An Article and a Half

/* I'm sorry about the long silence; I had not been enthusiastic about the topic so I hardly worked on it. So I will just give you the draft and let you finish it in your own meditations. Meanwhile I saw an article from the Rebelution that I would like to post, which can be found here. */

The Apostle John does not have many practical applications for cultivating a relationship with God the Father and His Son Jesus. That is because John's ministry was appointed to the Jews; (Galatians 2:9) and since from the Law and the Prophets they have a storehouse of applications, it would be redundant for John to list applications that they have heard read from the synagogues their entire lives.

What the Apostle John needed to do was to set these applications into focus where Jewish Christians would be able to apply them in the light of the Gospel.

The two primary categories that John gives are love and peace.

Agape is the common Greek word to refer to the love of God in Christ for His people. While those in darkness fear the Light and wish its annihilation, Light straightens its lovers and wishes them joy. As I said in the previous post, this is a giving love; a life that is humbly laid at the Altar to be partaken of others. The agape of Jesus is to be our standard of love for other believers in Christ, how we're known to be His followers.

The Israelites knew that loving their neighbor was a part of their calling as God's people; but they had never seen a living demonstration of that responsibility, nor knew why it was significant.  

Eirene is the Greek word to refer to the calm, quiet, restful state we call peace.

 

BWVC - The Apostle John's Desire (Part 3)

Now let's look at the unity of the Father and the Son in glory; for there is where Jesus desires for His Church to emulate. Jesus said in one place, "I and my Father are one."And He said in another, "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:" Glory does involve the high recognition of one's name but it is more than that; glory in Scripture carries a sense of weight, a force expressed in physical quantities like light, fire, and smoke. Glory is Jesus and His Father's greatest desire; and Jesus prayed that those believe on Him would see Him in His restored glory. (John 17:24)

One fundamental quality of God's glory is His love. It is a part of His Trinitarian nature; "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:16) God the Father loves God the Son; (John 3:35) God the Son loves God the Father. (John 14:31) And from thence they love those that love the Son, Jesus. (John 14:21) This is a love that gives. (John 3:16, 3:35, 4:14, 5:26-27, 6:27, 6:37, 6:51, 10:11, 10:28-29, 12:49, 13:3, 14:16, 14:27, 17:6-11, 17:24; 1 John 3:24, 5:20; Revelation 2:7, 2:10, 2:17, 21:6, 22:5)

Another fundamental quality of God's glory is the revelation of His purity. "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5) Light is used metaphorically in Scripture to refer to God's revelation through His word. (Psalm 36:5-9; 119:104-105) It also refers to God's righteous verdict on people whose actions are evil and those who do the truth. (John 3:19-21) This is a God who loves to reveal Himself and His glorious holiness.

Jesus (and John) wants us to emulate this relationship. How? By being set apart for holy use by God's word. How does His word enable us to relate to one another like the Father and the Son? First, protecting us with God's honor. (John 17:11) Second, encouraging us to live with a Gospel purpose and with loving unity. (John 17:22-23) This is John's desire for Christians not only for his co-workers in the Apostleship but "for them also which shall believe on me through their word;" (John 17:20)

Next we go over the means that John would have us to use for building our relationship with the true God and Jesus Christ who He sent.

BWVC - The Apostle John's Desire (Part 2)

So what does the Apostle John want his readers to know about God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ? No sincere relationship can be made or maintained without understanding who we are seeking to relate to, especially with God. So how does John introduce us to the triune God in his Gospel?

When the Apostle John introduces us to God the Father, he first claims that no one has ever seen God or heard His voice. (John 1:18; John 5:37) That would seem strange especially for those who know the Old Testament; God spoke to Moses and the Israelites. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. But John specified that Jesus is the I AM, the Word of God; so John is not contradicting the Old Testament, but unveiling it.

What role does the Father play? He is the source; (John 7:16; John 8:28):  He is the destination. (John 14:2-6) Essentially the Father is the decision-maker and initiator.

Not too much to say about God the Father? That's because His fullness is displayed in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, whom He sent to be the Savior of the World; in other words, God the Father cannot be known without God the Son. (John 14:7)

John begins his Gospel with Jesus as the Word who from the beginning created all things, something that his Jewish readers would recognize from Genesis. (Psalm 33:6) Then he declared, perhaps to the shock of his Platonic Gentile readers, that the Word took on human flesh. So in other words, what Augustine called the Divine Imperative took on the Carnal Subjunctive to accomplish for us the Perfect Indicative.

