A WHOLE MAN

5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved. 1 Corinthians 11:5 I cannot remember where I read this, but one of the benefits from learning under a Pastor that teaches expositionally vs topically is that you have greater growth as a believer. Why? Generally speaking, it is because pastors who preach topically will cherry pick Bible verses for a specific topic that they are already very comfortable with. The end result is a congregation that is shallow in certain Biblical books and doctrines and usually never surpass their own pastor’s knowledge. However, a pastor who preaches expositionally must wrestle with the text and will have his own biases and long-held beliefs challenged; he must be thoroughly consistent and wholly Biblically. The result is that you will have a congregation that grows with the pastor and is semper reformanda ( forever reforming ). In addition to the above poi...

13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:13  Perhaps your story is very much like my own. I had grown up in the church believing that if I did not speak in “tongues” then I had not received a special anointing from the Spirit. I would actively attend special worship services to be “filled” more with the spirit and eagerly joined prophetic word services to receive a “special” word from God. It was not until I heard the Gospel for the very first time (more than 17 years after being in the church) that God saved me in my sins. It was then that I, like Dorothy, finally looked behind the green curtain to see the fraud behind. While it may be commendable that these false prophets are leading people to desire a deeper relationship and nearness to God, it does not excuse the fact that they are leading people to have a superficial desire for God, their method...

Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. 2 You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message, I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose 1 Corinthians 15:1-2  Not to reinforce any stereotypes, but growing up with an Asian mother I was encouraged very early to learn the piano. I was in no way forced, but loved to learn new instruments. Eventually, some of my friends at the church and I got together and played in the church band. One of the most important lessons that you learn is that you are not playing a song individually, but collectively as one. And equally as important as playing the same song is the importance for each member to be united in tempo and tone; otherwise the song will be worse than a Duran Duran song. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is a reminder of the importance of unity. He writes to a church that finds itself being influenced by the world around it. Corinth...