Part 7J. The Importance of Kindreds
The importance of broad family and kindred groups to God’s work on Earth and my initiative to my own.
Through others
Part 7H: Is God Speaking? Determining Who is Speaking.
God gives us tests to use to determine whether a message we hear came from him or from somewhere else. Most of these tests apply regardless of whether the message comes from an internal voice or through the mouth or writings of another person who claims to speak for God. They start with the overarching test “do I recognize my Shepherd’s voice in what is said?”
Part 7C: God Speaks to Us–He Never Quit Speaking
This post and the linked video discuss a few New Testament passages in which God tells us that he intends to continue communicating with us. This set of passages have at least plausible interpretations that do not require present-time vocal communication. The next video will cover passages that appear to require current-time spoken communication.
You Are Not the One to Build, Part 6B: Spiritual Gifts: God Works through us for His Purpose
The modern emphasis on first identifying my “gift” so that I may then “help” God develop it gets the matter exactly backwards. The important thing isn’t identifying my gift, it is offering my body as a living sacrifice so that the Spirit may exercise any gift He chooses through me. Then any gift I am observed to be actually exercising can be identified as my gift, and its exercise will be genuine and have God’s power.
A God who Speaks, Desire to have our own way, Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, Historical Background, In the Church, Meaning of Unity, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Personal Background, Personality cults, Prophecy, Through others, Through teachers, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, To bear fruit, To live in unity
You Are Not the One to Build, Part 6A: Persons given to the Church and formal “offices.”
Addresses the subject of the roles of the people said in Ephesians 4 to be “given” to the Church by Christ and the qualifications and roles of church officers mentioned in the New Testament–overseers, officially recognized elders, and church servants (deacons). Also discusses the role of elders–older people in the church–even when not formally recognized as leaders, with application to me, the author of this presentation.
You are not the one to build…
A summary of my calling and life direction. I am becoming comfortable with the idea that most of the positive effect of my life will occur after it is over and that, among humans, I will receive no credit for it.
The Mind of Christ, and Rejecting It
God speaks to us individually, and also collectively as his Body. We must hear him and walk with him individually and also depend on each other for his voice. Believers all have the mind of Christ, but none of us alone has all of the mind of Christ.
God Speaks to Us
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” God says he will speak to his sheep individually, call each by name, and lead us, and he does. Stephen and Saul of Tarsus are an example of this.
Repentance, Confession and the Textual Variant in James 5:16
James 5:16 occurs in a context dealing with sick Christians and healing. In that context, it teaches that we are to agree with each other about the character flaws in our lives that lead to discrete sins, and pray for each other that these flaws–and the whole person–will be healed. This sensible reading is supported by the Byzantine New Testament text tradition, which is to be preferred for this verse.
A God who Speaks, Confession and Repentance, Confession of Sin, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, Is forgiveness of sins the focus of salvation?, Reconciliation, Repentance, Repentance in community, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, Through others, Through the church, To live in unity
Some Other Issues Affected by the Question of Whether and How God Speaks
The question whether God still speaks impacts a number of other issues, ranging from the nature of a believer’s relationship with God, to the miraculous, to church offices and authority.