In the ancient Japanese art form of Kintsukeroi, they would restore broken pottery with gold, in such a way that the fractures were literally illuminated by the gold. They treated breakage and repair as part of the history of the object. That which made the vessel worthless, was in fact the very [...]
This week in our final study in 1st John, the great Apostle gives us our marching orders. That we would walk in the full certainty that we belong to God, that our eternal futures are secure, and that as His children He hears and answers our prayers. It would be quite a [...]
This week in the first half of Chapter 5, John summarizes for us all that he has taught in one definitive proclamation, giving us 4 birthmarks of an individual in whom eternal life dwells. If a person really wants to know if they're saved, 1st John Chapter 5 solves that problem. Either [...]
Don’t ever let anyone tell you that your seeking the greatest possible joy and delight is a Non-Christian thing to do, when the object of your joy and delight is Jesus Christ. Somehow, we’ve bought this idea that we ought to be bringing forth obedience primarily out of a sense of duty. [...]
There is a battle going on in the unseen realm for your thought life, and it is a battle that begins from the moment your feet hit the floor in the morning, until your head hits the pillow at night. While this is a battle being waged by spiritual forces we know [...]
John says to us this week in 1st John 3, that “This is His COMMANDMENT, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.” How interesting that what appear to be two commands are referred to by John in the singular [...]
The fight that you and I are in as Christians, is not that we might destroy the works of the devil, for Jesus has already done so. The fight that you and I are in together, is to come to a greater understanding and appreciation of what John calls the completely foreign, [...]
John teaches newer believers of the dangers of false teaching. For unbelievers, if you have the wrong Jesus, you will not have salvation. For Christians, false teaching has a whole other set of traps for the believer, the principle effects of which cause a believer to think more of themselves than they [...]
In Chapter 2 of 1st John, John tells the Church that if they love the world, the love of the Father is not in them. Now historically, the Church has pushed back against worldliness by trying to create religious rules: Don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t chew – and don’t go with girls [...]
