Muitos cristãos sabem que o Evangelho é poderoso para trazer a salvação aos pecadores. Claro, não são apenas as palavras que realizam a obra de regeneração e fazem com que uma pessoa nasça de novo – é Deus operando na pessoa e as palavras são as ferramentas ou os meios que Deus ordenou usar para esse fenômeno. As Escrituras nos ensinam que “a fé vem pelo ouvir e o ouvir pela palavra de Cristo” (Rm 10:17). No primeiro capítulo de sua carta à igreja em Roma, Paulo escreve: “Porque não me envergonho do Evangelho, pois é o poder de Deus para a salvação de todo aquele que crê, primeiro do judeu e ..read more

O mundo está muito interessado em Jesus, desde que ele não seja cansativo. Este é o objetivo do programa “The Chosen”, que recentemente chamou a atenção da esfera secular. “Ficamos resistentes no início. Achei que seria cafona ou chato”, disse Carlos Crestana. Mas no episódio 5, ele disse: “Nós nos tornamos fãs”. Contamos a todos os nossos amigos.” Todo mundo quer Jesus, desde que ele não seja chato. Ninguém critica um Jesus que prega sem poder Quando se trata de pregação, nem é preciso dizer que a pregação passou por períodos difíceis. Muitas igrejas locais hoje gostariam de substituir o p ..read more

The primary work of the Holy Spirit today in a Christian’s life is his sanctifying believers to be “spiritual”—to be characterized by inner life and external behavior that conforms to the will of God. However, another result attributed often to the Spirit in the New Testament is gifting. Some gifting was special empowerment for leadership of God’s people. This unique gifting given temporarily to key figures like prophets and apostles often resulted in revelation, special miracles, notable power, and even less extraordinary gifting like boldness and courage. Often this empowerment was describ ..read more

Every Christian should be aware of the power of the gospel message to bring about the salvation of sinners. Sure, it’s not merely words that bring about the work of regeneration and cause a person to be born again—it’s God working in the person and the words are the tools or the means that God has ordained to use for the occasion. The Scriptures teach us that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). In the first chapter of his letter to the church at Rome, Paul writes, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who ..read more

One of the more famous Charles Spurgeon quotes relates to becoming a good reader. “Give yourself unto reading. The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains, proves that he has no brains of his own.” This exhortation is even more pertinent today than it was when he first said it. Though one would imagine that literacy rates have risen in the past two hundred years, the ability to read books has seemingly plummeted. After all, this is the age of sound bites, video shorts, and status updates. The atte ..read more

“He has not left Himself without witness,” said Paul to a group of Gentile pagans. The living God has never failed to speak, draw, and reveal Himself.  One of the means of this drawing is through the presence of beauty. In the apostate West, beauty is reviled, dismissed, and disdained. Its detractors (rightly) suspect that believing in beauty will lead them unavoidably back to contemplating God. But its power remains. The architect of much of modern nihilism and atheism, Friedrich Nietzsche, once wrote in a letter, “This week I heard the St. Matthew Passion three times and each time I ha ..read more

Todo crente hoje te diz que se o Espírito Santo estiver operando em sua vida, você experimentará manifestações extraordinárias. Mas será que essa é realmente a principal forma de atuação do Espírito? Efetivamente, a maior ação atribuída ao Espírito Santo em relação a cada cristão é a sua santificadora. No Novo Testamento, ser “cheio do Espírito” significa ser reconehcido como espiritualmente maduro e piedoso, pois somos cada vez mais submissos ao Espírito à medida que Ele nos enche da Sua Palavra. Portanto, essa discussão tem um foco cuidadoso no que Paulo chama de “o fruto do Espírito” em G ..read more

Many Christians today would tell you that if the Holy Spirit is working in your life, then you will experience extraordinary manifestations. But is that really the main way the Holy Spirit works? By far, the dominant action attributed to the Holy Spirit with relation to every Christian is his work of sanctification. In the New Testament, to be “filled with the Spirit” means to be characterized as spiritually mature and godly as we are more and more controlled by the Spirit as he fills us with his Word. Therefore, of particular importance for this discussion is a careful focus on what Paul ca ..read more

Every single year across our nation, hundreds of thousands of little babies are legally murdered after the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Abortion is a legally acceptable pay-to-murder industry. Today, sadly, it is still very possible to murder babies in the United States of America. In recent days, Donald Trump has been signaling that he will seek to accommodate certain groups by assuring that abortion will be accessible under certain circumstances. Abortion is one of the hottest topics of this political season, and as November approaches, each party and political candidate will attempt to speak t ..read more

STANZA 1 How blest is He whose trespass hath freely been forgiv’n, whose sin is wholly covered before the sight of heav’n, to whom the LORD in mercy imputeth not his sin, who hath a guileless spirit, whose heart is true within. STANZA 2 While I kept guilty silence, my strength was spent with grief; Thy hand was heavy on me, my soul found no relief; but when I owned my trespass, my sin hid not from Thee, when I confessed transgression, then Thou forgavest me. STANZA 3 So let the godly seek Thee in times when Thou art near; no whelming floods shall reach them, nor cause their hearts to fear. In ..read more