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Showing posts from October, 2013

The Church, Spirits and Halloween

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Halloween. Can there be a relationship between that day and Christianity? Vic admits that in his early in his early days with Youth for Christ, he participated in attempting to win kids for Christ via the scary traditions of this popular Fall celebration. Vic testifies to what he and others have seen and heard; things that verify the reality of the spirit world. It's a credible warning to those who may see the spiritual, especially at it relates to Halloween, as nothing more than innocent fun. It may be tempting to 'cuddle up' to the occult and carnal traditions of the world. After all, we wouldn't want our kids to be criticized if they don't participate, right? Don't be fooled by the candy, costumes and pumpkins. Let the Holy spirit challenge your thoughts and convictions as you join Vic and fellow Crosstalk listeners as they take a look at this crucial subject. Listen to episode here: The Church, Spirits, and Halloween

Ideas Have Consequences: When A Nation Rejects God

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By William Gray [1] October 24, 2013   Ephesians 4:17-21 “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord that you no longer walk as the other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness and greediness but you have not so learned Christ if it be that you have heard Him and have been taught by Him as the Truth is in Jesus.” Introduction :                 At this time in the history of the world, Syrians are killing Syrians as the crisis in Syria rages on. The international community almost unanimously acknowledges that the Syrian government has use...

Strange Fire – A Call to Respond – John MacArthur

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by Mike Riccardi   October 19, 2013 For those who were unable to view the free live stream of the Strange Fire Conference here at Grace Community Church, I thought I would do my best to provide a written summary of the various sessions as they unfold ( Session One [2] ; Session Two [3] ; Session Three [4] ; Session Four [5] , Session Five [6] , Session Six [7] , Breakout Session 1 [8] ,  ( Session One [2] ; Session Two [3] ; Session Three [4] ; Session Four [5] , Session Five [6] , Session Six [7] , Breakout Session 1 [8] , Q&A 1 [9] , Session Eight [10] , Session 9 [11] , Breakout Session 2 [12] , Q&A 2 [13] ). It provides us with a helpful opportunity to interact with what is actually being said at the conference. Having said that, the following was transcribed in haste, and so please forgive any typos. I pray it’s a benefit to you. This conference is first and foremost to help the church. I don...

First Sermon Jitters: Help for Aspiring Preachers

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by Steve Burchett   October 15, 2013   The first sermon I ever preached was in a little country church close to my childhood home. I think I made three points: 1) Read your Bible. 2) Pray. 3) Tell people about Jesus. After twenty minutes, I had said everything I knew, so I concluded with a prayer and sat down. Looking back, I realize what a poor job I did. Where did I go wrong? For starters, I just said basic truths but I didn’t really teach Scripture. I made obvious statements, told a few illustrations, and read several different verses to (supposedly) prove my points. Additionally, I was a poor communicator. I spoke in a monotone voice, and most of the time I either looked down at my notes or up at the lights. But here’s one thing that, by God’s grace, I got right that morning: I tried. I realized I had a responsibility to speak up for God, so I gave it my best. To use a golf analogy, I hit many mor...

Pastoral Lessons From the Church as a Building

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by Jesse Johnson October 17, 2013 The New Testament often describes the church as a building. Jesus is the “living stone” that makes our foundation, but all believers are also “living stones…being built up as a spiritual house” ( 1 Peter 2:5 ). Paul uses this same metaphor and stresses the progressive nature of it. He writes that believers are “built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” ( Eph 2:20 ). But then he notes that, “the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (v. 21-22). In other words, the work is on going. We ARE being built…right now the work is continuing. And if the church is an ongoing building project, that affects the way pastors view their work. In fact, this is exactly Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 3:9-14 ). The work is ongoing, and th...

The Critical Value of the Bible – Part Two

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The entire Bible is prophecy, with God both telling forth and foretelling . God’s telling forth through His prophets includes all that He wants mankind to know and do, including His attributes, His commandments, His instructions, His corrections, His blessings, and so forth. Beyond the aspect of proving that God exists and that His Word is His direct communication to mankind (as we noted last month), foretelling is a way that God informs and in some cases warns His people of things to come. Two examples among hundreds that could be given from the Old Testament are in Genesis 15, in which God tells an aging Abraham that he will have a son and that his descendants (some 400 years later) will take the land that God promised to him, and  Jeremiah 25, which  contains God’s prophecy of the Babylonian captivity of the Israelites that would last 70 years. The New Testament contains hundreds more prophecies, many of which have come to pass, with some y...