Peace, Power and Purpose

by Ed Allen | Jan 22, 2021

John 20:19-22: “So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

(Observation) Jesus appears, bearing the scars of His crucifixion, in the midst of His disciples as they hide behind closed doors. Jesus says “peace be with you” twice, sends them “as the Father has sent Me” and breathing on them, says “receive the Holy Spirit.”

Babylon and Pride

by Micah Olson | Jan 6, 2021

Man has been seeking his own glory ever since he rebelled in the Garden. The Old Testament characterizes Babylon as a uniquely egregious manifestation of man’s pride, a nation that rose to worldly glory and ended in utter destruction and desolation. According to the book of Revelation a new version of Babylon will manifest in the end times, and it will again end in absolute destruction.

A LAMENTATION FOR REALITY

by Jerry Bangert | Dec 23, 2020

What a year we have all been through! COVID, riots, the election, conspiracy theories on the right and left, racial animosity, defunding the police, wildfires and hurricanes—tension is high and trust is low. It all feels a bit unreal, which caused me to ponder what the Bible teaches about reality.

What is real and how can I know? Is God real, does the Bible give a true depiction of reality? These important questions can only be answered, affirmatively or negatively, by faith. If God is real and the Bible is true, then we become privy to knowledge that we could not otherwise possess. Not least among these truths is that God is a moral Spirit and the universe He created is both spiritual and moral. Further, the spiritual and moral have primacy over the merely physical and natural.

Whose Job is the Ministry / Owning our Priesthood

by MIMADMIN | Dec 5, 2020

The Apostle Peter tells us followers of Jesus Christ in I Peter 2:9 that we “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Join with us in reading and considering the teaching in the attached Ministry in the Marketplace book “Who’s Job is the Ministry?” where these and other pertinent questions we as men of God should understand and be ready to answer.

Presumption & Surrender

by David Rinehart | Nov 27, 2020

Recently, God has impressed upon me the issue of presumption. I define presumption as those expectations (however illegitimate) I have placed upon God; how He should act, how He should treat me, how He should treat others, how He should treat those who persecute/harm me, how He meets my needs, etc.

Over time, it has become clear to me that presumption is a soul crushing, silent, cancer of character which must be continually identified and purposefully removed to avoid harm to me and others around me. Apart from the filter of the Bible, one may not even realize how much presumption they have in their life. In many ways it is like the sin of covetousness; you don’t even recognize it as sin until the Bible defines it for you. Then you need to ask God to show you this sin in your life and repent. Admittedly a painful process, but powerfully healing.

The ‘Feel-bad’ Religion

by Nigel Pink | Nov 13, 2020

It is essential that all who would hope for forgiveness realize they stand as the Tax Collector, an object of wrath. Tears cannot soften the heart of God; seven times Jesus informs his disciples that the unrighteous will bewail their fate (eg. Matthew 8:12). Mercy is only possible by the intercession of Christ.

Thus, the time for grief is now – but this is not misery for its own sake. Paul does not rejoice that the Corinthians are indulgently maudlin, rather that they have been ‘grieved into repentance’. Grief, an emotion, leads to repentance (μετάνοια metanoia, change of mind), a volition.

Like-mindedness

by Justin Bradford | Oct 29, 2020

I ask myself in today’s world with all the differing opinions and thoughts, how do we do this? This is a huge problem if we think this means we need everyone to think and act exactly like us. Paul says to imitate him as he imitates Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1) and that he and the other apostles have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). The only way we can agree, cherish the same views and be harmonious is by imitating Paul as he imitates Christ. The same mind we seek is Christ’s, rather than convincing others to agree with our thoughts and opinions.

Remember, Watch, Hope

by Ron Hocutt | Oct 16, 2020

As Christians, we are called to live and minister in a fallen world while not becoming a part of it. That anyone succeeds at this is a miracle. The world around us is so “real,” our needs so strong, and the promise for which we labor so ill-defined, that to walk the narrow path that leads to salvation is impossible. Thankfully we are reminded that what is impossible with men is possible with God. To succeed in this journey, He gives us three imperatives: Remember. Watch. Hope.

“Waiting”

by Jim Gustafson | Oct 1, 2020

“But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” – Romans 8:25

Hope is the unseen benefit we long for. It drives us. We walk by faith because of it. Hope is powerful—it defines our realities. They may be unrealistic, indescribable and unobtainable. But nevertheless, our actions in faith are a function of our hope. Most of us likely eat, work, exercise, spend our money, worship, love and rest because of it. You define a man’s hope, you can predict his actions. And conversely, you can see a man’s hope by his behaviors.

Life in Neutral

by Nigel Pink | Sep 17, 2020

One of the great spiritual deceptions is that there is a neutral position or state in which the disciple of Christ can idle. When back-sliding Israel became idolatrous, they swung from worshiping God to bowing to idols. Many in the Church today, think this example no longer applies; apostates do not erect a statue to Baal or Molech, yet think that ‘time away from the Lord’ is not an evil; however, Jesus’ teaching is crystal and warns that a person cannot serve two masters:

‘Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money…’ (Matthew 6:24)