Leaving Laodicea

With our society and culture crumbling all around us it behooves the church to assess its commitment to Christ.  Are you hot or cold or lukewarm?  Is Christ on the outside of the church knocking, waiting, for us to open the door and allow Him into His church? (Rev. 3:20).These are scary times.  But not unprecedented times.  In fact, it's these very times that bring out the best in the church.  It's times like these where true men and women of God step forward to take their stand for truth.  It's the time of Daniel, Elijah, John the Baptist and Gideon.The following is a study on the call of Gideon.

Jesus said to pray in this manner:  "Our Father in heaven, hallowed (or, sanctify, make holy) Your name" (Matt. 6:9).
But is there more to God's name than just... God?  How can we make holy the name of God when we don't really know what that name is and what His name reveals about the nature of God?  
For example, in the Old Testament God our Father is also known as:
Jehovah-tsidkenu - Jehovah our RighteousnessJehovah-m’kaddesh - Jehovah Who SanctifiesJehovah-shammah - Jehovah is ThereJehovah-shalom - Jehovah is PeaceJehovah-rophe - Jehovah HealsJehovah-jireh - Jehovah Sees or His Provision Shall be SeenJehovah-nissi - Jehovah our BannerJehovah-rohi - Jehovah our Shepherd
Want to know more about God's names and His nature?  Then keep listening.
The following is a study on Colossians 1:9-11 and the names of God.

Jesus said to pray in this manner:  "Our Father in heaven, hallowed (or, sanctify, make holy) Your name" (Matt. 6:9).But is there more to God's name than just... God?  How can we make holy the name of God when we don't really know what that name is and what His name reveals about the nature of God?  For example, in the Old Testament God our Father is also known as:Jehovah-tsidkenu - Jehovah our RighteousnessJehovah-m’kaddesh - Jehovah Who SanctifiesJehovah-shammah - Jehovah is ThereJehovah-shalom - Jehovah is PeaceJehovah-rophe - Jehovah HealsJehovah-jireh - Jehovah Sees or His Provision Shall be SeenJehovah-nissi - Jehovah our BannerJehovah-rohi - Jehovah our ShepherdWant to know more about God's names and His nature?  Then keep listening.The following is a study on Colossians 1:9-11 and the names of God.

Paul's prayer for the church at Colosse was that they would be "filled with the knowledge of His will" and they would "increase in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:9-10).  
How is that even possible?How do we increase in the knowledge of God?How do we grow closer to Him?How can we learn to hear His voice?And how can we live in the center of His will?
Have you ever asked yourself these questions?  If so, keep listening for the answers.
The following is a study on Colossians 1:9-11.

Paul's prayer for the church at Colosse was that they would be "filled with the knowledge of His will" and they would "increase in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:9-10).  How is that even possible?How do we increase in the knowledge of God?How do we grow closer to Him?How can we learn to hear His voice?And how can we live in the center of His will?Have you ever asked yourself these questions?  If so, keep listening for the answers.The following is a study on Colossians 1:9-11.

In Matthew 21 we see Jesus enter the temple of God, and He violently "drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves" (Matt. 21:12).  And He proclaimed God's temple was to be a "house of prayer" and not the "den of thieves" they had made it (Matt. 21:13).  And once that cleansing was done, something amazing happened.
Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them (Matt. 21:14).
Did you catch that?  First, a cleansing to turn the temple into a house of purity.  Next, the declaration that His house is a house of prayer.  Then, it becomes a house of power when the blind and lame are healed "in the temple" (Matt. 21:14).  And finally, it becomes a house of praise (Matt. 21:16).
Could the same thing happen to you?  Absolutely.  Keep listening and find out how.
The following is a study on Matthew 21:12-16.

In Matthew 21 we see Jesus enter the temple of God, and He violently "drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves" (Matt. 21:12).  And He proclaimed God's temple was to be a "house of prayer" and not the "den of thieves" they had made it (Matt. 21:13).  And once that cleansing was done, something amazing happened.Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them (Matt. 21:14).Did you catch that?  First, a cleansing to turn the temple into a house of purity.  Next, the declaration that His house is a house of prayer.  Then, it becomes a house of power when the blind and lame are healed "in the temple" (Matt. 21:14).  And finally, it becomes a house of praise (Matt. 21:16).Could the same thing happen to you?  Absolutely.  Keep listening and find out how.The following is a study on Matthew 21:12-16.

The truth found in the Scriptures is that God loves us with an everlasting love, even when we don't love Him.  In fact, at the point of our deepest sin and rebellion, at the time of our greatest rejection of Him, at the very moment of our disdain for the sacrifice of His Son, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).  And He expects, even commands, us to love each other with the kind of love He has for us.
Which leads us to ask a couple of questions.
How can we love others with God’s love when we find it so hard to feel loved by God ourselves?Does God sometimes hide from us and our pain?And, if not, why does He allow pain and suffering to happen to me and my family?Where is His love during those bad times?
Troubling questions.  Do you want to know the answers?  If so, keep listening.
The following is a study on Colossians 1:3-5.

The truth found in the Scriptures is that God loves us with an everlasting love, even when we don't love Him.  In fact, at the point of our deepest sin and rebellion, at the time of our greatest rejection of Him, at the very moment of our disdain for the sacrifice of His Son, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).  And He expects, even commands, us to love each other with the kind of love He has for us.Which leads us to ask a couple of questions.How can we love others with God’s love when we find it so hard to feel loved by God ourselves?Does God sometimes hide from us and our pain?And, if not, why does He allow pain and suffering to happen to me and my family?Where is His love during those bad times?Troubling questions.  Do you want to know the answers?  If so, keep listening.The following is a study on Colossians 1:3-5.

What is the most urgent need in the church today?
The need for purity in sexual matters.To end abortion and homosexuality in our nation.Financial integrity in all matters and generosity to others.Greater evangelism and church planting.Disciplined, Biblical thinking— a Christian worldview.To end the plague of divorce in the church.
No, the most urgent need in the church is for a deeper knowledge of God (Col. 1:10).  And how do we go about meeting that need?  Just keep listening.
The following is a study on Colossians 1:3 and prayer.