The BIG Picture (Study)

When the Altar Calls, Hang Up An excellent article written by Justin Johnson. Altar calls have been a part of cultural Christianity for a long while, but have never been a part of the gospel of the grace of God. This has not stopped churches that fail to rightly divide from borrowing Israel’s religion and making it part of church tradition. Usually placed at the end of a revival sermon, an appeal is made by the preacher to “heed the call”, “come down front”, or “walk the sawdust trail.” What is down front? According to church tradition, an altar. Where does the trail lead? To a religious practice that often confuses the complete and finished work of Christ. What Is An Altar An altar is a sacred place where people go to offer gifts and sacrifices before God. It is always religious. It is often represented in churches by a wooden fence like barrier or table between you and the pulpit. (Which ought to raise some questions.) When you go “down front” there will be some altar workers to help

The Progressive Content of Paul's Epistles After Acts 28:28, when Paul turns his focus wholly to the Gentiles, one sees a change in the content of his epistles. With careful study one finds much less references to Old Testament quotes and to Jewish customs and traditions. This post will provide some insights as to why. Interesting Fact:  In Paul's writings from after  Acts 28 , —that is in his "Prison Epistles -  Ephesians to Colossians ", —one finds minimal references to Old Testament quotes or any mention of Jewish customs or traditions. Why is this? My answer would be that in Acts 28:28 he mentions that his attention will now turn to the Gentiles as they were receptive to his message. Paul spent years in his early ministry trying to bring the Jews to salvat

The Simplicity of Grace Living A short while ago I watched a video of a theological debate featuring 3 prominent speakers who represent 3 different denominations. As a host asked various questions, each of the panelists would respond, and the theology of these participants differed from mildly to wildly depending on the questions. It was interesting to watch how each defended their particular view of theology, and even though they validated their points with scriptures and good arguments, it was quite sad to see how they made the whole debate complex and divisive based on their differences. In Acts 17 , Paul arrives at Athens and sees an array of idols set up around the city, probably near the Areopagus, or Mars Hill, where a council of civic leaders met, as well as the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, who were always looking to discover something “new” to discuss. Can you image the debates that those philosophers had, each believing in a different god and different theologies. How mu

OBS: God's Word is a Progressive Plan (Part.6.2) This is  Part 6  of the Series Click here for the previous lesson:  Part 6.1 The Meaning of 'Not under Law' in the Grace Dispensation It is easy to understand what LAW meant in the Old Testament and in the four Gospels. The law in question was the 'Mosaic Law' and there was no dispute that it was active at this time and it was required to obey it and adhere to it as a way of life. The following (taken from 100's of available scriptures) attest to this fact, Deuteronomy 6:1 "Now this is the commandment , and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, ... 6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, ... Joshua 1:8 T his Book of the Law shall not depart from

Two Verses that might Challenge your Doctrine (Part.2) This is  part 2  of the series Click here to start with  Part 1 The two verses I deal with in this article played a HUGE role in helping me to understand the Bible in its proper context. If one does not understand how to divide the Word and bring context to the two verses that are mentioned in this article, they can be pretty hard to interpret correctly. As I mentioned before in part 1, these are the two verses that got me on the path of studying the Word in a dispensational way, ( or as Paul puts it, rightly dividing the Word of truth , 2 Tim.2:15). The reason is because these two verses mention some very interesting things, things that will cause you to question if you actually read the verse correctly, things that will certainly make you think twice about what Paul was really saying. So, let me introduce the second verse to you, Romans 16:25-26  Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to  my gosp

Two Verses that might Challenge your Doctrine (Part.1) The following two verses referenced below played a HUGE role in helping me to understand the Bible in its proper context. If I never knew at that time what I now know about the Bible, these two verses would have been hard to swallow, hard to digest, hard to agree with! I trust you get my point. :) In actual fact, it is these very two verses that got me on the path of studying the Word in a dispensational way, (or as Paul puts it, rightly dividing the Word of truth, 2 Tim.2:15 ). The reason is because these two verses mention some very interesting things, things that will cause you to question if you actually read the verse correctly, things that will certainly make you think twice about what Paul was really saying.  So, let me break your suspense and jump into the first of these two verses and provide some comments and interpretation on them. Our first verse is, 2 Corinthians 5:16