Jesus Name News

Lost. We've all lost something or someone. We all know that feeling of having lost or being lost. In Luke 15, Jesus gave us three parables, and this week we will focus on the first two. The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin are two of the most impactful stories Jesus told in the Gospels, but Luke gave us a clue in the first couple of verses about Jesus' intentions with these parables. They were for those who were standing by, but they were spoken to the Pharisees and Scribes who murmured about Jesus' receiving sinners. There are many things at play with these parables, but the part we ignore is the culture of Jesus' day. However, it is critical to understanding what Jesus' expects from His people and to understanding the depth and height of God's never ending love for His creation.

The Parable of the Sheep and Goats are the third of the three parables in the 25th chapter of Matthew. Yet, we ended up at Stephen's job, and the one thing that the disciples believed was so important that it was the first official act of the apostles. Stephen was just doing his job when he became a martyr, and it's there that we settle in with this episode.

This week, we continue examining The Jesus Code and expounding upon Matthew 25 and what it means to be ready for Jesus’ return. This time, there are some servants, talents, and a master. Jesus uses something that if we don’t have it, we’re in trouble, to show us what He expects His people to do.

We kick off Season 3 and “The Jesus Code” series! To be clear, we’re not talking about some hidden code like a lot of people say is in the Bible. We’re just speaking of the stories Jesus told to people and his disciples. These stories reveal critical insight into what Jesus wanted His followers to be like, what He expected of His followers, and how to be prepared for His coming. We start out this series investigating the parables of the End Times, and how they can help us to understand what we must do to be ready for His return! 

We close out season 2 talking about our absolute favorite topic - the Holy Spirit! If you have the Spirit of God in you, as it said in Romans 8:9, you have access to the all conquering power of God being for you. Going before you. Freeing you from accusations of Satan, and breaking off the chains of condemnation. We are so bold in this that the apostle Paul issued a challenge. WHO SHALL SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST?

Baptism is essential. It's not done for just a public display of faith. It is essential to our salvation. This week, we continue our "In the Name" series looking into the Scriptures for evidence that baptism is FOR THE PURIFICATION of sins (aka - remission of penalties, forgiveness, etc.). Repentance is where we die and turn and become different, but baptism is where we are cleansed from the impurities of our sins. Without baptism, the sin is still attached to us and we are still branded as unclean. Baptism is done in Jesus’ name not just because that’s what Peter said in Acts 2 (although that’s important), but because it is LITERALLY the baptism of Jesus done by the Apostles in the Gospel accounts and continued into the Book of Acts. There is no scriptural reason to baptize any other way.

Roman's 8 starts out telling us that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Why? Christ’s appearance and death condemned sin. It disarmed death, which is the condemnation of the sinner. Because God loves His creation so much, He sent His own Son in the likeness of corruptible flesh to do what the Law could not, which is to create a bridge to rectify the God-sized gap between God and man. God chose repentance. God chose that changing of mind and heart to begin the journey back to Him. We'll discuss that journey of restoration of mind and spirit this week!

The dictionary defines prophecy as “a prediction”. Even in modern Christian cultures, we often use “prophecy” to describe predictions of the future and treat the gift of prophecy as one who tells about future events and makes predictions. We use “prophecy conferences” to talk about End Time events that are all about trying to use the Bible to predict geopolitical events. While, yes, the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation contain prophecy and eschatological content, the ministry of prophets is NOT all about telling future events. 

Kicking off our last series of season 2, we talk about those who deliberately lie and peddle conspiracy theories. This issue is not a strange thing to American Christianity as one of the earliest conspiracy theories about a politician circulated in the 1790s! We still see American Christianity grappling with politics vs. doctrine, self-preservation vs. total submission to God’s will, and theory vs. theology.

America is just like Sodom if not worse. Well, at least, that's what many people have said for decades. However, if we’ve been saying for decades that if God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah, what exactly is it that we believe America has done to such an extent that it compares in any way to what Sodom did? What is it exactly that puts us on their level and how can we have been saying this for decades and it not now be true? Find out on this week's episode of the Jesus Name News Podcast!