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Lent: Day 8 - Ignatius to the Romans

...e days as Christians. The challenges we face today are vastly different from these early Christians (and, indeed, believers in other parts of the world today), but the freedom we have is something which I don't think we always appreciate as much as we could. May we find strength and comfort in Christ by the power of the Spirit, to face whatever challenges come our way in life, even unto death. Amen....

Lent Day 29: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 81-94

...ainst the Christians who didn’t hold to the Arian view of Jesus (the doctrine which states that the Son had a beginning and wasn’t eternally with the Father always). He was so ruthless that he “beat virgins, and stripped and scourged monks”! Anthony took it upon himself to write to this man with a prophetic warning telling him to cease his persecutions, otherwise wrath would come on him very shortly since “it is on the point of coming upon” him already. He ignore the warning, and only eight days later, died from an unusual horse riding accident where one of his regular steeds, which was known to be a mild-mannered and temperate horse, suddenly bucked...

BOOK REVIEW: Four Views on Hell 2nd edition

...ates that Christians of most persuasions are already ‘universalists’ about creation (God created all things), about sin (all have sinned), Christ’s humanity (all humans are represented by him) and Christ’s crucifixion (dying for all people); he reasons that God’s indefeasible will is to save or redeem all, entailing the famous ‘now/not yet’ tension: “Everyone is already redeemed…On the other hand, only those who have been united to Christ by the Holy Spirit now participate in that salvation…Actual existential participation of all people in salvation is not a present reality, it lies in the future.” (109, italics his) Moving on to the...

The Gospel of Jeffrey Dahmer

...  Many Christians are aware of Paul’s words in Romans 3:23: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. I often see this quoted online as inspirational images and posters, or as a way to explain human failings, since no one can live up to what God requires of us through our own efforts. But when you apply this to a repentant murderer, suddenly it’s no longer valid? That’s not how grace works. Look at the surrounding context; Paul makes it abundantly clear that there are no exceptions — for falling short or being saved by grace: …the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction...

Is it the end of the world as we know it?

...sands, of Christians have bought the book and have possibly accepted their doctrine of the blood moons. I've seen countless online discussions and Facebook posts concerning all of this, with many believers defending the doctrine vehemently, many of whom often have a very strong Zionist emphasis. Without the nation of Israel being something special, these predictions fail. That is also another issue with these predictions: they are based on the assumption that the natural, national Jewish people are still God's chosen people who are separate from Gentile (non-Jewish) believers. That there are two "chosen people," two covenants with two different ways in...

The Reality of Sin

...by being Christians; no, if anything we will be judged more! We represent Christ on earth (2 Cor 5:20), we should be doing good works in the power and name of Jesus for the glory of the Father. God will judge those works and our lives as Christians (Matt 5:16; Eph 2:10; Rom 2:13), which is a different kind of judgement to non-believers. Consider the following verses; God will judge and destroy any of those who destroy his temple! Are we exempt from that judgement simply by being that temple if we are still partaking in that destruction through our sin? 1 Corinthians 3:16-17Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If...