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Lydia - Seller of Purple

Lydia – Seller of Purple

Acts 16:14 speaks of a woman named Lydia who was a “seller of purple” who responded to Paul’s preaching and offered to host Paul and his team in her home. Lydia’s gender, her being a “seller of purple,” and her means to be able to accommodate Paul and his band are significant to understanding the implications of this passage.

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Spirit Baptism and the Indwelling

Spirit Baptism: Glory in Clay Pots

The events of the day of Pentecost are like a two-sided coin: that which is seen and experienced on earth is in response to heavenly activity. The heavenly action is rarely discussed when the topic of the Pentecostal outpouring comes up. So much focus has been placed on a specific manifestation…

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Money and the Church - Part 2

Money and the Church – Part 2

It is an indisputable fact that there are differences in giving habits between different generations. These differences are deep and not going away. If we expect giving in the ekklesia to continue along the line it has for the last fifty years, or even twenty years, we are seriously mistaken. We ignore these differences at our peril.

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#bad church experience #church #discipleship #doctrine #freedom #grace #interpretation #kingdom #leadership #legalism #maturity #ministry #money #money and the church #New Covenant #organic church #spiritual abuse #tithing

Kenosis - Emptied of What?

Kenosis – Emptied of What?

Kenosis: Empty of What?

Philippians 2:6-11 is one of the most important and controversial verses in New Testament theology. It has crucial bearing on the manifestation of supernatural power through the God-Man, Jesus Christ, and spiritual gifts through the rest of us. Did Christ display power through inherent and independent deity…

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Fundamentalism, Religion, and Violence

A Horrifying True Story

A friend of mine had a truly disturbing and horrifying conversation with a “believer” . . .

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#bible doctrine #biblical fundamentalism #evangleicalism #violence in religion

The Humanity of Jesus

Jesus is the Pattern for Piety and Power

Because of centuries of debate both pre and post-Reformation, the belief that Jesus is “God in the flesh,” is nearly universally understood at least at a dogmatic level among anyone who claims adherence to two millennia worth of Christian doctrine. However, among that same company, the…

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Spiritual Gifts - You Can't Bake a Cake Without Them

Spiritual Gifts – You Can’t Bake a Cake Without Them

Spiritual Gifts – Can’t Bake a Cake Without Them

The belief in the present day continuation and manifestation of all the spiritual gifts is not now, nor ever has been a fringe issue. There is much at stake on what one believes on this topic. Critics try to portray belief in all the gifts of the spirit for all time as belonging to…

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Christian Anti-Intellectualism: A Work of the Flesh

Christian Anti-Intellectualism

Whenever I bring up the topic of the importance of culture and context in understanding the Scriptures, folks sometimes respond with: “What about new converts, or uneducated people?” Aren’t you putting the gospel out of reach of the “non-scholar masses?”

EMPHATICALLY, NO.

However, Christian anti-intellectualism is a work of the flesh just as much as sexual…

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#christian anti-intellectualism #doctrine #evangelicalism #fundamentalism #recovery from spiritual abuse #spiritual abuse #spiritual abuse recovery #spiritual pride

Test

This is a test posting. Trying to debug some issues with my blog. Apologies to regular subscribers who may get this notice, but the subscription feature is one of the things I am trying to check/fix.

Regards Steve

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The Blessing and Curse of Being . . . Charismatic!

Your Inheritance in Christ

You do not have to be a member of the family of God for long, before you will be exposed to one of the major divides in doctrine and practice among believers: the division over the continuation of all the gifts of the Spirit, and allthe gifts of Ephesians 4:11-13 until the return of the Lord. This blog is…

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#anti-intelletualism #apostolic #bad church experience #cessationism #charismatic #doctrine #John MacArthur #kingdom #miracles #New Covenant #prophetic #recovery from spiritual abuse #Relationship #signs wonders

Laodicea: Are We Healing or Refreshing to Others?

Laodicea: Hot or Cold?

The city of Laodicea was founded around 260 BC, in the Lycus River valley in what is now Turkey. It was a bustling city known for its great wealth from medicine, textiles/wool and finance. Laodicea was so wealthy that when it suffered a major earthquake in 60 AD, they refused the support of the Empire and financed their own rebuild.

Laodicea had it all – except water. So…

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#doctrine #freedom #grace #inner healing #interpretation #kingdom #maturity #Relationship #religion #truth

Addicted to Ministry Syndrome

Ministry is a word that evokes many strong feelings. Our individual history and experiences likely shape our definition and expression. I don’t define ministry by clergy-laity distinctions. All of life is ministry. The effort anyone engages in, at any time, in anyarena, for the sake of Jesus’ kingdom and His interests in people, is ministry. Ministry can be…

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#addicted to ministry syndrome #apostolic #freedom from religious addiction #kingdom #leadership #maturity #ministry #religious addiction #the cross #the crucified life

Perfectionism and Legalism

Perfectionism is the state of soul of a person bound by legalism. The perpetual striving to perfectly live up to “principles from the Bible,” not only empowers legalism, but also spills over into how a person engages the universe and others. It is a relationally destructive power. The legalist is in some…

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The Mars Hill Controversy

Mars Hill Controversy

The mess at the Mars Hill Church and the “network led by Mark Driscoll, spurred some thoughts today.

I pray for the day western evangelicalism gets free of celebrityism (But I am not holding my breath). But it sort of makes the case for Rene Girard’s mimetic theory of scapegoatism: “We make kings so we can tear them down when they fail.” How many times will this scenario…

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The Appeal of Legalism

The Galatians did not wake one morning with a surprise case of spiritual apostasy— infected with some unseen virus. They had witnessed not only conversions, but also miracles in their midst (see Gal. 3:5), yet they took to legalism like trout to PowerBait. Why did the Galatians, who had “begun in the Spirit”…

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#freedom from religion #grace #Jewish Roots theology #legalism #New Covenant #recovery from spiritual abuse #spiritual abuse #torah observance

Love Never Fails - It's Just Not Practiced Often

Love Never Fails - It's Just Not Practiced Often http://wp.me/p4RDXW-1pZ

Love is the context and currency of the kingdom

I have been a lifelong charismatic believer. This is declarative, confessional, repentant, and pejorative all at once. I have given my life for the issue of continuation of all the gifts of the Spirit, and the Eph. 4 ministries. However, the adjective “charismatic” has a lot of unfortunate baggage.

To my fellows: There is a reason 1 Cor. 13 is…

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#apostolic #bad church experience #charismatic #discipleship #doctrine #kingdom #love #maturity #ministry #miracles #spiritual abuse #truth

Legalism and Holiness

Moving from Legalism to Holiness

Church culture, not scripture, often has a profound influence on the question of what is holy and what is legalism.

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