Leaving Our First Love

God Rejected King Saul, But Declared King David a Man After His Own Heart. Didn’t God Get this Backwards?

Ian Johnson November 14, 2021 7 Comments

God rejected King Saul, a bungler who made a few mistakes trying to do God’s will, his own way. But he accepted King David, a rapist and murderer, forgave him two unforgivable sins, promised him an eternal kingdom, called him a man after his own heart–and put him in Jesus’ lineage! Didn’t God get this backwards? NO!!

Confession and Repentance, Desire to have our own way, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, God's rationality, Leaving Our First Love, Peril of Seeking Power, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Sin, Sins versus sin, Social control and statecraft, The Problem of Evil, Trusting sight over God's words, What is sin?

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Repentance in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31

Ian Johnson October 3, 2021 1 Comment

Like the rich man who ignored the needs of poor Lazarus in the parable, those who self-indulgently use their wealth and are indifferent to the needs of the poor need to repent. But, because they are accustomed to ignoring God, most have rendered themselves incapable of repentance–even if someone rises from the dead to warn them (as Jesus did).

Changed treatment of each other, Leaving Our First Love, Refusing to hear, Repentance, Sin, What is sin?

abuse of wealth, God's Word, Hades, Hell, indifference, Lazarus, parables, parables of Jesus, Poor, repentance, Rich man and Lazarus, self-indulgence, the Law and the Prophets

Joy in Heaven Over One Sinner Repenting: The Parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son

Ian Johnson September 11, 2021 3 Comments

The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coins and the two lost sons, one of them the “Prodigal son,” in Luke 15 show our value to God, God’s search for us, and our returning to him, or not, in repentance, and teach why we should not be judgmental toward those who appear great “sinners.”

Changed treatment of each other, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Free will, God's purpose for us, His Children, Leaving Our First Love, Merit, Repentance, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Salvation

acceptance, judgmental, lost coin, Lost sheep, lost sons, our value to God, prodigal son, repent, repentance, sons

IDOLS = Gods we can Manipulate (Do ut des.)

Ian Johnson July 6, 2021 15 Comments

Idols are gods we think we can manipulate to give us our own way, individually, corporately or nationally, through service, sacrifices and offerings. The true God cannot be so manipulated, but we can convert even the true God into an idol in our own minds by supposing that he can be.

Desire to have our own way, Greed, idolatry, Leaving Our First Love, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Religious violence and persecution, Sin, Sins versus sin, Truth and Falsehood, Wars as consequences, What is sin?

city, commercial exchange, idol, Idolatry, idols, nation, offering, priesthood, ritual, ruling elite, sacrifice, service

The Departure of Organized Christianity from its Roots, Second through Sixth Centuries CE

Ian Johnson December 25, 2020 1 Comment

This is an outline of the second part of my attempt to link early errors of organized Christianity to the state of the modern world–specifically, in this part, by showing the origins and entrance of specific errors before Muhammad which profoundly affected subsequent history. Links will be added as future posts are written.

A God who Speaks, Adoption, Authority Contests, Background Information, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Church purpose versus church growth, Complex unity, Compulsory Christianity, Discipline or Correction, Disputes about words, Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Free will, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's sovereignty, God's Voice, Greed, Heresy, Historical Background, Index, Injustice and Lawsuits, Jesus the Son, Leaving Our First Love, Male and female, Marriage, Marriage and Reproduction, Merit, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Prophecy, Purpose of the Church, Quarrels, Regeneration, Religious violence and persecution, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Salvation, Sin, Sins versus sin, Site Index Page, Social control and statecraft, Son of Man, The Bible, Through the church, To be in his image, Trinity, Unity, Wars as consequences, What is God's Word, What is sin?

Christian Divisions, Fifth Century Christianity, Fourth Century Christianity, Hellenistic Phiolosophy, heresy, Heresy hunting, Index, Just War Theory, Monotheism, Roman Law, Roman Law and Jurisprudence, Roman Religion, Rome, Second Century Christianity, Sixth Century Christianity, Syncretism, Third Century Christianity

On the Other Extreme—1 Timothy 4 and Colossians 2

Ian Johnson October 29, 2020 2 Comments

Divisions in the church have been started not only by leaders who taught license to attract followers, but also by leaders who taught extreme asceticism– that God is only pleased by those who keep the strict rules they prescribe.

Authority Contests, Divisions in the Church, Heresy, Leaving Our First Love, Peril of Seeking Power, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Social control and statecraft

asceticism, Divisions, extreme ascetic, heresy, heretic, morality, rules, strictness