ye go, but no further." His fixed purpose is not the destruction, but the instruction of his people. Wisdom hangs up the thermometer at the furnace mouth, and regulates the heat. 1. The limit is encouragingly comprehensive. The God of providence has limited the time, manner, intensity, repetition, and effects of all our sicknesses; each throb is decreed, each sleepless hour predestinated, each relapse ordained, each depression of spirit foreknown, and each sanctifying result eternally purposed. Nothing great or small escapes the ordaining hand of him who numbers the hairs of our head . 2. This lim...

From today's reading (3/3 "The Unrelieved Quest") in "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, I was grabbed by these thoughts: "Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is—"Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ’Feed My sheep.’ " . . . If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions—I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or released from His commission to us." These words became volitile to me when reflected against John 15:16-17. John Piper explained in a message delivered in Augusta, GA (2001) that "God is Soveriegn and Life is War." Piper explains John 15:16-17 and the close connection with ministry to the necessity of prayer (that description does nothing for the weight of the truth): "we are chosen, sent to ...