His Friends

God’s Work and Voice in Me, Part 7F: To Speak or Not to Speak, that is the Question

Ian Johnson October 30, 2023 1 Comment

If God is still speaking to us, why don’t we hear him more? This presentation reviews the reasons given in Scripture.

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Christianity, faith, God's sheep, God's Word, God's words, Hearing God, not hearing God, offensive, refusing to hear, repentance, sheep, taking offense

Part 7B: What Does a “Relationship” with God Mean?

Ian Johnson September 22, 2023 2 Comments

A strange thing happened in the 1970’s–we learned for the first time that what we need is a “personal relationship” with Christ. But this terminology is not scriptural, and was left largely undefined, with curious results. That “relationship” became self-defined! What does it mean? What should it mean? What are a believer’s relationships with God? Jesus is our shepherd, older brother, King, teacher and friend, but the word “relationship” is not found. We are called God’s children, house, temple and sheep, but never said to be “in a relationship” with him.

A God who Speaks, Conversation with God, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, God's Voice, His Children, His Friends, Language and Speech, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Social control and statecraft, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom of the Heavens, Through Jesus, To bear fruit

1960s, 1970s, Charismatic Renewal, delusional, delusions, friend, God is Dead, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, king, Lord, Relationship, Relationship with Jesus, sheep, shepherd, Teacher, vine

You Are Not the One to Build, Part 7A: God Uses No Cookie Cutters

Ian Johnson September 9, 2023 0 Comments

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.

A God who Speaks, Complex unity, Free will, God Acts by Speaking, God is Love, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, His Children, His Friends, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Prophecy, To be in his image

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You Are Not the One to Build, Part 5: God’s Callings for All of His Children and Friends

Ian Johnson August 20, 2023 1 Comment

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.

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You Are Not The One to Build, Part 4: God is “calling!” What does that mean?

Ian Johnson August 16, 2023 1 Comment

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.

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authority, calling, callings, credentials, divine calling, education, God calling, human authority, Jesus, Jesus' authority, leadership, What is a calling

The Kingdom of “the Heavens” in Matthew

Ian Johnson January 15, 2023 2 Comments

Throughout his Gospel, Matthew repeatedly quotes first John the Baptizer, then Jesus, taking about the “Kingdom of the heavens”–with “the heavens” in this formula always stated in the plural and preceded by the definite article. In using this language, the intention was clearly to teach that God’s Kingdom is not limited to the far future but is present with us…
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Of Abiding, Growth and Fruitfulness

Ian Johnson November 28, 2022 3 Comments

God wants us to bear the lasting fruit he has placed within us. But this does not require our effort to bear fruit, it requires only that we remain in Jesus, pay attention to his words, and let him work through us. His only command is that we love one another as he has loved us, so letting his love reach others through us.

A God who Speaks, God is Love, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's Voice, His Children, His Friends, In prayer, Love each other, Promises, To bear fruit

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What I Believe–stated simply

Ian Johnson July 24, 2022 7 Comments

In this post, I give a short, one web page, summary of what I believe, in language as simple as I can manage. It gives only a quick, “big picture” of my understanding of God, my relationship to him, and my role on Earth. Comments are invited.

Church purpose versus church growth, Complex unity, Conversation with God, Divisions in the Church, Eternity, Free will, God Acts by Speaking, God is Love, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God was never our enemy, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, God's sovereignty, His Children, His Friends, Immanence, Islam as a Consequence, Language and Speech, Male and female, Merit, Omnipresence, Reconciliation, Refusing to hear, Regeneration, Rejecting God, Repentance, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Show us the Way of Truth, Sin, Sins versus sin, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The Kingdom of the Heavens, The Problem of Evil, To be his ambassadors, To be in his image, To live in unity, Transcendence, Trinity, Ultimate reality, Unity, Wars as consequences, What is God's Word, What is sin?

Christian theology, Church, God, God speaks, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life purpose, Son of God, Son of Man

Distinction Between “Sin” (Singular) and “Sins” (Plural)–Part 3–Hebrews

Ian Johnson May 22, 2022 2 Comments

The Scriptures generally draw a qualitative distinction between “sin,” in the singular, and “sins,” in the plural. “Sin” is our inward attitude of rebellion against God. “Sins” are bad actions. This post gives a series of examples from Hebrews.

A God who Speaks, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, God's Voice, His Friends, Is forgiveness of sins the focus of salvation?, Merit, Promises, Reconciliation, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Sins versus sin, What is sin?

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The Implications of Jesus’ Humanity, Revisited

Ian Johnson April 24, 2022 2 Comments

Jesus came as a man–fully human–and lived under the control (“filling”) and power of the Holy Spirit, in exactly the same way we can, if we will permit him to do it. In this respect, the only difference between Jesus, as a human, and us, is that Jesus was never anything but fully under the Spirit’s control. Jesus invites us to live as He did, obeying the Spirit’s direction and living by the Spirit’s power.

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God’s Work and Voice in Me, Part 7F: To Speak or Not to Speak, that is the Question

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Part 7B: What Does a “Relationship” with God Mean?

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You Are Not the One to Build, Part 5: God’s Callings for All of His Children and Friends

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You Are Not The One to Build, Part 4: God is “calling!” What does that mean?

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The Kingdom of “the Heavens” in Matthew

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Of Abiding, Growth and Fruitfulness

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What I Believe–stated simply

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Distinction Between “Sin” (Singular) and “Sins” (Plural)–Part 3–Hebrews

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The Implications of Jesus’ Humanity, Revisited

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