christianity
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God placed His image-bearing living-icons in the original Edenic garden-temple and commissioned them to participate as helpmeet in His creative work by extending and globally disseminating the “goodness” He had set in place through six days of providing structure and fullness to overcome the chaotic emptiness and void. Note well(!) that even before the Fall,…
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The church of Acts was characterized by (what theologians call) an eschatological urgency. The end of all things was at hand. The Son of David had come to usher in the Kingdom of God. The Second Adam had fathered a new creation which would finally fill the earth with the glory of God through His…
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It is hard for the rich and powerful to find true love. The question will always be: do they love me for me or just for my stuff? God is the Ultimate rich and powerful Being and so He faces this problem to a degree immeasurably beyond any human tycoon or royalty figure. Ezekiel 16…
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the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. … and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” Revelation 13:3-4 provides two descriptions of the actions of the earth-dwellers with respect to the beast: (1) they worship it, and (2) they say words that show their…
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A straightforward reading of Romans 11 indicates that Israel and the Church in some sense “should be” one people — Jew and Gentile united in Messiah, and indeed ultimately will be one. But due to various forms of disobedience there is lopping and pruning and grafting which occur in the meantime, such that the unified…
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Given the reality of loss of lampstands, how shall one move forward? This is probably the question which has remained most at the forefront of my concern for several years. The Christian life and ministry are “Not by [human] might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of Hosts. How then shall…
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We need apostles. To complete the Great Commission task Jesus left His church to occupy herself with until His return, we need apostles. To truly reach the Muslim world with the genuine gospel message, not the distorted message of historic Christendom, but the true gospel of forgiveness and new life in Christ as we eagerly…
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If possible, please view the fully hyperlinked and better formatted pdf version of this post instead. Greetings! Shalom aleichem = Peace be upon you = As-salamu alaykum. Zekeriya Harrıs here writing to you today from İzmir Province in Türkiye, site of ancient Ephesus — prototypical city of lost lampstands. To friends and to prospective friends.The…
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Fulfillment of Jesus’ Great Commission, which missionary-minded (i.e. Biblically-minded) Christians long to see, simply will not happen without far greater manifestation of Acts 1:8 martyr-witness empowerment than most of us modern Western believers are used to seeing. Indeed, the Spirit of Pentecost was bestowed for this purpose: to grant POWER for Christ’s disciples to serve…
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Constantine’s goal in convening the Nicene council was to resolve some disputes among Christians, in order to attain ecclesiastical unity, in service of (presumably his ultimate goal) of political unity within the empire. One problem with that program is that ideas about Jesus (e.g. homoousios) are not what bind the body of Christ together. Rather,…
hasteningthecomingofthedayofGod 