Money for Forgiveness
Monday, November 3rd, 2008 : By Ken Rutherford
A number of questions regarding the current teaching was submitted last week. I’d like to address one here:
Does the Roman Catholic church today believe in taking money to in exchange for forgiveness of sins?
In my understanding, this is not an overt doctrine of the RCC. However, given their system of salvation (process justification—as Dan has pointed out), almsgiving is seen as one of many “bricks” in one’s road toward justification. Whereas we believe that the Bible teaches that one’s forgiveness of sins is a one-time event (forensic justification), we would hold that giving money to the church or to the poor would be as a RESPONSE to forgiveness. Not as a means of forgiveness.
To make it more simple, the …
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Israel in Exile, Week 8: Daniel 8-9
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 : By Ken Rutherford
“Israel in Exile” adult Bible study, week 8.
Discussion of Daniel 8-9 including
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ChurchWorks: How You Function, Part 5
Sunday, July 13th, 2008 : By Dan Miller
How do the miracles in the Old Testament relate to the Spirit of God working in the Church today? How can we better discern the true expressions of the Spirit of God from the fake behaviors that some claim to be from the “Spirit.” Today we will continue to answer these types of questions and set the stage for our examination of the specific function of the Apostles as well as the general working of the Holy Spirit. MP3 download.
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ChurchWorks: How You Function, Part 3
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 : By Dan Miller
How do you ensure that the expression of spiritual gifts do not turn into “spiritual” liabilities? How do you know when an expression or outworking in a church is truly of God? Is there a way to really know? Today, we will take a tour of a church that had its fill of spiritually gifted people, yet had serious issues with acting in ways that were, at times, completely not spiritual. In Paul’s teaching to the church at Corinth, we discover pivotal truths that must govern any and all expressions of spiritual gifts. Today’s teaching will help you to avoid becoming a “spiritual” liability. MP3 download.
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Any Good Christian Will Vote for…
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 : By Dan Miller
There are few issues like politics that inspire question marks in the minds of Christians. Questions like, Do I vote for a candidate who is “pro-choice” when the other candidate is not only “pro-choice” but “pro-tax”, “pro-big government,” “pro-liberal social programs”, etc? Living in a society in which we are given the freedom to participate in the political process in turn demands that we learn to think through finding balance in how we cast our vote as a follower of Christ. Let’s face it, to abstain completely from voting because a candidate holds a view that you or me would consider to be “unchristian” will leave us with no candidate at all. A person with this …
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ChurchWorks: How You Function, Part 2
Sunday, June 8th, 2008 : By Dan Miller
In Segment one of this series, we took three weeks to examine the marks of a God-owned Church (Knowing Who You Are). Last week we began segment two (Knowing How You Function), and addressed how our oneness as a church is expressed through our distinctness in our spiritual gifting. Today we will continue to see, based on account of what Christ has done in the atonement, how we can now shape each other with such effectiveness as to actually contribute to the spiritual health of one another. MP3 download.
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ChurchWorks: How You Function, Part 1
Sunday, June 1st, 2008 : By Dan Miller
Over the last three weeks, we have been moving through issues of identity of the Church. Today, we start the second segment in our ChurchWorks series: Knowing how you function as the Church.
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ChurchWorks: Who You Are, Part 3
Sunday, May 25th, 2008 : By Dan Miller
What do you picture when I say the word “identity?” Most often we think about a person in terms of their characteristics, a type of mental snapshot like tall, short, loud, quiet, harsh, gentle, etc. There are times we lump the identity of people together, and they form a type of group identity. Over the last two weeks, we have been working through characteristics that form the identity of a true Church. Today, we will discuss two more features in a God-owned church from I Thessalonians 1:8-10.
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ChurchWorks: Who You Are, Part 2
Sunday, May 18th, 2008 : By Dan Miller
We are in week 2 of our “Church Works” series. Last week we uncovered the dynamic that when we know who we are as a church we can live the way we were meant to live as a church. Today, we continue in considering what it means to be an authentic and, therefore, recognizable church. Are there signs of life that every church gives off? What are those bottom-line signs of life that any and every true church will display?
Today, we will point out these signs of life and in the process we will gain a greater understanding what it means to be a church.
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ChurchWorks: Who You Are, Part 1
Sunday, May 11th, 2008 : By Dan Miller
Today we start a new series called “Church Works”. In this series we will be considering what it means to be a Church. We will also better understand how the reality of being the church is practically expressed within the church community.
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