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Theology

In Blog, Prayer, Theology on
April 17, 2022

Prayer Basics

Without communication, a relationship will never survive. I’ve had many friendships fade away because I just lost contact with them. And the same is true with other kinds of relationships, too. Marriages that lack communication often end in divorce. Miscommunication between bosses and employees tend to result in missed deadlines and uncompleted tasks. Parents who never communicate or cultivate relationships with their children are often estranged from them later in life.

Our relationship with God is no different. While a lack of communion with God won’t end in divorce or loss of relationship, forsaking practices like prayer and Bible reading can hinder one’s fellowship with God, making them feel like God is far away from them. Bible reading is a fairly straightforward discipline, and it’s rather easy to recognize how God speaks to us through His Word. But many Christians struggle with prayer. Who do we pray to? When should we pray? What should we pray for? Even people who have been believers for years are asking these questions, and all of them and more will be answered in this Prayer Basics post!

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In Blog, Heresies, Theology on
April 3, 2022

Test the Spirits

Everyone is trying to sell us something, whether it be on YouTube ads, interstate billboards, or commercials during the nightly news. Forbes reported in 2017 that the average American is exposed to four thousand to ten thousand ads every single day.[1] Everybody wants to convince us that their product or message will make our lives easier, better, or more enjoyable.

And this isn’t limited to secular media outlets. Even our pastors and churches feed us different messages every week. Many of these messages are rooted in the Word of God and are edifying and uplifting. However, there are also messages being delivered by “pastors” every week that are not rooted in Scripture, that are not truly edifying, and that actually lead people away from the truth of the gospel. Because of this, we must be like the Bereans, examining the Bible to see if what we are hearing lines up with God’s Word (Acts 17:11), and test the spirits (1 John 4:1).

To help you test the messages you’re hearing and discern whether what you’re being taught is biblical truth, I’ve compiled a brief list of nine heresies that originated in the early church and are still popular today and how the Bible disproves them.

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In Blog, Jesus, Theology on
March 7, 2022

Jesus the Christ

Contrary to many people’s belief, “Christ” is not the last name of Jesus. “Christ” is actually more of a title, and it’s the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” The fact that Jesus is labeled as “the Christ” is significant because it points to Him being the Messiah, the Savior that Israel had longed for and waited for, generation after generation, ever since the Fall of man.

But this title is much more significant than one might initially realize. It also tells us about the work Jesus did during His earthly ministry and the work He continues to do today. The words “Christ” or “Messiah” translate to mean “the Anointed One.” In Israel, there were three offices of authority that were anointed with oil, and Jesus holds all three of them: prophet, priest, and king.

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In Blog, Salvation, Theology on
February 7, 2022

Real Repentance

“Say you’re sorry!”

We’ve all seen it. A child hits a classmate, says something mean to a friend, or steals a toy from a sibling, and the offended child runs to tell an adult. Then, the parent or teacher goes over to the offending child with, “Say you’re sorry!”

But how many children who mutter a begrudging “I’m sorry” are actually sorry? How many of these children will turn around and do the exact same thing again? These children may say that they’re “sorry,” but they’re often just sorry that they got caught, not that they did a bad thing. Because they are not truly sorry, they will go right back to hitting classmates, saying mean things, and stealing toys.

Adults do this, too. We confess to God and say we’re sorry for doing things like gossiping about a co-worker, putting ourselves first, and being envious of what others have. But then we turn around and do these exact same things the very next day. Why do we do this? Why do we continue to commit the same sins we just apologized for? Because we have not really repented.

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In Bible, Blog, Theology on
January 10, 2022

A Brief Guide to Bible Translations

Did you know that there are about 900 English translations of the Bible? Granted, some of these translations are simply revisions of older ones and some translations are only one book or a group of books.[1] But that’s still a lot of translations of God’s Word! When we see all of these different translations that exist, we may begin to wonder why there are so many versions of the Scriptures and whether or not all of these versions can even be trusted.

To help answer these and other frequently asked questions, I have written this brief guide to Bible translations so that you will be equipped to not only understand but also to appreciate the number of English translations we have today.

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