Headed to the lake of fire

kainos

Revelation 21:8 lists some of those who will die a second death and suffer eternal destruction in the fiery lake: unbelievers who do not trust God, corrupt people (the word means you can’t stand the stench), murderers, immoral people (pornos), those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers (which includes greedy and covetous people), and all liars (fakes).

Pretty much what you expect, right?

But there’s one more on that list. It even begins the roll call: “cowards who turn away from me.” (NLT)

The Greek word translated ‘coward’ is deilos. It means “timid, fearful.” It’s the word used in Matthew 8:26 of the disciples — “men of little faith” — who were afraid when their boat was about to be swamped by stormy waves.

Does that get as close to home for you as it does for me?

I think of courageous hearts —…

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Speechless

SEEDnet Blog

Meet part of the Church at St. Antoine Gardens in Detroit, MI.A man & woman who grew up in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country – 2 ladies who have major eye problems – a man who grew up in Ethiopia as a Muslim – and a woman and her granddaughter.

With Easter in view, we discussed the following verse: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭5‬)

The discussion about Jesus being “pierced and crushed” for our sins was great and the Holy Spirit moved big time. When it came time to personalize the verse I was amazed at what God did. 2 people decided to admit they were sinners and believe that Jesus died for them! Everyone had smiles and tears…

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Suicide Or Mission: The Choice Facing More North Koreans Than You Might Guess

What choice will be made?

Do the Word

Post by Pastor Tim – When LSY defected to South Korea she was investigated by the National Intelligence Service Center, like all of the other North Korean defectors. Even though she was already a Christian, she was physically and emotionally weak. She began to have suicidal thoughts. She thought that it would be better to die by jumping out of the window than to go through any more interrogation.

LSY was by no means weak by nature. She had worked hard labor as a construction worker in North Korea for over 20 years. And during the eight years she spent in China before coming to South Korea she continued to work hard in order for her and her family to survive.

Her trip from China to South Korea was very difficult–“impossible without God’s help,” LSY says. But she also says she felt like God gave her special care while on…

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‘The Case for the Psalms: Why they are essential’ by Tom Wright

PsalterMark

Tom Wright is well known as a prolific author of Christian books. For example, he is working on a massive scholarly project, of which three volumes are in print and a fourth is imminent, on nothing less than the whole of the New Testament and its implications for Christian doctrine. Thus his academic expertise includes first-century Jewish history, the Gospels, the Pauline corpus and biblical hermeneutics. So some might be surprised that a New Testament scholar should publish a book on the Psalms.

The book is not meant to be a piece of Psalms’ scholarship, although Wright is clearly informed regarding diverse recent work on the Psalms. Rather this book is aimed at a popular audience. For this we should be grateful, because Wright’s central plea is a correct one. He argues, as the title indicates most clearly, that much of contemporary Christianity has, to its detriment, neglected the Psalms…

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Evangelicals and Obamacare

In fact, the larger debate in the USA is not about whether there should be a safety net for the truly needy. Americans—right, left, and center—agree that there should be. It is more about whether Obamacare is good law that provides a balance of coverage and value, is economically viable for the nation as a whole, and will slow the rate of health-care inflation. Given the fact that nobody who voted for the bloated legislation (all Democrats, no Republicans in the House of Representatives) actually read it, it is not surprising that a host of problems have come to light (see, e.g., the thoughtful and informed articles by policy analyst and National Affairs editor Yuval Levin on this larger topic here and here and here).

The human tragedy resulting from this frantic effort by the progressive left to impose Obamacare on the nation is already substantial, as healthcare policies people like and need are cancelled by providers because they don’t meet the precise requirements of the new law. Many have lost full-time employment as companies cut positions because of the economic burden of Obamacare to employers, and the situation is only likely to get worse. It is also, I think, fair to ask whether the Obamacare policies that are now causing cancer patients to lose their health coverage represent the sort of “justice” that left-wing Evangelicals are demanding. Unfortunately, those in the grip of social reformist fervor are often oblivious to the unintended consequences of the policies they champion.

