What does scripture say about participating in Halloween?  Why did Paul write the book of Galatians?  Is there any harm in dressing up on Halloween?  Where did Halloween originate and what was its’ purpose?  What scripture can we go to to find answers regarding celebrating such events as Halloween?

Listen to tonight’s show! Robert Houghton and Danny Purvis share scripture that will ease your Halloween inquisitive mind! Find out an “in a nutshell” answer tonight!  Now… Let’s eat candy!

How bad IS sin?  Why is sin a threat to mankind? Is there anything inherently wrong with a woman desiring her husband? What does that even mean!? According to Gods Word, what is the husband’s role in the household? How did “The Fall” affect marriages? Robert Houghton and Dr. Danny Purvis discuss these topics and expound on Biblical explanations behind “The Fall”

Where did Cain get his wife, anyway? How were those first people created? How did pre-Christ times differ from those after His coming? Do you know what the first murder was?  And, what is the point of genealogy in Genesis?  Do you know how Adam and Noah are connected and why is that relevant? Is it relevant?

What is God trying to tell us in Genesis Chapter 6?  And lastly, What is the deal with the flood, anyway!?? You may think you’ve heard it all before!  Have questions? Want answers?  Listen to tonight’s podcast! You’ll be glad you did!!

What is so important about Genesis? Genesis is made up of 50 JAM PACKED Chapters!  It is crucial we “get” the first three chapters to “get” the entirety of The Bible “right”.  What two books of the Bible start with “In the Beginning”? God created the world in six days? Literally or Figuratively? What same phrase is repeated over and over again in Genesis?  Listen in tonight as we delve into the first three chapters of this fascinating creation story! What does God have to say to Moses about marriage and children? What four words were said that gave way to “The Fall”?  How are we all affected by The Fall of Adam and Eve? What are the results of The Fall? Did anything GOOD come out of it?

Tune in to this episode for action packed discussion on the first three chapters of Genesis.  Learn more about the devastating effects of The Fall and the eternal effects of it.  Robert Houghton and Danny Purvis help us understand more clearly “In the beginning, God”

You probably know that while on this planet, Jesus performed many miracles designed to show people Who He really was. But did you know that one time He performed a miracle to hide His identity? Stick around and we’ll talk about it. Here on five minutes of truth.

There are a myriad of reasons why Jesus performed miracles while He walked on this earth more than 2,000 years ago. He did so to prove that He had been sent by the Father. He did so to show His power over the natural and supernatural world. He did so in order for people to know that He was, in fact, the long awaited Messiah Who would save people from their sin.

But the miracles were really a bit more complicated than they may seem on the surface. Jesus did not come to earth specifically to perform miracles. In Mark’s Gospel, after a day where Jesus healed all who were brought to Him, He awoke the next morning with His disciples exclaiming: “Everyone is looking for You.” The implication is clear. The Disciples were urging Jesus to go back to the crowds to do more miracles. That was, in fact, why everyone was looking for Him. Instead, Jesus said: “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, for this purpose I have come forth.” Look at the verbiage. The Disciples and the people wanted more miracles. Jesus doesn’t even mention the miracles. He clearly states the purpose He came for was to preach the Gospel.

The miracles? They were not an end…they were a means to an end. The fact is, the miracles didn’t always work to bring people to faith in Him. Luke records an incident where Jesus healed 10 lepers. Luke also records that only one of them came back, thanked Jesus, and wanted to follow Him. In John’s Gospel, after the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus chastises many who followed after Him saying: “You seek me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” Jesus here was clearly pointing out the shortcomings associated with miracles and signs. Simply put, signs alone did not and would not bring people to faith in Him. Sometimes they did. But in the Passion Week many who cried out “Hosanna” on Sunday because He was the great miracle worker, were crying out “crucify Him” on Friday because the miracles had been replaced by chains.

And how could a true miracle worker allow Himself to be arrested and condemned? We see this attitude in the Jewish leadership who demanded that if Jesus was Who He claimed to be, why then didn’t He miraculously come down from the Cross. Because He was not on earth to miraculously avoid the Cross, but to miraculously embrace it.

That’s not to downplay the miracles…we just need to keep them in perspective. That’s the sum total of why He did them in the first place. They were not the purpose of His mission, but they were arrows that pointed to the purpose of His mission. And they were glorious in so many ways. It can be argued that virtually every single miracle was designed, in part, to illustrate Who Jesus was. And then there’s that miracle at the end of Luke’s Gospel.

