Archive for April 2012
Do the Catacomb Paintings of Jesus Help Us Imagine His Likeness at His Second Coming?
Sermon Series in Revelation # 02 Revelation 1:9-20 9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s…
Read MoreThe Book of Revelation Ends the Same for Everyone — God says, "Checkmate!"
Sermon Series in Revelation # 01 Revelation 1:1-8 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of…
Read MoreFaith, Freedom, and the First Amendment: The Guarantee of Religious Liberty
Freedom of religion is at the heart of the American understanding of liberty. Under our constitutional order, the free exercise of religion is not a mere matter of toleration but an inalienable natural right.
As George Washington explained in his famous letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport: “All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.” There are, of course, some limits to the free exercise of religion. Citizens cannot invoke the First Amendment to break general laws (although exemptions may be granted).
But within the confines of the law, all citizens have the same right of conscience. This essay is adapted from The Heritage Guide to the Constitution for a series providing constitutional guidance for lawmakers.
Visit the Heritage Foundation to learn more
Read MoreJesus told Mary, “I am Not Yet Ascended” — Didn’t He Already Go to Heaven?
Jesus makes two ascents. Take a moment to think this through. There are two events when Jesus ascends into Heaven.
First, after His death on the Cross Jesus immediately ascends into the congregation of the saints in heaven. Jesus told the thief hanging next to Him that they were both going to heaven.
This answers the question, “Where was Jesus during the three days His body was in the grave?”
The second ascent is recorded in the Bible in Acts 1:3-11. This is called the Ascension.
The difference is that in the first ascending of Jesus in Heaven He does so as a Man. He joins with the saints for three days without a resurrected body. He then goes back and forth to heaven for 40 days with a resurrected body.
The Ascension is different entirely. In the Ascension God answers Jesus prayer in John 20:5 “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”
This is why Mary couldn’t cling to Jesus and keep Him for herself. He wasn’t yet fully ascended.
Read MoreIs the National Debt a Sin?
Every time Christians elect politicians willing to spend more in taxes than we collect, we cosign our good names to the generational theft from future generations. This is a great sin.
What is the role of the Church? We need to preach against stealing.
Is our national debt really stealing? It is no different than taking a credit card out in our child’s name. If we borrow for our own comforts, and borrow more than we can every hope to pay back, then we are shifting the responsibility for that debt to them. Regardless of our good intentions, that’s white collar crime.
The Greatest Generation will be known, by future generations, as the Morally Bankrupt Generation. We are borrowing money to give charity (Welfare, Medicaid and Food Stamps) on the backs of our grand-children. It will be known as the Greatest Crime in a Thousand Years.
Nehemiah tells us how to fix it if we are willing to get involved.
Read MoreDid God Pollute the Environment by Creating Oil?
There are voices within our culture trying to remove the label “GOOD” from the creation.
Many things that God called good, they call bad. 
Oil is a good example. We are not committing a sin by unlocking the energy within the creation. God placed it there for us to find and use.
We are not sinful for cutting down trees to make paper or build homes.
The Biblical model of the family is not a curse on women. The Ten commandments are not an infringement on liberty or free speech.
We must not adopt the world’s negative view toward God’s amazing gifts.
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