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Fasting: A spiritual and physical discipline

...rough the Gospels and we’ll see Jesus stating that “When you fast…” (Matthew 6:17) – not if; and even throughout the book of Acts we can see that the early church fasted regular and often, especially when they sought direction from God. If it were not for the church fasting and praying in Acts 13:1-4, they may not have heard from the Holy Spirit about sending Paul out on his first missionary journey, and if he had not done that, the faith may never have spread as far and fast as it did, nor would we have the majority of our New Testament! Fasting is a vital church discipline, I believe. Similar, history changing events, also happened from prayer and...

7 things the Lord hates (spoiler: questioning doctrine isn't one of them)

...By now, most people (in Christian circles, at least) will have heard about the Jars of Clay controversy. For those that are thinking "how on earth could there be controversy over some jars?" let me clarify: they are a contemporary Christian music band. The controversy is because the frontman, Dan Haseltine, tweeted some thoughts on the topic of gay marriage. Shocking, I know.   This is what started it all: The treatment of people as less than human based on the color of skin is crazy... Or gender, or sexual orientation for that matter. — Dan Haseltine (@scribblepotemus) April 21, 2014   Not meaning to stir things up BUT... I...

The Coming Kingdom of the Son of Man

...ghout the Gospels: to mean the judgement of God on a nation. This is seen in many places in the Old Testament, often called the Day of the Lord. The same is true here, Jesus is once again teaching about the impending doom of Jerusalem as punishment. Hence the urgency towards his disciples to flee towns that won't listen and go to where they do accept the Gospel.   Matthew 24:34 Matthew 24:34 Matthew 24 is a similar conversation, but with some more details. Whilst walking by the temple, the disciples point out the magnificence of the building, and Jesus responds by saying "Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be throw...

What does the word "Catholic" mean?

...ngelists (Gospels), and to those doctrines which were known as having apostolic origin. This view was more formally solidified by the words added to the end of the original Nicene Creed of A.D. 325 (“And whosoever shall say that there was a time when the Son of God was not … the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes them.”) and also its revision in the Nicene-Constantinople Creed of A.D. 381 (“And we believe in one, holy, catholic and Apostolic Church.”), where you could call Nicene Christianity the “catholic faith”. Donatist Controversy During the fourth century, a controversy appeared bringing schism with it in Carthage, when two bishop...

Great Lent: The Season of Fasting

...rough the Gospels and we’ll see Jesus stating that “When you fast…” (Matthew 6:17) – not if; and even throughout the book of Acts we can see that the early church fasted regular and often, especially when they sought direction from God. If it were not for the church fasting and praying in Acts 13:1-4, they may not have heard from the Holy Spirit about sending Paul out on his first missionary journey, and if he had not done that, the faith may never have spread as far and fast as it did, nor would we have the majority of our New Testament! Fasting is a vital church discipline, I believe. Similar, history changing events, also happened from prayer and...

Jesus, Yahweh, And The Power Over The Storm

...Critics of Christianity will often make the claim that Jesus never said he was God or divine in the Gospels. The problem comes when they set unrealistic demands and expectations, like wanting a chapter and verse where Jesus says, “I am God, worship me”. But this isn’t how the Bible works and definitely not how Jesus went about his ministry. Throughout the Gospels, there are clear connections that reveal the true nature of Jesus in ways that would have been obvious to the Jewish people and leaders of his day who were very familiar with the Torah and other Scriptures we now call the Old Testament. One of the most striking examples is His demonstration of po...