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When Leaders Drive memeber from church

James 3:13-17 (amplified) Who is there among you who is wise and intelligent? Then let him by his noble living show forth his [good] works with the [unobtrusive] humility [which is the proper attribute] of true wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry, selfish ambition) in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on it and thus be in defiance of and false to the Truth. This [superficial] wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual (animal… Continue

Added by Troy C Pearsall on July 4, 2009 at 12:15am — No Comments

Luke 1:26-38

* At the beginning, we see God's initiative (Luke 1:26). * At the end, we see Mary's response (Luke 1:38). * In the centre, we see Jesus (Luke 1:31). ----- We see here a picture of the Christian faith and the Christian life. * "In the beginning, God" (Genesis 1:1). * We say our "Amen" (Revelation 22:20). * Jesus at the centre (the Gospels). ----- * Jesus is the result of God's initiative: "When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman" (Galatians 4:4). * Jesus is the cause of o… Continue

Added by Charles Cameron on July 3, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

5 Stupid Reasons Not To Home School (and Do Public School Instead)

In defensive discussions justifying my parental rights and educational choices for my children, I often find myself repeating my lists of reasons. I have 10 solid reasons why we home-school, which I was going to post today, but then I had an internal struggle.

What if people (as they sometimes do) started offering some responses which tied into some incomprehensibly stupid reasons to opt out of home-schooling and send my kids to school? I mean, they'd see this post and think I was

… Continue

Added by Rey Reynoso on July 3, 2009 at 7:00am — 42 Comments

A Theology of Little Things

Our church, Cornerstone International, has recently begun a summer series in the book of 1 John. I had planned to kick off the study this past Sunday, 28 June, but had to hand over to another capable friend in the church due to the surprised early arrival of our son. Still, I have been reading and pondering the words in this first epistle of the 'b… Continue

Added by ScottL on July 3, 2009 at 1:33am — No Comments

What Ever Happened to Frank?

What Ever Happened to Frank? I recently picked up a used copy of Wild At Heart. It was almost brand new. When I opened the book I noticed that the jacket had been tucked to mark someone's place about thirty pages into the book. It was obvious that the rest of the book was unread. Written on the front free end page was this: "Frank, May you find some peace and hope in reading this book. My love for you is stronger than the first time I felt love for you. We have wea… Continue

Added by Jason on July 2, 2009 at 6:15pm — 2 Comments

Elvis left the building, baby!

They ridicule the naïve belief that free markets bring everybody happiness at no cost, a conviction allegedly lacking all philosophical underpinnings. Speaking fast encourages fast thinking, more evidence, and way to understand that evidence. And just now the City came back to move the barrels back. Dwyane Wade committed theft in 2006, robbing the Dallas Mavericks of a should-have-been-could-have-been National Championship.… Continue

Added by John Wane on July 2, 2009 at 12:49pm — 3 Comments

Luke 1:5-25

In the Gospel of Luke, the central character is Jesus Christ. Before the Name of Jesus appears in Luke 1:31, we read of John the Baptist who paved the way for Jesus. In the opening chapter of Luke's Gospel, we remember a man whose name was given to him by God. The man's name was John. His name means "The Lord is gracious." His name speaks of the grace of God, reaching out to many people through His ministry. When John the Baptist preached, he called on the people of his own day to learn from the… Continue

Added by Charles Cameron on July 2, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

The Devil

The spirits were out in the world that year. Sun Myung Moon had been releasing them as he spread his Divine Principle throughout Italy, Germany, Belgium and Holland. By 1969, two years after my father and I had returned to America, the spirits were spread across the Atlantic, gathered wherever people gathered, like undulating waves of fervor, frothing up ecstatic joy among five hundred thousand worshipers of love, hallucinations and the throb of music in Woodstock, New York. Moving west to Cali… Continue

Added by joanne guarnieri on July 2, 2009 at 8:30am — 3 Comments

WE STILL HAVE SOME WAY TO GO

Did I mention that I am studying with a group using Max Lucado's workbook on EPHESIANS. He has some good ideas. One question he asked us to ask ourselves was (something like) "what kind of humor is not acceptable for Christians?" Yeah. I had some good answers. Like: Humor that has to do with someone being hurt. Humor that makes light of sin instead of being concerned about the holiness of God and the eternal soul of the sinner. Humor that does not respect others as made in the image of the Glori… Continue

Added by joan elizabeth mazzu on July 1, 2009 at 12:38pm — 1 Comment

Some Days Are Harder Than Others!

