Ideas about the Kingdom of the Heavens around us and the unity of believers in Christ within it
God uses our uniqueness and gives unique gifts and roles. He does not make interchangeable, cookie-cutter believers for our administrative convenience. Examples: the first deacons, Stephen, Philip. Paul and the anomalous New Testament prophets.
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
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.
God “calls” all believers to love one another and to be conformed to the image of His Son–to be made, by God, to be just like Jesus. There is also a number of other things to which God “calls” all believers–almost all of them things we simply let him do to or through us, and all of them summed up by loving each other and being remade into His image.
A God who Speaks, Adoption, Choosing darkness over light, God Acts by Speaking, God is light, God is Love, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, God's sovereignty, God's Voice, His Children, His Friends, Must Trust God to Enter, Pride in accomplishments as our own, Promises, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Show us the Way of Truth, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom of the Heavens, To be in his image, To bear fruit, What is sin?
Linked text accompanying the You Tube video with the same name. God calls us. God’s call presents neither a question of what human has “authority” nor of human “leadership,” but of God’s right to make free use of what He gives.
A God who Speaks, Authority Contests, Divisions in the Church, God Acts by Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, God's Voice, His Children, His Friends, Must Trust God to Enter, Peril of Seeking Power, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom of the Heavens, To be his ambassadors, To be in his image
Linked text to accompany the third in a series of videos about God’s gifts and callings for people, which he sometimes gives to notorious evildoers. Discusses Moses, King David and Saul of Tarsus, who literally got away with murder. Or did they?
A God who Speaks, Consequences, Discipline or Correction, forgiveness and mercy, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, God is Love, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God was never our enemy, God's rationality, Merit, patience, Reconciliation, Repentance, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Sin, The Problem of Evil
Linked text to accompany the second in a series of videos about God’s gifts and callings for people, which he sometimes gives to notorious evildoers who clearly did not earn them. How can this be fair or just? It has to do with his plan for the whole cosmos.
Eternity, forgiveness and mercy, God is light, God is Love, God was never our enemy, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, Merit, patience, Reconciliation, Regeneration, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The Kingdom of the Heavens, The Problem of Evil, To be his ambassadors, To live in unity, To see God's glory
The first of a series of videos about God giving people things to start which he does not then permit them to finish. God does this for his own glory, and, sometimes to protect his own reputation, as was the case in King David’s preparations to build a Temple–and also in my own life.
Background Information, Confession of Sin, Consequences, Desire to have our own way, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, Personal Background, Pride in accomplishments as our own, self-serving worship, Sin, To be his ambassadors, To bear fruit, To live in unity, Trusting sight over God's words, What is sin?
When God told the people to go in and he would give them his promise “Today,” they did not trust he was good. So they believed their fears instead. As a result, they could not go in, as he had said, “tomorrow.”
A God who Speaks, Consequences, Desire to have our own way, Forgetting God, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's Voice, Promises, Refusing to hear, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Salvation, Sin, Trusting sight over God's words, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word, What is sin?
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.