Let me set this up for you. After Jesus’ crucifixion a man named Cleopas and a friend of his leave Jerusalem and journey towards home. They are extremely downtrodden because of all that they saw transpire over the weekend. The resurrected Jesus shows up and begins walking with them. Here’s the thing: Jesus uses His power to make Himself unrecognizable to them. He performs a miracle to hide His identity. Why would He do that? He will tell us why.

Jesus questions the two men by asking: “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” The men are shocked at Jesus’ question. They respond by asking Jesus if He is the only One in Jerusalem Who does not know what happened. They explain that the person they thought was the long awaited Messiah had been crucified. And since He was dead, they had concluded that they must have been wrong about Who He truly was. Thus the reason for their sadness. Then Jesus shows us the reason why He used His power to hide His identity.

Jesus, still unknown to them, then responds by doing something amazing. Not a miracle, even though that probably would have worked. What better way to show these guys that He was in fact the Messiah by opening their eyes and revealing that He had risen from the dead. But He didn’t do that. Instead, He: “Expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”

Instead of a miracle, Jesus gave them the Scriptures. He knew that though miracles alone might not reveal Who He truly was, His Word would always be available to do that. Cleopas and his friend did not believe because Jesus performed a miracle…yet in a way…they did. The miracle Jesus used to hide His identity cleared the way for them to see the truth of Who He is. So in a way, the miracle did work. It worked to do what He wants us to do: Trust His Word. To know that God loves us, because of His Word. To know that we are forgiven, because of His Word. To know that He died for us, because of His Word. To know that we are His children, because of His love. And to know that He will never leave us nor forsake us…because of His Word. How cool is that?

On behalf of myself, Robert Houghton and all of us here at Growth Project, keep reading God’s Word.

“Social Justice” What is the Church’s role in “Social Justice”?  Is “Social Justice” presupposed? Are we supposed to be involved in “Social Justice” in a formal way?  As a believer, is one of our goals to transform the culture?  Did Jesus come for the purpose of transforming us culturally?  Are we, as believers, supposed to want justice for society?  What does God’s Word have to say about this?  What does God want us to do as believers?

Listen to tonight’s show!! Sooo many juicy tidbits! You won’t want to miss a “Word” of it!!

What do we mean by “Social Justice”?  What is the idea behind “Social Justice”?  Can you place trust in “Social Justice”?   What does the Bible say about “Social Justice”?  What was the moment politics was instated?  What are the two goals of politicians?

Do we have your attention!?  Join us in this episode of Growth Project and hear Dr. Danny Purvis, Dr. Mike Chandler and Robert Houghton as they expound on this controversial subject of “Social Justice”.  You’ll be glad you did!

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Growth Project Radio Preview. This episode is a snippet from Dr. Purvis' other podcast Growth Project Radio. Its broadcast Live at 8pm EDT on our Facebook page. You can also find it on all podcast providers or visit www.growthproject.org for more information.

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Did you know that God did not allow Moses to cross over into the Promised Land because Moses wouldn’t talk to a rock? Well…there’s a lot more to it than that. Stick around and we’ll talk about it, here on 5 minutes of truth.

There are a lot of people in the Bible that we have a tendency to feel some sympathy for. Whether it is because of their circumstances or the cultural consequences of their call by God, we often view many of the people involved in God’s redemptive history sympathetically as difficult parts of their lives are played out on the pages of the Bible.

It is only logical that we feel for Abraham as he is called, as an old man, from the only home he ever knew in order to head a new people chosen by God to be His. We hurt for David as he flees in the wilderness from Saul, a king he loved and served and who then became his enemy. We try to put ourselves in the shoes of Noah who knows that an impending disaster is about to rain down on all of humanity but who also knows they will be consumed by that flood. There is Jeremiah who is told his message of hope and repentance will fall on deaf ears; Job who loses literally everything; Jonah who fatalistically ends up in the belly of a fish and then complains when God spares Nineveh; Samson who loves the wrong girl; Hosea who is ordered by God to marry a prostitute; John the Baptist who is executed simply for telling the truth; and, of course, who could not be moved by Jesus crying out to His Father while suffering on the Cross.

But I’ve got to say, if there was an award for the person who put up with the most foolishness for the longest period of time, it would have to be Moses. Time prevents us from delving too deeply into all of the specifics regarding Moses and the more than 40 years he spent shepherding the people of God through the wilderness and towards the Promised Land. But I suspect, the only person who had more of the patience of Job other than Job himself, would have had to have been Moses.

