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Studies -
The Church
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Written by William Dicks
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Tuesday, 03 November 2009 07:50 |
Introduction
All of us hold to things that are precious to us, just like Gollum in J.R.R Tolkien’s monumental work The Lord of the Rings held the “one” ring as precious to his own heart. Precious, the ring, finally led Gollum to his death.
In our own lives we also have things or persons that are precious to us. Our children, family, property, education, the right to the exercise of religion, the right of our children to grow up in smut-free and moral environments and many more.
However, more and more so-called democratic governments all over the world are starting to infringe upon all these preciousnesses in our lives. Today, these governments are enacting laws that make immorality legal. Things like pornography and homosexuality, and these governments are even starting to think that speaking out against such immoralities should be seen as hate speech, punishable under the law! Now that is turning justice on its head!
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Studies -
Biblical Studies
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Written by William Dicks
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Tuesday, 03 November 2009 05:46 |
The world we live in has no inkling of the glory of God. In fact, if God was to display His glory among the people of this world, the first thing that would enter their minds would be that of a UFO. Would the world even know that they should fear for their very lives? The moral state of the world has declined so much that they are willing to take God on in their court battles and through their very lives. One man actually (in his puny little God-forsaken mind) took God to court! Does this man not know that one day he will stand in the holy court room of God and he will be judged by God Himself? Apart from Christ, on that day, this man will have no clever, immoral, evil lawyer to represent him before the Judge of the ages! In that day his own sin, his own petulant, Godless mind will accuse him before God, and he is going to lose his case if he stands before God without Christ as his lawyer.
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Studies -
The Church
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Written by William Dicks
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Tuesday, 03 November 2009 05:19 |
The church growth gurus have long claimed that what is necessary for the church, is to become relevant to the world. According to them the church should be in the business of discovering the felt needs of the community and ministering to those needs in culturally acceptable modes. This means that if the community is very entertainment oriented, then the church should gear itself to minister to the community through entertainment and that the gospel should be presented in an entertaining way. In this way we can make the gospel more acceptable to the world in order to make it easier for them to accept it. It is said that the church needs to speak to the world in culturally understood language and that the language of the Bible is not easily understood by the world. The question is: “Is it right that we become so relevant to the world and making the gospel so acceptable to the world that we actually take the truth out of the gospel?”
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Studies -
Biblical Studies
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Written by William Dicks
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Tuesday, 03 November 2009 05:34 |
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One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
Romans 14:5 ESV
When we think of convictions, what do we normally have in mind? Is it not true, that when we think of convictions, we think of it in terms of something we hold to be true, but do not necessarily have to stick to them? The convictions I am writing about are those things that reside in the grey areas of life. These are those things which are not specifically commanded or forbidden in the Bible. This could include things like drinking alcohol, smoking, eating of certain foods, keeping of certain days, listening to certain styles of music, Christian music vs secular music, hymns vs contemporary worship music, and many more. None of them is expressly forbidden in the Bible making it sin to practice them and none of them is expressly commanded making it a sin if we refrain from practising them.
So, how do we deal with these convictions? Should we demand everyone to be bound by them, or should we be more lenient with those of different persuasions?
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Studies -
The Church
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Written by William Dicks
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Monday, 02 November 2009 06:22 |
 We’re a family that enjoys Christmas. Every year we decorate the house with Christmas trees, tinsel, flashing lights, candles and all kinds of ornaments. This year is no different. The same can be said of my wife’s family. They also love decorating their houses. The only difference this year--in our own home--is that I did not help. I had to work on the day the house had to be decorated.
At the end of my working day I walked into the decorated house and it hit my like a ton of bricks. Where is Christ? Yeah, I know He lives within my heart. I am saved by grace alone through faith alone in the work of Christ alone! Yet, with regard to the decorations in the house, where was He? There is a Santa on the wall unit… Santas on the wall unit. Santas on the Christmas tree…Santas everywhere! But…where is Christ? Is this not the season we celebrate the birth of Christ? Then how is it that we decorate our houses with an incremental amount of Santas, tinsel, lights and other trinkets every year, but Christ is hardly anywhere to be found? Sure, we do have a scene of the birth of Christ; however, it is tiny and lonely in comparison to the rest of the Christmas garb!
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Last Updated on Monday, 02 November 2009 06:50 |
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