A few months ago, Bill Seal, one of our elders at The Village and a good friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer. Much like our lead pastor, Matt Chandler, it was a brain tumor. From what I’ve been told, the difference between Chandler’s tumor and Bill’s is that Bill’s was on a different side of his brain. I forgot all of the details as to why, but this was apparently even more critical than Chandler’s because of the location, and Bill is 67 where Chandler is much younger.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Christ, Christianity, Church, Crucifixion, Divine Plan, Evil, God, God's Will, Gospel, Jesus, Pain, Religion, Sovereignty, Suffering, The Bible, The Cross
I apologize for it taking so long to post this. This blog is going to be fairly academic in nature, and I was trying to find a way to communicate the appropriate emotion behind it so that it wouldn’t seem so matter-of-fact as it’s such an important text. Then over time, I just forgot about it. Over the past few weeks, though, through the course of conversations with some people, I really became pressed with how much we love our sin. This realization drove me back to this text, and I decided that I needed to go ahead and post this as is, and hope that the heart behind it comes across.
If you’re new to the blog, or just need a refresher, it may help to review what we’ve already covered in the Ephesians series (scroll to the bottom of the page to get to the first post).
Alright, we left off in the previous blog stating that Paul, at a high level, compares our salvation to Christ’s resurrection to communicate the drastic change that took effect at our salvation. GOD MADE US ALIVE! We were spiritually dead because of sin and God breathed life into our very soul. He resurrected us from our spiritually dead state and made us alive in Christ Jesus. So not only will we be resurrected physically as Jesus was, but we have already been resurrected spiritually.
Posted in Ephesians
Tagged Christ, Christianity, Church, Church at Ephesus, Crucifixion, Divine Plan, Ephesians, Evil, God, God's Will, Gospel, Jesus, Pain, Paul's Epistles, Pauline Letters, Religion, Sovereignty, Suffering, The Bible, The Cross, Unity in Christ
I’ve been reading Church History in Plain Language in attempts to fill in the gaps between Acts and, well, the Protestant Reformation. The other day I read something about Augustine that I really hit me hard.
Posted in Church History
Tagged Accountability, Augustine, Christ, Christianity, Church, Church History, Crucifixion, Divine Plan, Evil, God, God's Will, Gospel, Jesus, Leadership, Ministers, Ministry, Pain, Pastors, Religion, Sovereignty, Storms, Suffering, The Bible, The Cross, Theology, Trials, Unity in Christ
This is the third of a three part (and possibly more) series on the Sovereignty of God and the Supremacy of Christ.
Merriam Webster defines “supremacy” as being in the highest rank, authority, or power.
When we look at the life of Joseph in Genesis 37 and 39-46 we’re usually taught a handful of things as we grow up in church. We’re taught that because Joseph saved during the seven years of plenty so he’d have food for the seven years of famine, that we should save money while we have it so we’re not completely broke when we’re broke. We’re taught to “trust God until it all works out”. Then we’re taught that God can indeed use the socially awkward, which Joseph must have been because he actually told his family about the dream where they all bowed down to him. Continue reading
Posted in Sovereignty of God, Supremacy of Christ
Tagged Christ, Christianity, Church, Coat Of Many Colors, Crucifixion, Divine Plan, Egytpians, Evil, God, God's Will, Gospel, Jesus, Joseph, Joseph and the Coat Of Many Colors, Pain, Religion, Sovereignty, Sovereignty of God, Suffering, Supremacy of Christ, The Bible, The Cross
This is going to be the first of a three part (and possibly more) series on the Sovereignty of God and the Supremacy of Christ.
The back-story to the text we’ll be looking at is 2 Samuel 11, when King David commits adultery with Bathsheba, tries to cover it up, and then kills her husband Uriah when he failed to cover up his sin of adultery. 2 Samuel 12:1-14 the prophet Nathan confronts David about his sins of murder and adultery and lists out several consequences for David’s sin. One of those consequences was that David’s child he had with Bathsheba would die. Continue reading
Posted in Sovereignty of God, Supremacy of Christ
Tagged bathsheba, Christ, Christianity, Church, Crucifixion, david, death, Divine Plan, Evil, God, God's Will, Gospel, Jesus, king david, Pain, Religion, Sovereignty, Sovereignty of God, Suffering, Supremacy of Christ, The Bible, The Cross, the prophet nathan