TheEcclesialCalvinist

New Testament scholars N. T. Wright (the former Anglican bishop of Durham who needs no introduction and whom I have long read with profit) and Michael Bird (an Australian who has written some intriguing things on the Apostle Paul) have recently waded into the American debate over healthcare reform here and here.  Representative is the piece by Bird, who, suggests that evangelicals elsewhere in the world look at conservative Christian opposition to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) “with a mix of disbelief and disgust.” He also opined that a national healthcare system is simply the Christian thing to do: “we should have a social concern to provide healthcare for our fellow citizens, wherever a government is elected by people with broadly Christian concerns to provide a basic level of healthcare for all.”  Then Bird threw down this gauntlet: “I want to challenge my American evangelicals [sic] friends to consider…

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ACORN founder’s new group to help with Obamacare rollout

Obamacare really a cover for funding already discredited and immoral groups like Planned Parenthood and ACORN – what a sick type of cronyism

Disciple Making in the Historic Church: Haunted by the Ghost of Roland Allen

Disciple Making in the Historic Church: Haunted by the Ghost of Roland Allen

Have you ever been haunted by the Ghost of Roland Allen?

The Whole World Will Know

Why do we tell Bible Stories as if we (or our listeners) are or could be the heroes when the actual hero of the story is….

From the Desk of John King

It is great that the stories of the Bible are so integral to children’s curricula. But I am concerned that it often focuses too heavily on exploring what the human characters do.

Consider the story of David and Goliath. Traditional approaches make David the hero, whose behavior is to be imitated. Goliath is the villain and his behavior is to be avoided (if his role is explored at all). The actions of King Saul and the other soldiers (for example, David’s brothers) are also noted as negative examples of fear.

But the main character of this story is too often ignored.

Who is this story really about? Ask David. Whose reputation is David concerned about? How is it that David has so much confidence when everyone around him is terrified? David’s heroic behavior arises from his worldview that sets his beliefs and grounds his values. David knows who the main character…

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decision point: engaging the lost

Can workers “only come from the harvest”? Based on the fact that all the people I know who are promoting DMM were Christians before they were involved in DMM, I’d say “no”.

uDMMs | urban Disciple Making Movements

This is the fourth post in a decision point series on how disciple making teams relate to local churches.

Some disciple making teams implement disciple making movement strategies by directly engaging the lost.

These teams see future workers coming from the harvest field itself. Their job, therefore, is not just to find and disciple people of peace, but to develop people of peace into leaders.

Implications: Raising up workers from the harvest fields significantly increases the likelihood of an indigenous, reproducing movement. However, this requires discernment about which parts of the local culture can be embraced, and which parts need to be redeemed over time.

Key decision: will the disciple making team try to stay ahead of the movement, or will they step to the side?

Encouragement: be a bridge between the emerging movement and existing churches.

Your turn:

1. What benefits do you see in directly engaging…

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We have to get MORE serious about the Great Commission

The Great Commission isn’t simply about missions “over there”!

Apprentice 2 Jesus

I’ve grown up always thinking about the Great Commission. It’s only over the past few years I’ve realized how incomplete my thinking was on that goal.

“Great Commission” Christians meant missions. It meant going overseas or sending people to go overseas. We were focused on the “all nations” part.

What we need to recapture is the “obey everything” part. THAT is as much a part of the Great Commission as the “going” part.

I want to be serious about two things:

1. Obeying all that Jesus commanded. He has empowered me. The means of obedience is there. It is my intentionality that must kick into high gear.

2. Training others to obey ALL that Jesus commanded. I must constantly set before people the expectation that salvation in Jesus is NOT getting your ticket punched to heaven. Salvation is OBEYING all that HE commanded. And… it’s possible. When that happens, the…

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