holy spirit
Guilty as Charged
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” John 3:16 He had been out of prison only a few weeks when I met him. It was the result of a cold call that I made to ask him to speak at a men’s retreat I was leading. He said yes and it was the beginning of a long friendship. He was known as “The Hatchet Man” in the White House. He went from the Oval Office to standing in front of a judge and answering “guilty as charged.” While confined in a jail cell he was touched by John 3 and once again said “guilty as charged.” He became a new creation…. a new man as he gave his heart and life to Christ. He wrote a best seller in Born Again and the rest is evangelical history. He called me one day to say that he had a heart for those in prison and wanted me to help. A group of us later...
Forgiving is Not Excusing
Forgiveness is not excusing! Nor is it pretending. To forgive is to move on, not to think about the offense anymore. You don’t excuse him, endorse her, or embrace them. You just route thoughts about them through heaven. Revenge is God’s job. By the way, how can we grace-recipients do anything less? Dare we ask God for grace when we refuse to give it? It’s a huge issue in the Bible. Jesus was tough on sinners who refused to forgive other sinners. In the final sum, we give grace because we’ve been given grace. In the story Jesus tells in Matthew 18:32, the master calls the servant in. “You wicked servant, he said, “I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” It’s a good question. We’ve been...
Seven Elements of Christian Unity (Ephesians 4:4-6)
In Ephesians 1-3, Paul explained that God has given us great spiritual riches so that we can lead the world into peace. In the first part of Ephesians 4, Paul tells us Christians that the first way we can show the world how to live in peace is by living in peace with one other. This begins, as we learned in the last study, by looking to our own heart first and developing certain attitudes of the heart. In this study, we learn that as we seek to live in peace with other Christians, we should focus on seven key truths that all Christians have in common. When we focus on what we have in common rather than on on what divides us, we will begin to create peace in our midst. Seven Elements of Christian Unity (Ephesians 4:4-6) As stated above, in Ephesians 4:1-3, Paul taught us to look to our own ...
God Cares for the Caregivers
“I will never leave you nor forsake you! My Presence watches over you continually.” – Jesus Calling, August 1 September 24, 2002, should have been a day of celebration. It was my wife Laura and I’s fourteenth wedding anniversary, and life was good. Laura’s to-do list that day included a doctor’s visit. She called me that afternoon with the news—the doctor had found a lump, and he could tell by the shape and texture that it was likely malignant. Our lives changed that day. While I had loved my roles as husband, father, lover, spiritual leader, provider, and friend, I now had to add “caregiver” to that list. A new role and a new dedication When Laura got the biopsy results, the first thing we did was to pray together. Praying together was a daily thing for us, and we certainly ne...
What is the Sealing of the Spirit? (Ephesians 1:13-14)
What is the sealing of the Holy Spirit? What does it do, how is it received, and how can you know that you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit? These are the questions we answer in this study of Ephesians 1:13-14. But first, let us consider a question from a listener about Calvinism and the fear of changing theological beliefs. Does Changing My Beliefs Make Me an Apostate? I have been reading your posts about Calvinism with much interest. For a while now I think I don’t believe it to be true. I have to say, the church we are members of is not very heavy on this, they never or rarely use the TULIP lingo I have been raised in a classic reformed, heavily legalistic family. I have always been afraid of not being chosen. What if I thought I believed in Jesus but just kidded myself? It hampers m...
Sealing of the Spirit vs. Filling with the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)
What is the sealing of the Holy Spirit? What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? How are they different? These are the questions we will answer in this study of Ephesians 1:13. We will also look at a question from a listener about why I changed by beliefs about hell. A Letter from a Listener What prompted you to reject the traditional view of eternal conscious torment widely held by Conservative Christianity? I grew up believing in the traditional view of hell, which is that unregenerate people go to a place of eternal conscious torment where they suffer and burn and scream in agony for all eternity. I attended a Bible College and a Seminary that taught this view as well. The first step in rejecting this view was in realizing that Jesus fully reveals God to us. Jesus said, “If you’ve seen m...
What did Peter do with the Keys of the Kingdom (Matthew 16:19)?
In this Redeeming God Podcast episode, we discuss the Second Impeachment of President Trump, a question from a reader about the warning passage of Hebrews 6:1-8, and then look at Matthew 16:19 and what Peter did with the keys of the kingdom that he received from Jesus. Trump Impeachment 2.0 Impeachment 2.0 begins next week. The Democrats are seeking to impeach President Trump for causing insurrection on January 6 at the Capital building in Washington D.C. Pretty much like everything the Democrats do, this impeachment trial is completely unconstitutional and a waste of time and money. Trump did nothing wrong, and certainly did not incite an insurrection. The Democrats should focus on something that actually helps this country and the people in it. 1. Completely unconstitutional Only sitting...
Walking with Jesus Daily: American Chopper’s Paul Teutul, Jr. and Father Mark Keene
Paul Teutul, Jr. was just 27 years old when American Chopper: Jet Bike premiered on the Discovery Channel, featuring “Paulie” and his father, Paul Sr., That show sparked a full series following the Teutuls and their business, Orange County Choppers, that aired in 2003. Six years of family ups and downs ensued, culminating in 2009 with Senior firing Junior. Today, Paul Jr. has gone on to start his own very successful business, and has written a book entitled “The Build: Designing My Life of Choppers, Family and Faith.” Paul details the tumultuous time working with his Dad and his difficult home life as a child, and how his faith kept him going during all of it. Father Mark Keene has been the Pastor of the Church of St. Agnes since 1999. He describes how Jesus Calling has been mean...
