A church committee has asked the General Synod of Australia’s Anglican Church to adopt a statement calling for citizens to have fewer children, recommending that the government cut childbirth incentives to new parents and instead offer incentives for parents to have fewer children. The country is on track for overpopulation, the church warned, which could break the eighth commandment by stealing resources from future generations. Do Christians have a special responsibility to have children?

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How might you answer these types of social issues in light of the command for the followers of God to “multiple and fill the earth.”

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Last week we began to consider the connection between how we view the future and our ability to live a focused, Kingdom-centered life. Jesus applied this dynamic to how we view material possessions when he says: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Jesus makes the powerful connection between how we view our future will mold the way we live here and now. What is it about the future that …

 

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Angola State Penitentiary in Louisianan was know as the bloodiest prison in the United States. The prison is the largest maximum security prison in the United States with 5,000 inmates and 1,800 staff members. It sits on 18,000 acres and surrounded on three sides by the Mississippi River. Now, with the visionary leadership of Burl Cain things are different. There is now a Bible College and multiple ministries in which men are becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. One expression of God’s grace at Angola is a program called Malachi 4:6 Dads. The video tells the story.

Join me …

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LONDON — A huge ball of brightly burning gas drifting through a neighboring galaxy may be the heaviest star ever discovered — hundreds of times more massive than the sun, scientists said Wednesday after working out its weight for the first time.

Those behind the find say the star, called R136a1, may once have weighed as much as 320 solar masses. Astrophysicist Paul Crowther said the obese star — twice as heavy as any previously discovered — has already slimmed down considerably over its lifetime. In fact, it’s burning itself off with such intensity that it shines at nearly 10 million times the luminosity of the sun.

The heavens …

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Have you ever considered the connection between living with a focused, Kingdom-centered life and a robust understanding of the future? The Apostle John makes this connection when he writes, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. I John 3:2-3

John makes a striking connection between how we view the future with how we seek purpose and purity in our lives here and now. My question for you to consider is why does John do this? Why make this …

 

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On Sunday, in the first part I taught on the responsibilities (see the teaching guide) that Christians have in contributing to God’s ecosystem, the Church. I made the following points:

People “Go Green” when they take personal responsibility to:

A. Actively listening and applying God’s Word to your life.

B. Commit to being personally accountable to someone for their spiritual development.

C. Have an active ministry among those in our Fellowship.

D. Express accountability in church membership.

E. Regularly communicate the Gospel to yourself and to others in our Fellowship.

In speaking to these responsibilities, I mentioned certain ideas on how to begin to implement them.

In reference to point “A” I commended to you the Word …

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A.W.Tozer once said, “God always works where His people meet His conditions, but only when and as they do. Any spiritual visitation will be limited or extensive depending how well and how widely conditions are met.”

If this statement is true, then it is important for us to consider what some of these conditions are. So, what does make a church ripe for a “spiritual visitation?” In other words, what are the responsibilities of the people who attend our Church? That is what we will think about today. Thanks for being with us and we hope our time together will help you in your spiritual journey. MP3 download.

 

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The Leadership Team answers your questions.

Q1 (1:22). When I discuss issues with my friends and cite the Bible as a reference my friends often say to me, “Well, that’s your interpretation.” How do I respond to that without feeling like I am just giving another opinion? It just seems like all the force gets taken out of the point I am trying to make.

Q2 (9:54). When the Bible says we will be held accountable for our actions does that also include sins that we’ve already been forgiven for?

Q3 (17:59). When the Bible says that we will be “in the world” but we are not supposed to be “of this world” how …

 

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We are about to do something drastic and rare in human history. This document sets forth our justification to the world. The Laws of Nature created by Nature’s God give any people the right to undo political ties binding them to another nation, and to take their own separate place among earthly powers as full equals. This is the case because the Creator made every person equal, and gave certain permanent rights to them all. These include the rights to live, to be free, and to pursue happiness. All this is so obviously true that it needs no proof. The reason for government is to make these rights secure. The only rightful power a government has is power that the …

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What is the fundamental, common DNA of every person who says they are a Christian? Today we look at that very issue in 2 Corinthians 5 and see that the answer is “the Gospel”. It is fundamental to an individual being a Christian and essential to the life of a church. MP3 download.

Music video by Kenny Chesney with The Wailers performing Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven. (C) 2008 Sony Music Entertainment

 

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