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To be in his image

God created us to bear his image, as Jesus does

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

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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God’s Work and Voice in Me, Part 7D: Voices Anyone? An immodest proposal,

October 17, 2023 0 Comments

As one who has long had the experience of being aware, at times, of God’s voice, I propose to the Church at large that we should 1) treat spiritual “voices,” in general, as real and not as mere symptoms of mental illness, 2) learn to distinguish God’s voice from the other voices in our world, and 3) resolve to follow God’s voice. #3 is the key, because we will not be able to discern God’s voice unless we are his sheep, who hear and follow it.

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

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

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

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

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?

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.

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

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Why have I always resisted the idea that departed believers are really still here “with” Jesus?

May 29, 2023 0 Comments

For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.  For most certainly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,  if indeed being clothed, we will not be found naked.  For indeed we who are in…
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Going to Be With the Lord

April 16, 2023 1 Comment

No faith is needed where the thing hoped for can be seen. And the difference between not yet seeing and fully seeing Is the whole difference between being in the body and being out of it and “with” the Lord.

Eternity, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's sovereignty, Immanence, Must Trust God to Enter, Omnipresence, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom of the Heavens, To be in his image, To see God's glory, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word

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Commands I Can’t Keep If God Doesn’t Speak to Me

March 20, 2023 0 Comments

If God never speaks to me, it will be impossible for me to keep his commands to keep a soft heart toward his words, to hear and obey him “TODAY”, while I am still hearing him. Beginning the discussion of entering God’s rest today, while God is speaking to me–and the consequences of Israel’s rejection of his voice.

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God Speaks to Us through His Spirit

February 9, 2023 3 Comments

God speaks to us through his Holy Spirit, who must teach us–by building within us–everything we truly know of God. God also speaks to the world through us, by his Spirit who is building his image within us.

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