God Speaks to Us

From Early Christianity to Islam and Back — 1. The Earliest Christianity

Ian Johnson July 13, 2020 6 Comments

This post is the first in a series of six outlining a broad view of how things in the Church and the world got to be as they are now, including contributions early Christianity and Islam made to each other. This post attempts to outline the basic positions of early Christianity. Comments are invited!

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Christian history, Christianity, Christianity and Islam, doctrine, Early Christianity, History of Christianity, New Testament, New Testament Christianity

God Provides for Our Needs through Our Unity

Ian Johnson July 3, 2020 3 Comments

God’s pattern shown in the Early Church was to provide for the needs of its members through its unity. In unity, we regard ourselves and everything we own as God’s, and give unselfishly to the needs of others, as he directs us. This gives the world a picture of God himself.

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Unity and Answers to Prayer

Ian Johnson July 2, 2020 5 Comments

Jesus’ promises of answered prayer are directly tied to our unity. Answered prayer does not depend on our goodness or qualifications. The prayers God has promised to answer are those made under his authority, in love, for the good of the whole Church.

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“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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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!

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God’s Promises for the Church Together as One

Ian Johnson June 9, 2020 5 Comments

Many of God’s promises to us are given to the Church together, collectively. They become effective for us individually only as we are living in love, as a functioning part of the Body of Christ.

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Answers to Some Reader Questions about Prayer, Prayer Burdens and National Sins

Ian Johnson June 7, 2020 2 Comments

A reader recently asked some very perceptive questions about my views concerning prayer, prayer burdens, and prayer for national sins. Here, I am publishing my answers to those questions. (The reader also asked some personal questions, which I omit from this posting): You asked: “Also that what matters is your relationship with the Lord not what denomination someone is or…
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From Early Christianity to Islam and Back — 1. The Earliest Christianity

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God Provides for Our Needs through Our Unity

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Unity and Answers to Prayer

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

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

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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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God’s Promises for the Church Together as One

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Answers to Some Reader Questions about Prayer, Prayer Burdens and National Sins

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God Speaks to Us

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