Building on the Foundation

What is the most common conversation you might have with a Christian?  I'd wager that somewhere in a conversation with a Christian, no matter the denomination, a relationship with God will be mentioned. We might even be the ones who bring it up! This is a natural topic of conversation since that is the most important relationship we have, but there is a hidden danger in this discussion. The main danger is the fact that there are usually two different gods being referenced, especially when you get out into mainstream Christianity. What I mean is that many remake God in their own image, essentially making themselves, or the relationship, God  Philippians 3:18-19 KJV — (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) Our relationship with God is vital. It is the most important relationship w...

Why do we have scriptures that when someone gets up here and reads them it makes us uncomfortable? We seem to avoid certain parts of the Bible like the plague, certain verses that make our throats tighten, our butts clench, and our hearts beat just a little bit faster.  Quite often, these feelings are motivated by fear that someone might be offended by what is read, or it might cause disunity, or it makes us feel guilty because we know that we are not living according to that scripture! We are worried that someone might be offended by something being read out of the Bible! Doesn’t that seem a bit silly?  They are God’s words, not our own, so why should we feel worried about how someone might receive them? Yet we worry still, and often, we take great care to gloss and skim over the parts that make us uncomfortable or that we think might make someone listening uncomfortable.  People don’t like Paul. He just really does not have a way with words, and he is very blunt. He mak...

  Throughout history, civilizations have esteemed courage as one of the highest manly virtues. And it’s true, part of being a man is being courageous. In 1 Cor. 16:13, Paul exhorted the congregation, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” In Greek, that word “brave” is andrizomai (Strong’s # G407), which means “to act manly, show oneself a man, be brave.” In the Old Testament, wherever we read the phrase “be of good courage” in our English Bibles, the Greek Septuagint uses that same word andrizomai . Be manly. Be brave. God commanded Joshua to “be strong and of good courage” and “be strong and very courageous” (Josh. 1:6-7). And again, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9). David’s general Joab exhorted his troops, “Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God” (2 Sam. 10:12; 1 Chron. 19:13). On his deathbed,...