The first fruit listed among the fruit of the Spirit is the fruit of love. This beautiful fruit begins to mature when Christ enters a person’s life. Romans 5:5 states: “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” […]
The Fruit of Following God, Part 6 Read More »
The Bible is full of difficult teachings that are seen as unpalatable to the modern person. But even in Jesus’ day, people at times responded to his teaching unfavorably. Here’s a sampling: “this is a hard teaching, who can accept it?” (John 6:60). Or, “You have a demon!” (John 7:20). On multiple occasions, the audience
“My Very Dear Friends” Read More »
Several years ago I played hooky from church so I could go to church. That is to say, I skipped my own congregation’s Sunday service and headed a few blocks over to another local church, where a visiting speaker was scheduled to preach. The speaker was also an author and had written several books that,
Is It Still Good News? Read More »
Another quality exhibited by the follower of the Lord is that of obedience, i.e. observing or keeping the commands of the Lord. Reading through this list of attributes that we’ve been studying for a few months now in Deuteronomy 10:12-13, it is difficult to imagine that even in this Old Testament context (as the “next” generation
The Fruit of Following God, Part 5 Read More »
Christian discipleship always results in the creation of servants. The Christian disciple’s motto should inevitably reflect the words of Jesus found in the Gospel of Mark, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” (10:45, ESV). Some scholars believe that this verse
The Fruit of Following God, Part 4 Read More »
Acts 9 captures one of the most significant moments in all of world history: the Conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Just nine short verses tell the story: ‘But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at
Two Convictions at the Heart of Genuine Conversion Read More »
