My Thoughts: Speaking truth to power is a phrase I hear often. It reminds me of the various protest movements against governments that date back to the volatile 1960s. We see it today from groups on the political left and right. It is great to have a democracy that, in theory, allows free speech. Although, the reality is that you could lose your job over your opinions. Jesus taught his disciples to worship him in Spirit and Truth. He gave his disciples both then and now spiritual authority over the demonic.  The Apostle Paul taught that the real powers in charge occupy the s ..read more

  The Quote: "Our hearts need to come to the fixed conclusion that God is everywhere present - that He is more real than the things we may think of as "real" and is deeply and utterly committed to our transformation into the image of His beloved Son. Any Christianity that embraces a less-integrated worldview is rendered increasingly powerless. It is a Christianity whose God exists only in an abstract sense. Such a life is madness in the end. It cannot but be encumbered with doubt while fostering opinion and argument in the place of faith. The result is an intellectualized faith (howeve ..read more

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 Church History CAN A CHRISTIAN BE DEMONIZED? 1 COR 10; EPH 4; LUKE 13 AntiNicene Quotes  ORIGEN: “Origen (c. A.D. 185–254), an important church leader in Alexandria (Egypt) and then later in Caesarea (Palestine), actually mentions the authority of believers to cast a demon out of themselves. He notes, “Anyone who vanquishes a demon in himself, e.g. the demon of lewdness, puts it out of action; the demon is cast into the abyss, and cannot do any harm to anyone.” SHEPHERD OF HERMAS: (many considered Scripture!)--early second century “So also the devil comes to all God’s serva ..read more

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  "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations." - Psalm 90:1 ESV Visiting the Church of my ancestors was something I'd thought and prayed about for years. I pondered the Lord being our dwelling place in every generation of my family. While praying the Lord's Prayer early one mourning, the thought occurred to me that this prayer was prayed by those of my family who preceded me: "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts ..read more

 In this post, I will use material from the Convergence conference sponsored by Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City. Sam Storms was the pastor in 2018 at the time of this conference. Dr. Storms's teaching is similar to Dr. Jack Deere's, Dr. Wayne Grudem's, and Dr. R.T. Kendall's. Storms, Deere, Kendall, Grudem, and Dr. Craig Keener are my 'go-to guys' - when I study spiritual gifts. Some may view the ways God spoke to people in Scripture as something he no longer does. Those who God chose to write Scripture indeed had a high level of gifting. That being the case, God still desires to com ..read more

  "But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:  “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,     and your young men shall see visions,     and your old men shall dream dreams;  even on my male servants and female servants     in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy." - Acts 2:16-19 ESV   The gift of prophecy, unlike the gift of teaching, is revelatory. God gives the gift of teaching to explain the Bible. It i ..read more

  …Adam tasted the sweetness of the apple and obtained the bitterness of death for the whole human race. In contrast to this, the Lord tasted the bitterness of gall and obtained our restoration from death’s sting to the sweetness of life. He took on himself the bitterness of gall in order to extinguish in us the bitterness of death.” – Chromatius Of Aquileia “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” – Matthew ..read more