Three Stages of a Congregation
People who study organizations claim that a typical organization goes through three stages in its lifetime. This is also true of a congregation unless it consistently renews its commitment to Christ and the task to which it is called. Let’s look at these three stages and maybe you can evaluate where this church is: The […]
Church Growth: the New God
Jesus did not seem to be faring very well. Failing to cater to the whims and wishes of the carnal crowd, His audience in John 6 had dropped from several thousand to a handful in one day. Instead of holding a seeker-driven service, He had been insensitive and driven the seekers away in droves. While […]
Worthy to Open the Seals
“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall […]
The “Seeker Friendly” Fad
The emergence of the “seeker-friendly” church, popularized by Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose-Driven Church, has become quite a fad in religious circles. “Seeker-friendly” is a term which sounds good on the surface, but what is usually meant is anything but good. Keep in mind that “friendly” in this context is not referring to being cordial. […]
Christ on His Throne
Last week, we noted that Christ was a priest by quoting Zechariah 6:13: “Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” […]
Do the Saved go Directly to Heaven? #2
In our last article we examined the question of what happens to the soul of man at death: does it go to a place called “Hades” to await the resurrection, or does it go directly to heaven? We showed, from the scriptures, that from the world’s creation and until the death and resurrection of Christ […]
Are There Contradictions in the Bible?
A common charge that’s made against the Bible, especially the historical accounts of the gospels, is that they contradict one another. This was briefly dealt with in the recent article, “Who is the Author of the Bible?” But the subject deserves a longer discussion. Skeptics frequently demand to know exactly what happened on the resurrection […]
What Simeon Saw
In Luke 2:25-35, we have the account of Simeon when he witnessed the Lord as a child. He was a devout man, full of the Holy Spirit, which had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ (vs. 26). When he saw Christ, there were several points that […]
A Priest on His Throne
Premillennialists have many misconceptions about Jesus and His work on earth. They believe that He came to set up a kingdom, but failed in that effort. In their belief, the church was established as a substitute or standby until He comes again to truly set up His kingdom and reign for 1,000 years. Can this […]
The Kingdom of God
The prophet Daniel made a prediction in Daniel 2:44 based off of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He said, “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed …” In the New Testament, the Hebrew writer said, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, […]
