A WHOLE MAN

Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.  Revelation 20:6  Oh no, based on the leading verse you probably can tell that this article is going to focus on the millennial reign of Jesus Christ and what that means. You would be correct, however before we jump into a short exposition on it, I do want to first remind you of the larger purpose for the book of Revelation that I made in the first article (If you have not read it yet, go back and read it). Ok, you’re back? Let’s jump into. In our reading from yesterday and today (specifically Rev 20:2-7), we find that controversial phrase, “a thousand years”. Probably this is the most hotly debated section of the book of Revelation and we really should approach this passage with a measure of humility. Firstly, as Christians we must understand that the book of Revelat...

5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you  Titus 1:5  In this final article in our series on the Pastoral Epistles, we are going to touch on the non-negotiable truths about church leadership or government. Unfortunately, many times the church structure follows the design of man; however, God has spoken clearly through His word about what He desires His church to look like and we would do well to follow His design. We will consider two specific offices in the church, the pastor and the deacon. In both letters to Timothy and in Paul’s letter to Titus, we find instructions on the qualifications of a pastor/bishop/overseer/elder. This does not imply that man has usurped control over the church from God. Truly the church is ruled by Christ, but God has ordained it to be led by the elders. While we most often think of God’s word being challenged on matters of social justice, sexuali...

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...

The Lord spoke to Moses,“Execute vengeance for the Israelites against the Midianites. After that, you will be gathered to your people… They waged war against Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed every male. Numbers 31:1-2, 7  When evangelizing, a common argument that I hear against Christianity is how I could anyone serve a God who would command His people to violently slaughter and kill another people group. In their minds, there is no justification for the taking of another person’s life and because there are several cases for when God does this, it is sufficient evidence that God is not good. There are plenty of ways to respond to this question, and depending on your context some will be more effective than others. For example, for those who condone of abortions the table could be turned on them very easily. But a far more gospel-centered approach is come to an agreeance on a standard for morality. Once there, you can work through whether or not they have m...

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...