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Lent Day 35: Ambrose of Milan: Concerning the Mysteries: 1-4

...lds as an authority. God’s presence in baptism “What did you see?”, Ambrose rhetorically asks about the baptism. Water, of course, but not only that: apart from the bishop and deacons ministering during this time, God is also present in the waters. Quoting Paul from 2 Corinthians 4:18, he makes the point that there are “things which are not seen” along with the “the invisible things of God” (Rom 1:20) at work here, and if they should accept and believe the working of the Spirit during baptism, then why not the presence also, for one always precedes the other, Ambrose says. Using the story of Naaman (2 Kings 5), amongst others from the Old Testam...

Lent Day 37: Leo the Great: Letter XXVIII (called the "Tome")

...bishop's authority” is on these matters, then he can come back into the Church. All in all, this letter is a very thorough and detailed apologetic and defence of the faith on the nature of Christ in the incarnation, so much that I think it can still stand on it’s own today. I’d recommend anyone interested in this topic to read Leo’s letter in full to really grasp his arguments.  ...

The Temptations of Jesus: Testing God

...power and authority. This is why we must be avid students of the Bible and really strive to know it as fully as possible, so that when temptation or false teachers come along in the guise of being “biblically based”, we can spot it a mile off and not fall into the trap! Test the spirits (1 John 4:1) as John writes and pray for the discernment that the Holy Spirit gives (1 Corinthians 12:10) so we can go forth in the full armour of God under the protection that God actually promised us (Ephesians 6:10-18).   Further reading: Josephus: Antiquities, 15.11,5 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-15.html#b19) https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictiona...

An Examination of Conditional Immortality (Part One)

...given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 1 John 5:12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. See also the many other times the New Testament authors speak of this as a gift: John 3:16,36; Rom. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:42–43; 50, 54; Gal. 6:8. We also see from Hebrews 1:3 that Christ “sustains all things by his powerful word”, so even if the soul survives death, it would only be because God willed it to be so for his purpose of judgement. There’s nothing to suggest immortality (or even life in general) is inherent in anyone other than God unless it is given or sustained...

8 Most Controversial Topics In The Church Today

...ubt their authority, despite the fact that they are not preaching/teaching in a typical church context. 4. Type of worship music Modern or traditional? Hymns or contemporary praise songs? This is undoubtedly a contentious subject inside many churches. It's frequently a decisive element in a person's decision to join a church. This problem also creates a schism between Christians of older and younger generations. Certain instruments can also be contentious. Some churches may not accept a drum set, yet another church may have a whole praise band with a full spectrum of instruments. Some churches have sought to settle the debate by including both classic and co...

Coffee With Jesus: Luke 22–23

...power and authority, there will be a time of delay and that his followers must carry on “doing business” in the meantime. Luke 19:12–13So he said, “A nobleman went to a distant region to receive royal power for himself and then return. He summoned ten of his slaves and gave them ten pounds and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ To wrap this up, we can see that although Jesus was instigating the new covenant, inaugurating the Kingdom of God, and fulfilling the prophecies surrounding his death as a Passover lamb for the sins of the world, and that at the cross these things all took place… there would be a delay between him go...