Christ allows each of us the very same opportunity to declare our faith, with a gentle reminder such as, "If you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things. ...
"A Prologue that came from the 2nd century states that the Gospel was written in Greece and Luke died there.... His intent is to show that following Christ does not come without a price and that each person must lay down their own desires to follow after him. ...
The stony ground offers enough soil for the seeds to be able to grow, but because it is not deep enough the plants do not take root and are soon die in the sun. ... Thus others will reject it, others will accept it till the first affliction, others will receive it but eventually will put it in the last position putting other things (cares, riches, other desires) over it, and finally others will keep it in a good and honest heart bringing forth fruit. ... The younger son wants his money from his father's estate which he was expecting to inherit when his father died and also wanted freedom...
It gives us the idea that God is our father and we are his loved children, also that he desires a relationship with us. ... "But when he came to himself he said, How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!...
For this reason, some of John's followers and Jesus' followers often did not get along after both of them died. ... The rite of baptism, a symbolic act signifying sincere repentance as well as a desire to be spiritually cleansed in order to receive the Christ, was so strongly emphasized by John that people began to call him "the baptizer." ...
God's covenants with man perfectly illustrate man's innate need for a sovereign Lord , and God's desire to provide the means to that end. ... "But God did say, "You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die"" (Genesis 3:3). ... The lamb was the substitute for the one who would have died...
I call the theory temporary disembodiment because it envisions the following scenario: We human beings are born, live for a time as psycho-physical beings, and then die; after death we exist in an incomplete state as immaterial souls; and some time later in the eschaton God miraculously raises our bodies from the ground, transforms them into "glorified bodies," and reunites them with our souls, thus making us complete and whole again.Now temporary disembodiment has several theological and philosophical assets. ... What the body does is provide the soul with a vehicle for action in the world an...
THE BIBLE"S WORD: "GOSPEL" INTRODUCTION There are few words that harness such spiritual magnitude as the word "gospel." In fact, the gospel of Christ "is the power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1:16).# In essence, it is God's dynamite# which is used to clear away the rubble of sin so that we might "have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Eph. 2:18). Such an important concept demands careful attention, study, and application. However, the concept of the gospel has been grossly abused and misunderstood throughout the ages. Within this study, the effort is put forth to consider th...
Child abuse is a global problem that is deeply rooted in cultural, economic and social practices. It is a state of emotional, physical, economic and sexual maltreatment meted out to a person below the age of eighteen and is a globally prevalent phenomenon. However, in India, as in many other countries, there has been no understanding of the extent, magnitude and trends of the problem. The growing complexities of life and the dramatic changes brought about by socio-economic transitions in India have played a major role in increasing the vulnerability of children to various and newer forms of a...