Jesus came, sent by God to fulfill His Father's design for the world, which is the salvation of all the Father gives Him and the gift of life in His Son. (John 3:16-17; John 6:38-40; John 12:47) He performed miracles showing Himself to be God's anointed One. And in His prayer He mentioned that His work was finished and confirmed it on the cross. (John 17:4; John 19:30) Being now our Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ is the righteous propitiation for our sins. (1 John 2:1-2)

Theologians commonly point out the seven statements that Jesus made about Himself in John's Gospel. Who doesn't like going over the seven I AM statements of Jesus? However, there is a danger of creating a philosophical construct of Christ that we just hang on our minds like a portrait in a museum just to gaze at, basically depersonalizing Jesus; John wrote these things that we would experience Jesus personally through his Gospel.

Jesus is the Bread of Life; He sustains and nourishes us in our sojourning by His Word. Jesus is the Light of the World; He sets all that is right and wrong for everyone's perspective, and illuminates our path. Jesus is the Sheep Gate; He protects us from harm. Jesus is the Good Shepherd; He devotes His life for His sheep. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life; He brings to life what was barren. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life; John is not being snobbish, he is just acknowledging that there is no one that is more like-minded and well-pleasing with God than Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Vine; all our strength and works is supplied by His love for us.

BWVC - The Apostle John's Desire (Part 1)

One of the ways to know what a writer's theme is to look at what he prays about. What is his fervent, constant request(s)? What chief thing does he want from the One who controls our eternal destiny and the affairs of the world? Even better, if he's a gospel writer, what does he record Jesus praying about?

You might be able to guess correctly what passage I'm turning to, John 17.

Commonly called Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, this prayer displays the glorious relationship between Jesus and God the Father and His desire for His people to reflect their relationship. Verse three defines what is the common desire of the disciples: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." The word translated "know" is not limited to cognitive knowledge that is learned by second hand education but is knowledge earned through first hand experience by realization.

Thus we can glean from this and other passages that John's vision for his readers is that they would have a first-hand relationship with the true God and His Son Jesus Christ; and that from this relationship of glory, they would learn from His word to love those who believe the word of His apostles in unison with the love between God the Father and God the Son.

It is this conviction, that men and women would have a gracious and sincere relationship with Jesus Christ the Word-made-flesh, that the Apostle John was eager to write over one-ninth of the New Testament. He wrote a Gospel account to persuade his hearers that Jesus is God's equal, the Messiah. He wrote an epistle to give assurance to true followers of Christ of their saving relationship and the marks of such relationship. He wrote two other epistles to encourage his hearers in their walk in the truth and exhorted them to hold fast the doctrine of Christ in word and deed. Finally he wrote an apocalyptic work describing Christ's role in heaven in the early church and the last days.

      

The Biblical Writers' Vision for Christians - Introduction

John Howard, a preacher stated that he supposes every preacher "has a bone to pick," a topic that preachers are passionate about and outspoken about. For him, it was the Gospel. For one of our former pastors, it was the Kingdom of God. You could say the same thing about the writers of the Bible; each writer has a different emphasis on what God did in history.

But discerning what they were is a complicated process and difficult to glean especially with minor writers. So I will focus on what six biblical writers envisioned for their audience, namely:

• The Apostle John
• The Apostle Paul
• The Apostle Peter
• The Prophet Isaiah
• The Prophet David
• The Prophet Moses

Lord willing, we will look at their desire for Christians and the means they prescribe to acquiring it. May the Lord bless our meditation and understanding!

What is Maturity?

If we wish to grow into men and women of courage, we must know what it means to be mature.

As I look back at my teens, I had false notions of maturity. I thought that in order to be an adult, I had to merely give up the stuff of my childhood for what seemed more adult. I would give up Lucky Charms for Honey'n'Bunches of Oats. I would give up my favorite websites for the more serious variety. I would give up conversations with imagination for more adult topics.

I didn't give up as much as I hoped, but it didn't matter; to begin with, I was still the same boy that I started out. It was not true maturity.

Hollering over Theology

Some time ago I stated on Twitter, "Good Theology does not necessarily lead to good works, (just look at Jonah) but it does demand it. Likewise for bad theology and bad works." Let me expound on this statement.

This observation comes from looking at the history of Western Civilization and recent cultural phenomena. We see Christians in the past who knew the message of the Gospel but chose to violate it; we still bend over backwards to give an explanation for their hypocrisy, but we can see the character of the triune God and know how to imitate Him.

The other side of the coin is where many get tripped up, that bad theology does not necessarily lead to bad works, but demands it. They assume that as long as people don't do bad things, they can believe what they want. (As long as it does not go outside of the mainstream opinion!) So they get upset when challenged with the rotten elements of their 'theology.' We are not saying that if they believe such things, it is inevitable that they act consistently with it. But we do rejoice that they are borrowing from Christian morality and ask why they are doing it in the terms of their 'theology.'

