February 15, 2019
by Sam Martin
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Category:
Knowledge
Prophets played a vital role in God's plan for his people. They were his spokesmen. When his people strayed, the prophets were commissioned to beckon them back. In the New Covenant of Christ's blood, the role of Prophet seems to disappear. But when we examine the life of a Spirit-filled believer named Stephen, we can see why their role is now obsolete....
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February 8, 2019
by Sam Martin
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Category:
Holiness
There's a popular phrase that needs some fine tuning. A phrase that once resonated to a culture that needed it has lost its luster. I mean who hasn't heard the phrase "personal relationship with Jesus Christ"? ...
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January 29, 2019
by Jeff Schaefer
| Tags: bible, faith, reason, translation
If the Bible has been accurately translated, and it checks out as good history by the strictest standards, we would do well to look into it and take its claims seriously....
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January 26, 2019
by Sam Martin
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Category:
Faith
When you ask what should be most important to Christians, an easy answer that will get the most gold stars is "glorifying Jesus". But what does it mean to glorify Jesus? A better way to say it might be "to make Jesus matter to people". The Church (you and me) is in the business of making Jesus matter. Let's consider how...
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January 20, 2019
by Sam Martin
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Category:
Evangelism
The Bible is translated in English so that we can easily understand it. But, we cannot expect that the concepts or even some of the terms it uses will be understood by someone who wasn't raised with it. More and more, America's generations are becoming those people. We have to change how we communicate. ...
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January 11, 2019
by Sam Martin
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Category:
Knowledge
There are large organizations calling themselves the true church of Jesus Christ. The main reason they insist that they are the true church is because they lay claim to apostolic succession. In other words, they believe the first Apostles have passed their office and authority down to replacements and their church still retains these individuals today. But is there Biblica...
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January 4, 2019
by Sam Martin
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Category:
Faith
Bouncy castles, cotton candy machines, fun music; is it a carnival? O lots of kids playing, must be a festival. Nope, it's a Church outreach. Rats! Those Christians got me again! I should've known something was up when I noticed the guy in his mid-twenties in skinny jeans playing with all the teenagers! He had Youth Pastor written all over him!...
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December 19, 2018
Many of us have a view of God that paints him as holy and therefore unblemished by the dark world in which we live. We believe he is pure and lovely. We believe he is perfect in all of his ways.
But not everyone has that high opinion of God; and some of them may not be who you think. In fact, I know people who attend religious services every week who have a jaded view of ...
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November 30, 2018
by Sam Martin
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Category:
Knowledge, Who is God
When you’re not sure if a chair is structurally sound, you don’t sit in it to see if it is. You press on it. You might shake it a little. Even when you sit down on the chair, you’re going to ease on to it with caution. How do we press on the Bible? How do shake it up? How do we ease in?...
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November 24, 2018
by Sam Martin
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Category:
Knowledge
Truth is a statement that agrees with reality. This means that we can know something to be true by simply comparing it to reality. When people mature into independent thinkers, they sometimes have the boldness to take things they have assumed to be true and sought to find if they agree with reality. When some truth-claims turn out to be false, it can cause a real crisis. B...
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