June 2020 – The Kingdom of the Heavens

“Greater Works than These” was a Promise to the Apostles Together and Victory is Promised to the Church Together

Ian Johnson June 29, 2020 5 Comments

The promises of victory, of spiritual gifts, and of works greater than those Jesus did, were not made to us individually, but as members of a functioning Body. They are given for the express purpose of building us up together, in unity, and so revealing Christ to the world. They only function properly in that context.

A God who Speaks, Church purpose versus church growth, God Acts by Speaking, God Speaks to Us, In the Church, Meaning of Unity, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Prophecy, Purpose of the Church, Restoration of God's Image, The universal Church and local churches, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, To live in unity, Victory

Apostles, Body of Christ, Church, Church together, Church unity, greater works than these, head, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Pentecost, under his feet, under our feet, victory

Unforgiveness, the Breaking of Unity, can also Cause Physical Illness and Death

Ian Johnson June 28, 2020 2 Comments

The physical health of believers, the occurrence of healing in the Church, and the manifestation of oneness in the Church are also tied to one another. Living in disunity can lead to illness and premature death.

Church purpose versus church growth, Death of Members, Discipline or Correction, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Illness as a Consequence, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Salvation, To be in his image, To live in unity

Ananias and Sapphira, correction, discipline, disunity, division, healing, health, sin, the prayer of faith, Unity, Unity of believers

Do We Want the Peace and Restoration of Unity and Mutual Forgiveness, or the “Torturers” of Mental Illness?

Ian Johnson June 28, 2020 7 Comments

Our peace, joy and effectiveness are dependent on our unity as shown by forgiveness and the resolution of offenses between us, God takes division and unforgiveness so seriously because it damages all parties to the offense and limits the Body of Christ. When we neglect this, we are given over to the tormentors–guilt, fear, anxiety and mental illness.

Church purpose versus church growth, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Illness as a Consequence, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Purpose of the Church, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, Sins versus sin, To live in unity, Uncategorized

anxiety, Body of Christ, Church, division, fear, forgive, forgiveness, guilt, mental illness, oneness, restoration, shame, torment, tormentors, torture, torturers, unforgiveness, unforgiving servant, Unity, Unity of believers

Hearing and Understanding God’s Voice is Dependent on Our Oneness

Ian Johnson June 21, 2020 5 Comments

God is not silent. He is always speaking, and has always spoken to humans. But the humans who recognize and understand his voice are members of his flock. And those who distance themselves from the flock, not living in unity, cannot accurately discern his voice.

A God who Speaks, God Acts by Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's rationality, God's Voice, His Friends, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Prophecy, The Bible, Through the church, To live in unity, What is God's Word

Bible, Conversation with God, Dialog with God, History, Jacques Ellul, my sheep hear my voice, prophecy of Caiaphas

About Racism

Ian Johnson June 15, 2020 4 Comments

The ultimate solution to our national racisms lies in the Church, in who we are in Christ. We are not called to uncritically support the current social order, no matter how unjust. We are called to show how social divisions are overcome by the Holy Spirit among us.

An abuse of God's image, Christianity and Social Evils, Church purpose versus church growth, Complex unity, Compulsory Christianity, Divisions in the Church, Emotions, God's sovereignty, Human Rationality, Injustice and Lawsuits, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Racism, Rejecting God, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Restoration of God's Image, Show us the Way of Truth, Social control and statecraft, The Bible, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, To be in his image, To live in unity, Uncategorized, What is sin?

#AllLivesMatter, #BlackLivesMatter, change, Christ, Christianity, Dallas Willard, divisive language, equality, favoritism, God, heart change, Holy Spirit, human heart, Jacques Ellul, Jesus, peace, Racism, repent, repentance, Unity

Leaving Our First Love to Fight Each Other as “Heretics”

Ian Johnson June 14, 2020 4 Comments

Christianity lost its true influence in the world when it pursued the power it could gain as a mass movement, stopped loving, and started fighting. One of the overlooked consequences of this was the rise of Islam.

Church purpose versus church growth, Divisions in the Church, Heresy, Islam and Christianity, Islam as a Consequence, Leaving Our First Love, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Religious violence and persecution, Wars as consequences, What Islam borrowed from Christianity

Arabia, Arian, Christ, Christian, Christian history, Christianity, Church History, Coptic, enmity, hate, heresy, heretics, Islam, Jesus, Love, Montanist, Muhammad, Nestorian, Persian church, Quran, Quran 5:14, Trinity, Unity

Are We Mistaken in Practice about the Real Purpose of the Church?

Ian Johnson June 13, 2020 3 Comments

The early church were mostly outcasts, who understood the cost of discipleship and shunned fame, power and wealth as measures of their success. But we have embraced all of those things, and lost our witness and the core of our life in Christ as a result.

Church purpose versus church growth, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability

Christianity, conformity, cost, cost of discipleship, crowds, gospel, Jacques Ellul, mass movement, numbers, popular, popularity, power, safety, seduction, self-denial, success, wealth

Our Oneness Makes Christ Visible to the World

Ian Johnson June 12, 2020 4 Comments

It is our unity that makes Jesus visible to the world in us. It was practical unity that made the Jerusalem church attractive. Restoration of that unity was a precondition to the effective preaching of Steven and Phillip.

Events and Signs, In the Church, Meaning of Unity, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Through others, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, To live in unity, Victory

Christiam unity, Church, Church unity, early Church, evangelism, Jerusalem, make Jesus visible, peace, Phillip, power, salt, saltiness, Samaria, signs and wonders, Steven

Another Consequence of Divisions: Wrongs and Lawsuits Among Us

Ian Johnson June 11, 2020 1 Comment

Our disunity also leads to the multiplication of wrongs and injustices between us, often motivated by our greed. These wrongs lead to lawsuits among us. To our shame, we look just like the world in this matter!

Divisions in the Church, God Speaks to Us, Injustice and Lawsuits, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Through others, Through the church, To live in unity

Body of Christ, Church, disunity, fraud, greed, Injustice, Lawsuits, Offenses, oneness, Unity, wisdom, Wrongs

The First Consequence of Division: A Sick Body

Ian Johnson June 11, 2020 3 Comments

Causes of division in the Body of Christ are compared in the scriptures to gangrene and leprosy. There are also valid comparisons to cancers and autoimmune disorders. Divisions have led to rejection of whole branches of the church by other branches, to religious violence and persecution and to bloody wars. They have also caused many to reject Christianity.

Death of Members, Divisions in the Church, Islam and Christianity, Islam as a Consequence, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Religious violence and persecution, Wars as consequences

2 Timothy 2:16, 2 Timothy 2:17, autoimmune, battlefield injuries, Body of Christ, cancer, chatter, division, empty talk, gangrene, leprosy, religious violence, root of bitterness, sick body, spiritual battle, violence, war

Monthly Archive: June 2020

“Greater Works than These” was a Promise to the Apostles Together and Victory is Promised to the Church Together

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Unforgiveness, the Breaking of Unity, can also Cause Physical Illness and Death

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Do We Want the Peace and Restoration of Unity and Mutual Forgiveness, or the “Torturers” of Mental Illness?

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Hearing and Understanding God’s Voice is Dependent on Our Oneness

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Leaving Our First Love to Fight Each Other as “Heretics”

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Are We Mistaken in Practice about the Real Purpose of the Church?

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Our Oneness Makes Christ Visible to the World

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Another Consequence of Divisions: Wrongs and Lawsuits Among Us

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The First Consequence of Division: A Sick Body

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Monthly Archive: June 2020

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