Yesterday, I had what I refer to as one of my "agnostic days." These are days where I question my sense of call, my ministry, and everything in between. I'm pretty irritable during these days. I'm just grumpy and all around ticked off at everything (God included) for no reason at all. These "agnostic days" come on suddenly and normally dissipate after a day of so. They always lead to some kind of insight about myself or my future ministry. I think what set it off this time was I have been readi… Continue

Added by Craig Falvo on July 1, 2009 at 11:02am — 5 Comments

Luke 1:1-4

We begin with the first four verses of Luke's Gospel. In our first look at Luke's Book, we ask four questions: (1) What is Luke's story about? (2) Where did Luke get his story from? (3) How are we to read Luke's story? (4) What can we learn from Luke's story? ----- (1) What is Luke's story about? We might ask this question differently: Who is Luke's story about? The answer is Jesus. Luke is the writer of this Gospel. Jesus is the Theme of the Gospel. Jesus is the Gospel. He is the Good News. Luk… Continue

Added by Charles Cameron on July 1, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

1 Peter

1:1-25 - Here, we have ‘trials’. In ‘heaven’, there is ‘salvation’ (3-9). We're to live a life of holiness and love. We've been ‘redeemed with the precious blood of Christ’ (15, 22, 18-19). We must never take pride in our obedience - ‘boasting is excluded.’ We are sinners - ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’. What makes the difference? What is it that changes us? What is it that sets us on the pathway of holiness and love? We've received ‘the redemption which is in Christ Jesus… Continue

Added by Charles Cameron on July 1, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

A second story

I'll be gone for a couple weeks (and offline), off to Minnesota for a wedding in the extended family (husband's side). In the mean time, thought I'd tell another part of "my story." Am leaving out some things that happened in Italy, not quite ready for that, so thought I'd bring you with me back to America for two stories, then go back to Italy for one or two other formative events (in the spiritual sense). I'll schedule the second part of this America story to post tomorrow (when we leave for o… Continue

Added by joanne guarnieri on July 1, 2009 at 8:37am — No Comments

A time to celebrate

Bear with me as I pull an Andy Rooney and ramble on a bit. We celebrate the 4th of July. Not very profound, I know. LOL We also celebrate birthdays. We celebrate anniversaries. We celebrate Christmas, Easter, and even Groundhog Day. We even celebrate the Lord's supper. We celebrate with fireworks, costumes, music, showers, parties, and on and on. All this celebrating makes me wonder if the word has any significance any more. Do we actually celebrate these *days*, celebrate *on… Continue

Added by Apolojedi (Daniel Eaton) on June 30, 2009 at 10:07pm — 1 Comment

A Time to Refrain from Embracing

I'm a little tired of Obama telling me that I shouldn't be clinging to God, religion and firearms. Now he wants me to get all clingy and embrace what he refers to as my "gay brothers and sisters." He doesn't like my "worn arguments and old attitudes." He never asked me what they were. Is this the omniscience of the Messiah? Somehow I don't think so. And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my br… Continue

Added by Michael Ballai on June 30, 2009 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Book Review: Religion Saves by Mark Driscoll

Religion Saves should be a shocker for many people. Subtitled "nine other misconceptions", Religion Saves (henceforth RS) is hard-hitting, classic Driscoll. One can almost hear him preaching. Driscoll's personality does not ooze through this book. It rushes through it like white water rapids. The book is blunt, to the point, funny, at times course, and very relevant. Driscoll deals with Calvinism (he is a Calvinist), birth control, humor (he loves it and uses it well), grace (he loves it but s… Continue

Added by Jason on June 30, 2009 at 10:37am — 6 Comments

Ephesians

1:1-2:10 - ‘By grace you have been saved through faith… for good works’ (2:8-10). God calls us to live a ‘holy’ life. We cannot make ourselves holy. We are spiritually ‘dead.’ We need to be ‘made alive’ - by God. Holiness does not come from ourselves. It comes from the Lord. Long before we ever thought of loving Him - He loved us. Our love for Him is so changeable. His love for us is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable. It is eternal. He loved us ‘before the foundation of the world’. He will… Continue

Added by Charles Cameron on June 30, 2009 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

A Blog Post for Scott and His New Baby

So, I know people don't usually bring it up to first parents so here's a few questions: 1) Are you surprised about how well the baby is sleeping? Or is your wife surprised by how well YOU are sleeping? 2) How about that first poop? How many wipes did it take you to rub off that tar? 3) Are you surprised by the amount of diapers you've gone through? 4) Did you buy way too many packages of Newborn Diapers? Continue

Added by Rey Reynoso on June 30, 2009 at 9:14am — 8 Comments

Donald Miller's New Release

Most Christians, at least in America, are now aware of the present-day author, Donald Miller, though I am also aware that many of my more astute friends on Theologica might not be too keen on Miller. Thus far, he has rele… Continue

Added by ScottL on June 30, 2009 at 7:00am — 3 Comments

Galatians

1:1-2:10 - ‘A revelation of Jesus Christ’ (1:12) - This is what the Gospel is all about. Christ is the Gospel. Without Him, there is no Gospel. What was Paul’s testimony? What did he preach to others? - God ‘was pleased to reveal His Son in order that I might preach Him…’ (1:15-16). We have no other testimony. We have no other message. Christ is our Testimony. Christ is our Message. Paul’s conversion, Paul’s preaching - All of this comes from a very long time ago. So much has changed. Things are… Continue

Added by Charles Cameron on June 29, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments