When you listen to many in the Christian community who profess they believe the Bible is the word of God and the ultimate authority in their lives you might want to dig a little deeper to see if that is in fact the truth or if  what they really mean is they support their Christian doctrine with their particular slant.  There are many who profess they believe that scripture is the final word in their lives when it is not.

If we are honest, all of us know we have messed up in some areas of life, and some of us have messed up a lot. When we consider being held accountable for our actions I think we all want, or hope, for mercy to win over judgment.  Just how or why could that be the case if we are brought before a judge about our actions? What about being brought before God over our lifetime of actions and words? Will we receive justice or mercy? How do we define what justice and mercy are?

I think there are many instances in our lives that God is probing our hearts and minds to see if we will participate in a creative miracle with him or deny participation because we only see the natural. Being spiritually minded is not denying the natural but working in tandem with the natural.  However, learning how to think both naturally and spiritually together takes a lifetime of training and discipline.

This is now the fourth article exploring whether God changes his mind. What we think about God’s willingness to change things based on how and why we pray makes all the difference in the world as to if we are motivated to pray as we are challenged by scripture to pray. If you have not read articles 1-3 please do so before reading this one.

This is the second part in a series on the “Myths” we as Christians have embraced as if they were biblical when in fact scripture speaks otherwise. The hard part is to know what is biblical and what is not in our beliefs when the only sources we rely on are sermons on Sunday morning or various books pastors might recommend. No pastor or teacher has a market on the truth of scripture and that includes me so what I’m advocating is to study the scripture and not just rely of what others say just because they are good pastors or good teachers.

Many Christians say they trust the Bible, that is until some new bit of science comes out and gives us a “NEW TRUTH” that contradicts reliability of scripture and at least causes doubt about the trustworthiness of scripture among believers. This is not excluding the “THEORY” of evolution taught in public schools long before I was in grade school in the ’50s. In times like these many professing believers, even strong ones, secretly capitulate to the intimidation of scientific information. When you question the book of Genesis and the story of creation for the theory of billions of years of evolution you already are making science as your god, not the God of the bible.

This is the third part in a series that asks the question, “Does God change his mind?” The purpose of writing this series is because many believers have been taught a mixture of concepts and doctrines so that their theology doesn’t work in real life. As a result much of what they have learned doesn’t produce the maturity God wants and expects, and our ability to change the culture is, for the most part, nonexistent. Instead of being salt and light to our culture, we are changed by the humanistic culture we live in.

I wonder how the people we know think or view us? Do they think we are reliable people or would they think we are just “TALKERS” and not doers? As Christians we should be the most reliable people around, but I fear more than not that believers are getting sloppy in the area of reliability.

If you read the scriptures long enough you start to realize a few things that seem to run contrary to how you think and process life. One thing in particular is the challenge to “BELIEVE” what you can’t seem to see. 

I know this question for some people seems foreign, but the idea of spiritual children is not a new concept for the body of Christ. It is an old concept but many in the church have never heard what it means to have people look to them as a spiritual parent. Although God is the one that enables a person to be “Born Again,” others in the body of Christ should take on the responsibility and care to raise individuals in their walk with God.