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Jesus-the only way to God
Pastor and author, Peter Burfeind, has done extensive research concerning the ways in which modern-day America has undergone a “spiritual revolution toward Gnosticism.”[1] The prevailing theory is that the idea of “God” arose within “human consciousness over millions of years.”[2] Notions, then, about the divine are considered to be abstractions of human thought and communicated in the “myths and teachings of any religion.” This includes Buddhism, Hinduism, Mysticism, and Christianity (to name a few representative examples). As the argument goes, Christianity is one of many potential pathways to connect with a “trans-cosmic” deity. In turn, the Old and New Testaments are the “result of geniuses”—namely, “prophets and poets”—drawing…
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Mary Magdalene = #NotAProstitute
What do you get when you mix myth, legend, incorrect interpretation, and a dose of Hollywood all together? The misrepresented life story of Mary Magdalene—shaken, not stirred. For centuries Mary Magdalene’s reputation as a reformed prostitute has lived on, despite her official Roman Catholic exoneration from bad-girl status in the 1960s. Just do a simple online search for Mary Magdalene and you’ll quickly feel overwhelmed by the plethora of books and movies that portray her not only as the penitent prostitute, but also as Jesus’s secret lover, an apostle greater than John or Peter, and the poster child of gnostic literature. Yet of the thirteen times the New Testament mentions…
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Change of Seasons or a Change of Heart?
Did you ever wonder why God created the sun to rise in the East? Is it coincidence that Jesus rose in the Middle East to save the world from the darkness of sin? “The true light, who gives light to everyone . . . was in the world, . . . but the world did not recognize him. . . We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.” John 1:9,10,14 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them…
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The Ultimate Wilderness – Series Finale
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken Wilderness Wanderings Series Finale: Learning to Live the Zigzag Life AD 33, 9:00 AM Passover Friday, the Place of the Skull, a public place near Jerusalem. Many people are coming and going, some stopping to see what was happening, observing three men on crosses, two criminals with Jesus in the middle. A large crowd had followed the crucifixion detail out of the city to the place of execution, the place of the ultimate wilderness… No one knew it was the ultimate wilderness on that spring morning. Not the Pharisees or the Sadducees, the instigators of the crucifixion. Not the high…
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The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Part III)
“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David; such is my gospel” (2 Timothy 2:8). And so we arrive at the final installment of a study looking at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In part I and part II, I gave the following proofs or reasons why Christians believe in the literal and physical resurrection of Jesus Christ: 1. Jesus predicted his own resurrection. 2. The authors of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as the Apostle Paul in his letters, provide at least five different historic sources about the events. 3. The testimony of eyewitnesses. 4. The testimony of the earliest Christian writings. 5. The…
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The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Part II)
“[I]f Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead…. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost” (1 Corinthians 15:14-18, NIV 1984). Once again we are examining the foundational cornerstone of Christianity: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Click here to read the first part of this study.) The resurrection of Jesus is central to all Christian belief, as…
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The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
“[I]f you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). On this Resurrection Sunday, it is important that we look at the foundational cornerstone of Christianity: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death and the grave.. The resurrection of Jesus is central to all Christian belief. The Apostle Paul even went as far as to say, “[I]f Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he…
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Risen: Coming Friday
Head to theaters this Friday to see "Risen." Check back here on Feb 19 for a review of the film. Groups of 25 receive a discount.
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Dad Is Gone: What You Need to Let Go of the People You Love
My Dad died Friday evening. Mom was on her way over to see him in his memory care facility, but Jesus, who holds "the keys to death and Hades," slipped the key in the lock and opened the door. Today Dad is in heaven. And we are getting washed around by alternate waves of grief and urgency–to make plans and respond to family and praying friends. Friday evening I was on the front row of a political forum, listening to Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal tell his story of how he found Christ (or Christ found him) when I got the call. Media vita in morte sumus. In the…
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Death, Where is Your Sting?
As we wrap up Easter week, though still just beginning the 40-day Easter season, I'm stuck on the lyrics from one worship song: "Oh, Death, where is your sting?" (from Matt Maher's Christ is Risen) Actually, death does sting. I've just come from the funeral of a dear young man, the teenaged son of friends with whom my husband and I have shared life for all of our 18-year marriage. Last summer I said goodbye to three other friends and family members, two suddenly and one after a long illness. I'm done with death, thank you very much. But Maher uses the phrase rhetorically, as the victorious melody suggests. He quotes…