Something that is a bit uncomfortable to acknowledge, but is also very empowering, is that God and Satan seem to be incahoots at times. Looking back to the Old Testament, for example, God and Satan discuss Job’s righteousness. God is very pleased with Job, and when He and Satan disagree on the motivation for Job’s upright character, God grants Satan the power to essentially wreak havoc on Job’s life. He experiences extreme hardships and we (along with God and Satan) watch to see if Job will stay faithful to God during hard times or if he will break. Looking forward in the New Testament, we can see something similar in Mark Chapter 1. At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well … [Read more...] about Satan and Suffering as Teachers
Christianity
Money vs. Heaven
Jesus speaks quite a bit about the perils of money and wealth, but today this message is seldom heard. We seek wealth constantly, and in our society, success is often measured in dollars. So let’s dive into two key examples of what Jesus has to say about money and let’s also dive into what his warnings are truly trying to convey. “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24 “As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good - except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you … [Read more...] about Money vs. Heaven
5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE CREATION STORIES
5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE CREATION STORIES Stories? The first strange thing you might notice is the word “stories” instead of "story." There are in fact two different versions of the creation story that are back to back in Genesis, with the cut off from one leading into the other being in the middle of Genesis 2:4. Some people take these two different versions of creation to be a contradiction and others think it works out just fine. We are going to work under the assumption that these two very different stories don’t pose a contradiction. The first story seems to focus more on terrestrial order whereas the second story focuses on the relationship between the human and divine. When taken together, we get a full and lively picture of creation. A very quick recap of the creation stories can be found below, which you can reference throughout. The First Story (Genesis 1:1-2:4): In the first Genesis story we hear that the heavens and earth were created in seven days. On day 1 we see … [Read more...] about 5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE CREATION STORIES