Categories
Band

Not worthy of me

Yesterday, I had a great conversation with a Muslim friend of mine. We were talking about the final days of the earth, discussing that both we as Christians as well as Muslims are awaiting Jesus’s return to the earth to bring judgment and justice amongst all people. Then this morning I read these words from […]

Categories
Band

Playing Politics

The backroom deals can make things happen at times that leave you scratching your head. Just when you thought you knew the rules, you find out that the rules have been changed. That is what the Jewish leaders try to do with Paul. As Festus, the new puppet king ruling over the area from Caesarea, […]

Categories
Band

Everything in the Law and Prophets

As I noted yesterday, Jesus had told Paul that he would go on to testify for him in Rome. Paul wouldn’t stay there in Jerusalem. His story wouldn’t end there, but instead he would continue on and take the story of Jesus into the heart of the Gentile world of that time. The commander Claudius […]

Categories
Band

Stark reality

You know, those that walk in God’s way, He will protect them. We are blessed. God is watching over me and will protect me. Those that obey God will be protected by God. I hear these types of statements made pretty routinely amongst Christians. Sometimes I speak up, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes it comes up […]

Categories
Band

Beyond This Life

Our concerns are most frequently on this life. Our thoughts are frequently here, in this place and in this time. Our prayers are most frequently focused on the problems of today. But I’ve been struck recently by how different this is from the perspective that we see in the Scriptures, from the narrative that we […]

Categories
General

Why so harsh, man?

This morning, we were reading Matthew 10 as part of our team’s regular Bible study. Jesus sends out his disciples to the Israelite towns, but spends most of his time giving them a warning that persecution, beatings, and even death await them because they are his disciples and because of what he is sending them […]

Categories
Prosperity Gospel

The Prosperity Gospel and Jesus

At the end of our previous meeting, our friend who believed that the Bible promises us riches if we become a Christian said that blessings in the Old Testament and the New Testament must be different. Surely we are intended to be rich based on the promises of the New Testament because he said that […]

Categories
General

The Role of Suffering in the Kingdom of God

I was recently reading Matthew 10 with some others here in Catania. Jesus selected the 12 disciples and immediately sent them out to tell others about the Kingdom of God. There are some interesting things that I see here in this chapter, specifically related to suffering and persecution as he sent them out. Here are […]

Categories
Biblical Roadmap for Starting New Churches

New Believers Become the Church

I think it is safe to say that the most prolific church planter that we can read about in the scriptures was the Apostle Paul. He started many churches where there were no churches before and taught new disciples to do the same. As a result, as we think about a Biblical Roadmap for Starting […]

Categories
Band

Cornerstone

Frequently, as I speak with both new and old Catholic friends, they ask me: “But what about the saints?” We speak of Jesus and our faith in him, but the first discussion that my Catholic friends want to have is with regard to the saints. They are referring to Peter, James, John, Paul, and many […]