The greatest in the kingdom, are those who know and follow Christ. It is those who follow Christ that witness the kingdom’s reality. There is more to the kingdom than just believing……we must follow and do. God’s wisdom is seen in Jesus’ deeds and His teaching. Matthew 11:11-12 are part of the story of John the Baptist sending a messenger to Jesus. In order to understand these verses we must look at them in context. Read More
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May31st
2 CommentsThe Kingdom of Heaven: Matthew 11:11-12 / Luke 7:28, “John the Baptist Sends Messengers to Jesus”
Posted in: Kingdom of Heaven
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May8th
BIBLE DIFFICULTIES:Reconciling The Law- Matthew 5:17-19
Posted in: Bible Difficulties, Sermon On The Mount
A friend asked me me today, “How do you renconcile Matt 5:17-19 in regards to all the Levitical laws and OT teachings of ritualistic behavior?”The first thing we should do is look at the Scripture in context:
Matthew 5:17-20(TNIV)
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.This is such a great question because there is much contrast between the Old and New Testaments. Let’s first look at verse 17 and 18. Read More
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May2nd
Nag Hammadi texts
I was asked some time ago about Gnosticism. If you recall, Pastor Phil has even mentioned Gnostic thought in some of his sermons from the book of Hebrews. So, what is Gnosticism? What about those “lost Gospels” we hear about on TV? Let’s take a look:
Gnosticism is modern term to describe a number of religious and philosophical perspectives that existed before the establishment of Christianity and extended into the first two centuries after the crucifixion of Jesus. In reecent years there has been a been a resurgence in this school of thought due primarily to the findings of their writings at Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945 as well as books like Dan Brown’s, “Davinci Code”. Read More
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April25th
A friend emailed me the following question. Maybe you have the same struggle. Let’s look closer at what God wants for us:“I’ve always struggled with this verse: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” For a time, I thought I truly understood it but then I get tripped up when I read articles on it or hear different pastors preach on it. Does this verse mean that watching secular tv is wrong? Does it mean that watching movies or listening to music with potentially questionable content are a sin? Aren’t these “of the world” and consequently things that shouldn’t be a part of a Christian’s life? I’m confused! As you know, I’m a huge fan of t.v, music and film and various other cultural things (like visual art and plays) and often wonder if I am not supposed to partake in them.” Read More
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April20th
When I began this journey, I wanted to put these two phrases that were the core of Jesus’ teaching in a box. I soon started to see that this would not be so easy a journey, but that it would be a journey that led from one place to another. The journey of understanding “the kingdom of heaven/Kingdom of God” really starts with what this phrase would mean to the average “Jew or Hebrew on the street”…..and it ends with Jesus.Let’s take a look at what these words, this thought, this phrase– “kingdom of Heaven/kingdom of God” –would mean to the average Jew when they heard it. Why the Jews? Because Jesus and His disciples were Jews. Because God clearly chose Israel to carry His message. Context is always important. Read More
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April10th
Forgiveness: Cleaning Our Wounds
Posted in: Topical
I wanna tell you about two men……Old Jack and Old John. They were both elder’s in the same church, but were always at odds with each other. They were constantly at each others’ throat especially in elder meetings. When one of them said “yes,” you could be assured that the other would say “no.” Read More -
March29th
The Kingdom of Heaven: Matthew 13:11/Mark 4:11/Luke 8:10, “The Purpose of Parables”
Posted in: Kingdom of Heaven
Here we have three Scriptures of the same scene, the scene of Jesus telling the disciples the purpose of parables. As I would expect, Matthew uses “the kingdom of heaven” language and both Mark and Luke use “the kingdom of God”. Again, pointing to the fact that both the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are one and the same.Let’s look closer at Jesus teaching the disciples the purpose of parables. In context, we will be looking at the following Scriptures: Matthew 13:10-17, Mark 4:10-12 and Luke 8:9-10. Read More
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March26th
A friend of mine went to a Bible study this week and contacted me with this question:“….we read a good amount of Romans. We ended up discussing how we are saved by faith alone, but I couldn’t help but disagree. James 2:24 clearly says we are not saved by works alone, and Matthew 7:21 says “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kindgom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”. Ephesians 2:8-10 also addresses two different kind of works, and I also heard somewhere that “Faith must Act or it isn’t Faith”.
I don’t know if there are any contradictions in the Bible, but clearly there’s something going on with Romans and James. Am I missing something here? To be honest I don’t like questioning the Bible, but I don’t think that we are saved by faith alone. If you can help me out with this in anyway I would greatly appreciate it. I know you’re the one person I can count on for this kind of stuff!!!” Read More
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March26th
As we continue on in our study look at the kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God we come to the story of Jesus sending out the twelve disciples in the Gospel of Matthew 10:1-15. We find this same story recounted also in the Gospels of Mark (Mark 6:7-13) and Luke (Luke 9:1-6). Read More -
March9th
They have finally found a diagnosis for my condition. Hooray!! I have recently been diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D.! Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder…Let me explain, tell me if this isn’t familiar:I decide to work on a new song! I start toward the JamminStation and notice the mail on the table. Ok, I’m going to work on a new song. But first I’m going to go through the mail. I lay my pic and capo down on the desk, discard the junk mail and I notice the trashcan is full. Ok, I’ll just put the bills on my desk and take the trashcan out, but since I’m going to be near the mailbox anyway, I’ll pay these few bills first. Now, where is my checkbook? Oops, there’s only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk. Oh, there’s the bottle of water I was drinking. I’m going to look for those checks. But first, my water is warm, oh, maybe I’ll pop it into the fridge to keep it cold for a while. Read More
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