The biblical case that I had was with Jonah. I've heard that the reason Jonah disobeyed God and ran away was because of fear. But that is not what Jonah told God. He said, "I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil." (Jonah 4:2) Since this was between Jonah and God, I assume this was an honest excuse. Jonah had good theology, theology that demands that he become what he obeys; but he did not know what manner of spirit he was of.

So that's the hollering over theology that has been going on these days.

      

Various Posts from the 2013 GCC Bible Reading

This last year, some of us read through the whole Bible in an online community setting. Unfortunately, not too many people participated on Faithlife as I had hoped. But we did have some good discussion, and I'm putting most of it on here so it won't get lost. Here's several questions and observations that I initiated:

Luke: "What do you think the phrase referring to Enoch "and he was not" means?"

>Ryan: "As near as I can tell, looks like that phrase is implied from the Hebrew word "Laqach," which means, basically, "to take." That word is translated "taken" in 2 Kings 2:10, right before Elijah is miraculously taken up in the flaming chariot. In Heb. 11:5, Paul makes clear that Enoch also had a similar experience. So, I think "he was not" likely means what Hebrews 11 shows – that Enoch "was not found" among the living."

>Mike: "I think Brother Ryan answered well. Dispensationalists use this as an example of what they believe will happen on a mass scale at the rapture--millions of Christians will simply go missing. Others will be left behind."

AAEVS - Conclusion

This has been a long series, nineteen months in the making. From hearing feedback from some of you, I believe God has used these posts as a blessing, which I am thankful. I am also delighted that I finally opened up my hopes for the future of the church.

Unfortunately, a few serious changes have transpired since I started this series back in June 2012. Because of this, discouragement and apathy is threatening to devour the vision and slowly vanish it away. However, we as a church need not dump the vision into the trash because of these changes, if we believe our eschatology more than just the systematic framework; our pastors have left us with an idea that the church that adheres to this view of prophecy ought to become a church that believes and acts like it, even if it makes us stand out.

But, this is hard for us because we like to remain at least a bit over average, where we stay complacent and unscrutinized by one another and other churches as much as possible. But God will not have any of that, He demands that we seek to be holy as He is holy; that is no compromise. You have a decision to make, will you submit joyfully and vigorously to your heavenly calling or will you walk away slowly in idolatrous pursuits of comfort outside the springing fountains of Christ?

This will depend on how much you care about Jesus. If He has the words to eternal life, then give Him all you got. The world which we know it and its lusts are passing away, but he or she who does the will of God in His Kingdom abides forever.

AAEVS - The Assurance behind Evangelism

“We proclaim that His victory will be complete when the nations bow before Him and every sphere of life demonstrates His Lordship. This will happen before the resurrection of our physical bodies. We desire to evangelize with this assurance of success, an assurance based on Jesus’ statement of His possession of all authority and His continued presence with us.” Evangelism Paragraph 2f-h

"And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." ~ Matthew 28:17-20

"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:24-28

Here we are at the final section of this series, at the encouragements that God gives to His soldiers in the faith. We have discussed the mission and the means to fulfill it, but why should we care? What motivates us to leave our comfortable living for possibly long millennia of sacrificial evangelism and discipleship? The reason why is because of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His Resurrection was the future of the whole creation made manifest in the Anno Domini and the hope of the Christian proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In His Great Commission and in His Scriptures, Jesus gave us exceeding great and precious promises regarding His successful reign at the right hand of the Majesty on high, offering us numerous encouragements throughout the entire sacred canon of Scriptures.

AAEVS - The Mission of Evangelism (Part 2)

First, we have a vision: what is our goal and how do we go about pursuing it? Jesus our Lord put it into perspective when He taught us to pray, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Our goal then is to provoke people in every land to revere the holy name of God in repentance and discipleship, that God would be all in all. How do we embark on this quest? By making a commitment to make manifest the victory of Christ in our lives and in our world. We do this by remembering the second half of the Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." We seek the provision of God, His forgiveness and our forgiveness of others, and His protection from the wiles of the devil.

Second, we have an aim: what are we trying to accomplish and how do we get there? We have from the Great Commission our calling, to teach and baptize nations. We aim that they would share and enjoy our fellowship with the triune God and with one another. We wish that they would rejoice in the doctrines of grace, the principles of the Protestant Reformation, and most importantly the mysteries of the gospel of Christ. We start by seeking the establishment of churches that love Jesus Christ and worship Him in spirit and in truth; then we seek to teach them in the Scriptures from which thirsty and hungry souls are nourished by the Holy Spirit.

