Is it true or myth? Literal or not? This is an important question as it still affects us thousands of years later in culture wars over science, history and religion. It figures into patriarchal society and the reduced status of women. It is the affirmation that all humans are sinful and need a savior. So this is no unimportant question.
Are we to think that God wipes away tears once we get to heaven, but we have to die to experience it?
Actually, the teaching that God will wipe away our tears isn't a promise about heaven. It is a promise for now, that extends into the afterlife.
What do beliefs have to do with our dreams? The truth is that our hearts believe tens of thousands of things about innumerable subjects. Beliefs are the fabric of our experiences, and the filter for the glorious desires within you.
I believe that God has given us the power to access, activate and achieve our dreams. Of course there are lots of methods and programs to help us reach those goals, but I wondered if it was less complicated.
And I found that it was.
Yes, we do need to learn how to steward our hearts into those dreams. But I wanted to know what the common denominator was in getting our heart's desires. Was it prayer? Was it having enough faith? Was it being smart enough? Was it just luck? Or was it an arbitrary God who blessed some but not others?
Yes, of course what happened at the cross was vitally important, but if Jesus was simply going there separate from us, it would have resulted in religion.
Oh wait!! That is exactly what many people think. They weren't told that as a result of the incarnation, what Jesus did, he was doing for us us! Not in a separate sort of way, but as the Son of Man he represented all mankind. So whatever happened to him was happening for the whole of humanity!
I recently sat with a new missionary friend who told me the story about a former Taliban terrorist he encountered in another country.
One night in Afghanistan this Taliban terrorist was planning another attack. Suddenly a stranger named Jesus walks into his room and sits at the foot of his bed. This stranger begins explaining the gospel to him in simple terms, with love and patience.
I remember a time when I saw myself as an outsider trying to get into God’s presence. If my life was right, my prayers were fervent, and I was patient waiting on Him… eventually he would let me into that place of experiencing him. Instead of Jesus standing at the door and knocking, I was the one, knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door.
Did you ever really think about the resurrection? I mean the concept that one day your spirit will leave the perfect bliss of being in the eternal, incomprehensible joy of God’s presence in heaven, and suddenly come back to earth where the molecules of billions of people from all of history are reassembled into physical, albeit new, form? Suddenly graves will break open to the terrifying stares of unsuspecting people. It is called the resurrection, or at least a version of how the story goes.
That is such a good question! I'm glad you asked. The answer is simple: He is closer than your very breath! This begins a new series of simple grace questions that many of us need answers to and those simple answers can very profoundly affect our lives.
Some worship songs, as sincere and heart-felt as they may be, subtly teach us that God is at a distance and he needs to be invited.
Sheep and goats are apparently in vogue again, if movie titles are any indication. Whether it is Shaun the Sheep in his debut CG movie, or the horror movie, "Black Sheep: There are 40 Million Sheep in New Zealand and They're Pissed Off!" sheep and goats are becoming center stage. Let's not forget George Clooney's not-so-break-away hit, "Men Who Stare at Goats." Clooney's character is a psychic working for the government who can causes goats to pass out by using his powers.
One of the great tragedies of futurism is the neglect of history. The book of Revelation was written to a Jewish audience, before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70. The Jewish historian Josephus, unbeknownst to him, recorded the fulfillment of many of the apocalyptic images of Revelation. One of the clearest examples is found in the prophecy of the sea turning to blood.
As "prophetic" voices around the USA trumpet the shaking that is coming in September, I think it appropriate to see what the Bible says about God bringing shaking. With such loud voices, passion and seeming authority demanding our attention it might surprise you to know that the shaking that is coming is not what you think, and it is not a cataclysmic event.
Will Jerusalem be surrounded by the nations of the earth in a future last days? The prophet Zechariah would not think so. Is there prophecy left to be fulfilled in the book of Zechariah? Some believe very strongly that there is, particularly in chapter 14. But I believe that it is very simple to demonstrate that it has ALL been fulfilled and there is no future event where the nations of the earth rise up against Jerusalem... at least not from a promise from Scripture.
Have you seen these kind of YouTube Headlines?
URGENT!! ILLUMINATI MARK OF THE BEAST!! EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE THIS!!
Mark of the Beast: It’s not Coming. It is Here!
666. It Has Begun!666 RFID Chip Mark of the Beast!
Mark of the Beast Will Give You "SuperPowers"!
Are the fears of RFID chips and the mark of the beast really warranted?
On June 26, 2015 the United States Supreme Court announced their landmark decision that gay marriage will be the law of the land. Today, false prophets will begin raising their voices in alarming proclamations of fear and promises of dark doom. Inevitably they will forecast the wrath of God to come upon our nation for such a dastardly decision...
Let me ask you a question: What part did you play in raising Jesus from the dead? Separating him from our sins? What role did you play delivering him from the "pains of death" (Acts 2:24)? What did you do to declare Jesus justified (1 Timothy 3:16) after carrying all our sin away? Did you declare him holy or was it the Spirit (Romans 1:4)? What role did you play in opening the heavenly sanctuary in the clouds so the Son could be received? Or was it totally Gods work? His victory?
