I am because God is. I love God, He is my Father, and the fact that He loves me too is overwelming. My course in this life is to worship God with all that I am and ever will be. FKI
When Paul told Timothy to pray for those in authority, he said: “First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people; for kings and all others in authority, so that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct. This is good and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to know the truth.” — 1 Timothy 2:1–4 (GNB) Now, not many of us think of this instruction from Paul as a soul-winning strategy . Most times, we take it as a governance prayer guide because of how verses are broken up. Verse 1 is read on its own, verse 2 separately, verse 3 and 4 independently—and we miss the flow and connection. As a result, when we’re told to pray for leaders, we pray for their performance, not their salvation. We view them as civil servants in need of common sense, not sinners in need of salvation (#Jesus, Yeshuah, The God who saves). But here’s the truth: common sense...
This year, our fellowship set out on a mission: to grow past being just members to being ministers —based on Paul’s charge in Ephesians 4:11–12: “ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up… ” It’s a verse I’ve read and taught with excitement for years. But recently, something about it has been stirring me, bothering me even. Not because it’s wrong—God forbid—but because maybe… we’ve read it with assumptions(Assumpta 😁🤦). And if we’re going to contend for the faith once delivered, I must confront mine. Let's keenly look into that line... Paul says: “Christ himself GAVE...” That’s past tense. Not “is giving” or “will give.” He gave —once. (You'll see why I use the word once when we get to Judas.) That tense raises a question: Was this appointment of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers a one-time act by Jesus while He walked...
We’re currently reading through the book of Romans in our fellowship, and this past Sunday, we landed on chapter 13. Let’s just say—we didn’t sing. We prayed, then dived straight into the deep end. It wasn’t planned, but everything from our hearts to our history books showed up. One kid showed up with an injury and so we started by nursing the wound and hearing how his Batman stunts backfired, then we went into maandamano and finally the Bible. Romans 13 talks about leadership and love . The chapter begins by saying that all authority comes from God, and that resisting authority is like resisting God. Paul calls government leaders “SERVANTS OF GOD”, and that line alone shook the room, especially considering the times we’re living in. Romans 13 (GNT) reads thus... Everyone must obey state authorities , because no authority exists without God's permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God . Whoever opposes the existing authority opposes what God has ordered; an...
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