AAEVS - Expressing our Worship (Part 3)

Public Prayer

Jesus denounced the religious leaders for seeking to gain recognition and praise from the public by praying in the public sphere. (Matthew 6:5-6) So why would we as disciples of Jesus want to have a practice in our services that seems to run contrary to what our Lord has said? While we must not dare to dismiss our Lord's admonition to a private prayer life, the catholicity of Holy Scripture has a broader vision for prayer than just the 'closet;' nations are destined to provoke one another to seek quickly the Lord in prayer. (Zechariah 8:20-23)  How can this be? It is because the Church is a Trinitarian body, one and many. Therefore what a church does as a body in her assembly is analogous to what an individual follower of Christ does in his or her private devotions.

AAEVS - Expressing our Worship (Part 2)

Now we look at the activities that our elders had prescribed for our church (and for any church) which I believe is biblical and important. We will look at four of these activities and how they relate to the worship of Christ:

Proclamation of the Word

"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine." (2 Timothy 4:2) This indicates a continual function in the body of Christ. This preacher is not somebody speaking what is on his mind; this is a messenger speaking with the authority and word of God, a proclamation of what is true and righteous. This is an assertive, in-your-face proclamation; which makes this ministry so awkward in our postmodern, "everyone's opinion is right and nobody is really wrong except the 'intolerant' people" culture.

What is this proclamation about? Here is how Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile defined Spirit-fill proclamation: “Preaching is God speaking in the power of His Spirit about His Son from His word through a man.” It is a Christ-centered message. "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2) And why only Jesus Christ and His crucifixion? Because "by [Christ] all things consist." (Colossians 1:17) Christ is the intersection that brings everything together; and most importantly He is the only access to God the Father.

AAEVS - Expressing our Worship (Part 1)

“Our vision is to be a church that enters the worship service with awe towards God. We will view ourselves as ascending unto His presence with all other saints, both in heaven and on earth. We desire to actively worship God, not passively go through prescribed motions. This will include activities such as: confession of sin; reading of Scripture: public prayers; singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; giving; praise; the proclamation of the word; and partaking of the Lord’s Supper.” ~ Worship Paragraph 3

"God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him." ~ Psalm 89:7

"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." Acts 20:7

"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire." ~ Hebrews 12:28-29

In the first section, we looked at worship in general and the importance of it; in the second section, we looked at the means of building a worshipful attitude. Now in this section we will look at how worship is expressed, particularly in the public worship of God on the Lord's Day. It is appropriate that the first half of the paragraph still deals with the attitude of the worshipers of Christ, because Jesus said that good words come from good hearts. (Matthew 12:35) These three sentences contain three senses that involve how we ought to strive for a more edifying worship on the Lord's Day. The last sentence states what activities we ought to use to express our worship.

AAEVS - Preparing for Worship

“Because the Lord’s service is a reverential occasion, we will seek to prepare ourselves on Saturday evening for public worship on the Lord’s Day.” ~ Worship Paragraph 2f

"And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." ~ 1 Samuel 7:3

"So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses." ~ 2 Chronicles 35:6

 

"Why does the Lord tell us to remember the Sabbath day? The Larger Catechism (Q. 121) answers that this is “partly, because we are very ready to forget it.” Knowing our weakness, the Lord tells us, as part of his moral law, to make special efforts to keep the day for rest, worship, and works of necessity and mercy , separated unto him. (Holy means “separated unto God.”) It is sobering to realize that failure to keep the Sabbath day separated unto the Lord is on a par with idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, stealing, and lying. That alone should be a powerful rebuke to us when we regard the Sabbath day as our day rather than the Lord’s, and when we seek our own pleasure rather than his (see Isa. 58: 13). If we think of the Lord’s Day for anything beyond what God has ordained it to be, we are guilty of a serious form of idolatry of self. As a major part of your preparing for Lord’s Day worship , plan ahead— that is, “remember”— to keep that whole day separate for God’s purposes for it." ~William Shishko, Helps for Worship (Kindle Locations 171-172). Committee on Christian Education. 

