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

...ultimate authority in and for life, but that doesn't make it so for everyone else, and especially not for those in government who dictate the laws. Sometimes I think the sooner we realise that, the better off the Church as a whole would be.   It was only last week I was writing a similar post about the online actions of Christians and how unloving they were in regards to Google not posting an Easter themed "doodle". This week it's the similarly unloving actions and attitudes towards someone who dared to question. It's not like it was asking or seeking heretical doctrine, but simply trying to get to the root of an issue. As a friend of mine also...

The Coming of Jesus: The Olivet Discourse – Part 1

...nd divine authority to save Israel from impending doom in miraculous ways. These men failed, the miracles and prophecies didn't happen, and they and their followers were killed by the Roman soldiers. Flavius Josephus, "Wars of the Jews" Book 2 chapter 13 Another body of wicked men also sprung up, cleaner in their hands, but more wicked in their intentions, who destroyed the peace of the city no less than did these murderers [the Sicarii]. For they were deceivers and deluders of the people, and, under pretense of divine illumination, were for innovations and changes, and prevailed on the multitude to act like madmen, and went before them in the wilderness, pr...

The Coming of Jesus: Revelation Fulfilled?

...ere given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and pestilence, and by the wild animals of the earth. The fourth seal also emcompasses famines, along with death in general by various other means. It’s possible that the preceding horseman is what sets things in place for Death to ride through, by affecting the economy enough to result in famine, which would lead to death along with much disease. v.9: Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. v.9: When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been...

The Eighth Day

...have that authority through the Spirit who dwells in us! As Jesus told the Pharisees in Luke 17:21, “the kingdom of God is among (or within) you”. Paul also writes to the Colossians (1:13-14) and tells them that God “has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son”. This is our reality. If we are in Christ, then we are made new, raised up and are in the Kingdom of God as ambassadors. This is the Eighth Day.   Take hold of this truth and let it transform you. Further Reading: Barnabas, ch 15:8-9 – http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/barnabas-lake.html Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Tryp...

What does the word "Catholic" mean?

...spiritual authority of the priests and bishops who had fallen away from the faith during the Diocletian persecution (A.D. 303–305). [4] Even though there was a long period of time when the Eastern and Western churches had a resentful relationship, the date of 1054 is commonly taken as the beginning of the schism, as it is when Pope Leo IX and Michael Cerularius had major disagreements resulting in their mutual excommunication. The Crusades, eventual capture of Constantinople in 1204, and the establishment of a Latin Patriarchate replacing the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, rendered all later efforts of unity between East and West by the Church Cou...

The Early Concept of the Trinity: Tracing the Roots

...tance and authority in the Christian faith. While this is basically repeating Scripture (Matt 28:19), it demonstrates that the understanding of a 3-fold name of God to baptise in was a common practice in the early Christian communities. The writings of prominent early Church Fathers further affirm the concept of the Trinity. Clement of Rome, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 46, written around AD 96, emphasises the unity in God, Christ, and the Spirit, stating, “Have we not one God and one Christ and one Spirit of grace poured out upon us?”. Clement provides an important link back to the Apostles, too, as Origen of Alexandria (AD 185—284) a...