Called by God to deliver the Hebrews out of 400 years of bondage to the Egyptians, Moses more than had his hands full with a group of people whose dissatisfaction was only exceeded by their impatience. For example, no sooner had they left Egypt and ended up at the Red Sea, did they then begin to complain about having left Egypt. With the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptian army closing in behind them, people cried out: “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians.” They were afraid, I get that. But they immediately turned on Moses who was simply doing what God had drafted him to do.

Not long after, upon reaching Mt. Sinai, these same people, despite seeing God deliver them via many miracles, showed their remarkable impatience. Moses told them he was going to the mountain to converse with the God of their salvation. After he was gone a while, the people grew restless and impatient and so decided to form a new religion with a new god…a golden calf. How long had Moses been on Sinai? 40 days. That’s it. 400 years of bondage they could do. Waiting 40 days to hear from God…completely out of the question.

They complained constantly and consistently about everything. Even after they had seen God do nothing but sustain them. And Moses faced all of the brunt of their criticism…every day…for 40 years. It would make sense that he might “snap”. About two months after they left Egypt, the people began complaining about a lack of water. God told Moses to take Aaron’s staff and strike a rock. When Moses obeyed God, the water flowed from the rock in such an amount that all million-plus people and their livestock were well watered. Think about that for a moment…the amount of water that had to have miraculously come from that rock as a result of a miracle of God. That would be hard to forget. But not for these folks.

Years later, as they were still wandering the wilderness, we see the Hebrews in a very similar situation. Remember, also during this time Moses had to constantly judge over disagreements between the people and listen to their complaints. Even his sister and brother were involved in a plot to remove him from his position. In Numbers 20, we see the people again in a desolate location…again complaining…and again complaining about water. Second verse, same as the first. God once again instructed Moses. And again God would do a miracle. Water would again come from a rock. This time however, God said: “Take the rod…speak to the rock and it will yield its water.” A little odd, but crystal clear.

Instead, Moses spoke the people saying: “Must we bring water for you out of this rock.” He then did not speak to the rock but instead: “lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod.” The water came forth. The people were happy again (at least for a while). And God immediately spoke to Moses and said: “Because you did not believe Me…you shall not bring this people into the land I have given them.”

It seems harsh, doesn’t it? Moses had persevered for decades as the leader of a group of people who did little other than complain and conspire against him. Over and over again they did this. At this point God had proven time and again that He would take care of them but still they complained. Moses reached his Popeye moment…he had stood all that he could stand. But here’s the problem. He let that frustration lead him to disbelieve God and to take credit for the miracle God had delivered in the past and would deliver here again. And that can never happen. Ironic, isn’t it? He called the people out for their lack of faith and then allowed them to influence his own faith.

God told Moses to address the rock differently than the first time because He didn’t want the people (or Moses) to get the idea that it was Moses, or a magic stick, or anything else that was responsible for His miracle. They needed to see God as the sole provider because God knew that faith in anything or anybody other than He would result in lostness and hopelessness. That’s why the severity and quickness of the punishment. God loved them…as He loves us. He so desperately wants people to trust in Him rather than the two entities we tend to trust: Other people and ourselves. Why? Because not one else can save us. And we can’t save ourselves. Regardless of the circumstances, God knows we are better when we have hope in Him…even in the direst of circumstances. When we are lost there is hope in Him. When we are frustrated with others there is hope in Him. When we are thirsty in the wilderness there is hope in Him. Even in the misdt of death…there is hope in Almighty God. How cool is that?

On behalf of myself, Robert Houghton and all of us here at Growth Project, keep reading God’s Word.

 Tonight Robert Houghton and Dr. Danny Purvis will be teaching and discussing sound doctrinal truths including but not limited to Complimentarianism and Egalitarianism as we discuss Ephesians Chapter 6!! What is the basic presupposition of egalitarianism? Is it in the church? What does God have to say about our roles as husband and wife? What is the sound biblical meaning of submission in a marriage? How does doctrine lead parents to discipline their children? How does it help us to be disciplined by God? And tonight’s episode wraps up by discussing what is meant by “Putting on the full armor of God” You won’t want to miss a word of tonight’s discussion! Tune in now!! Robert Houghton “teases” us all with a guest next Tuesday!! You won’t want to miss it!!