So why did I separate this sentence of the paragraph when all of it goes together? Because setting aside a time to prepare for the Lord's Day is unfamiliar to some of us. We sometimes just go into the church building, persevere through the service, and hope that we will get something edifying from it. But what does it mean to come before God on the Lord's Day? It means coming before the Sovereign Lord of the universe; this makes the Lord's Day not just special but venerable. Therefore as children of the King, should we not ready ourselves for His appearance? Just as musicians practice their instruments before their performance in public, we ought to "practice" our hearts before we come into the presence of our gracious and awesome God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

AAEVS - The Importance of Worship (Part 2)

The Nature of God

All humanity knows that the Creator has revealed Himself in creation: His intelligent design, His just morality, His logical thoughts, and His direct revelation. So what makes God who He is? Of all of His wonderful attributes, it is His holiness that distinguishes Him as God. Holiness is not an easy word to define, so let me give my own definition: A holy being is righteously, majestically, and beautifully separated from elements that are sinful, chaotic, and/or mundane.

All three of those characteristics are intertwined; in a way they refer to the same thing. Righteousness exalts those who live by it; it is pleasing when it is established among God's people. Majesty is upheld by just standards; it invokes awe and joy in those that contemplate it. Beauty is molded by righteous consideration and contemplation; it commands respect and awe in those that behold it. God is the only one who is perfectly all three: righteous, majestic, and beautiful.

AAEVS - The Importance of Worship (Part 1)

"Our vision is to be a congregation of saints who offer their bodies as living sacrifices unto God, ordering our services in accordance to His revealed word. We will practice family-integrated worship as we offer these spiritual sacrifices. This is our reasonable worship and means that we submit to His will (as found in His word). We desire to display this by setting apart the first day of the week to worship the Lord with fellow saints. We do not view the Lord’s Day worship as drudgery, but as an occasion to celebrate His victorious work on our behalf and rejoice in the rest He has provided for us. Because the Lord’s service is a reverential occasion, we will seek to prepare ourselves on Saturday evening for public worship on the Lord’s Day." ~ Worship Paragraph 2

"Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house." Haggai 1:8-9

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." ~ Romans 12:1

We've looked at why the Kingdom is important; we've looked at what the Kingdom looks like here and now.  Now we'll look at how the Kingdom of God is established which is the worship of God in this world. What do we mean by "worship?" What is it? Some people say that worship is performing special rituals; others say worship is a good feeling when certain religious activities are practiced. But what is worship, particularly how does a Christian worship the true and living God? And why does it matter? First, let's look at a couple of ministers' definitions to get a sense of what worship is.

AAEVS - Having a Long-Term Commitment to be Faithful

"Our vision is multi-generational. We realize that the advancement of God’s kingdom is a long-term process, therefore we desire to be examples of faithfulness that future generations would desire to follow." ~ Community Paragraph 3g-h

"His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." ~ Matthew 25:23

"Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;" ~ Deuteronomy 7:9

Here we come to the last portion of the Elders' Vision on Community, which is focused on the long-term perspective of the Kingdom and how we contribute to it. Looking at where we are right now, it does not look like we as Christendom are close to consummating the Kingdom in our lifetime. It even looks like that we as a church are not going to be able to engage our community until the next generation arises up who are not comfort-centered and/or culturally-compromised. This can be discouraging and demoralizing to our enthusiasm. But God did not mean for us to complete the His work in the earth in ten to fifty years; He means for us to do what we can in advancing the Kingdom and leaving a godly legacy. Then when He calls us home into His heavenly presence, we will watch as Christ uses our legacy in history to transform the world. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

So what does a long-term advancement of God's Kingdom look like? It looks like believers being examples of faithfulness to the word of God. But what does it mean to be faithful?

AAEVS - Practicing Discipleship (Part 5)

Unity 

It has been an objection to the Truth of Christianity that many denominations and doctrinal opinions exist in professing Christian world. Christians, in the minds of many people, cannot seem to unite under a common message and tradition. Now this is exaggerated because Christians do have quite a lot in common, such as belief in the historical accounts of Jesus and the important doctrines and practices that come from those stories.

But this does bring up a sad fact: the Church for the past five hundred years has swallowed the "Protestant" doctrine of interpreting Scripture the way the individual feels should be interpreted and the notion that the "true/loving church" must consist of people of common attributes or denominational orthodoxy. The result has been schisms, departures, and even heresies. There are many other reasons of course but this is what flies through mostly unchallenged in many Christian circles. But we need not despair over the prominence of this phenomenon because God gave us in His word the means to reunite the Church throughout the world and within our area.

AAEVS - Practicing Discipleship (Part 4)

Spiritual Gifts

Now we turn to a more outreach perspective of Discipleship and look at how we interact with each other and the community at large. First, we will look at how each member of the church works out his or her gifts to God's glory.

As the Spirit develops us into a body and sanctify us, He works in us a certain skill or talent. Then He empowers us to perform it to His glory and our joy.