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Showing posts from August, 2019

What is Apostasy?: Falling Away Examined

There has been quite a shaking in the Church visible as several notable individuals (Joshua Harris, and Marty Sampson of Hillsong United) have publicly apostatized and abandoned the faith.  In the wake of this upheaval, many may ask what does this all mean? In addition to ministers of repute turning from the plow of faith (Luke 9:62), it is estimated that 65-73% of Millennials are Nones or not affiliated with any religion. The statistics of falling away from the faith beg us to ask is this the first of the two signs that confirm we are nearing the return of Christ?:  “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come (returned).   Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawles

Should Christians Have Images?

The use of sacred images in churches dates back to the 3rd Century. The first images were crosses, fishes (ichythuses), a lamb, and Jesus’s face on a shroud. Since the implementation of images, there has been controversy. Throughout a millennia, two camps emerged, the iconphiles (icondules, iconlaters), those in favor of using images of paintings and statues of Christ and the saints in churches, and the second-camp is the inconclasts, those against use of all images to the point of destroying the images in churches.  The debate over Christian images has raged for centuries, leading to major outbreaks of iconoclasm in Byzantium under Emperor Leo III, in Germany during The Reformation under Karlstadt, in England via The Puritans, and on many other occasions. The struggle over should the Church house depictions of Christ and sacred persons hinges on how one interprets Scripture. Does God approve or disapprove of images? To answer this we must search Scripture and use reason.  The

Jesus: The Only Way Out of Hell

There has been an active war against hell in the Church, particularly sparked by the heretical “Love Wins” by Rob Bell who denounces heaven and hell. The reality is that abaddon (hell fire) is part of orthodox and traditional Christianity, in specific Jesus Christ our Lord and God preached about the destination known as hell on numerous occasions, as dis His apostles: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:22)  “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life