Leaving Laodicea

What happens when God decides to interrupt your life?  What happens when He offers to change your plans or to rearrange your priorities?  Do we joyfully embrace His divine interruptions or do we gripe and complain and run in the opposite direction?When God offers us an interruption He always gives us a choice.  We can joyfully accept His gift or reject the blessing.  The choice is always ours.Enoch, Noah, David, Zacharias, Peter and Andrew, James and John, Paul, Joseph and Mary— they all had their lives interrupted by God.  Do you want Him to do the same to you?  If so, keep listening.The following is a study on God's Divine Interruptions.

When we consider the Christmas season and the celebration of the birth of the Lord Jesus we often focus on Mary and Joseph, or the Magi and their three gifts, or maybe the lowly shepherds and the heavenly host singing "Glory to God in the highest"— to the exclusion of all else.  It seems that if the cast of characters at the birth of Christ don't rate a place in our Nativity scene or weren't around on that fateful night in Bethlehem then, we reason, they must not have been very important.But nothing could be further from the truth.  Did you ever hear of a man, a common priest named Zacharias, and his beloved wife, Elizabeth?  The Christmas story actually begins with them.To find out more about these two incredible people, keep listening.The following is a study on Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist.

When we consider the Christmas season and the celebration of the birth of the Lord Jesus we often focus on Mary and Joseph, or the Magi and their three gifts, or maybe the lowly shepherds and the heavenly host singing "Glory to God in the highest"— to the exclusion of all else.  It seems that if the cast of characters at the birth of Christ don't rate a place in our Nativity scene or weren't around on that fateful night in Bethlehem then, we reason, they must not have been very important.But nothing could be further from the truth.  Did you ever hear of a man, a common priest named Zacharias, and his beloved wife, Elizabeth?  The Christmas story actually begins with them.To find out more about these two incredible people, keep listening.The following is a study on Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist.

In John 10 Jesus begins to speak, point-blank and unashamedly, to the sins and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the other members of the Industrial Religious Complex of His day.  And in doing so He introduces a strange cast of characters and idioms that must be identified and defined in order to understand the deep meaning of His words.Jesus speaks of the Good Shepherd, the Door, the false shepherds, thieves and robbers, the doorkeeper, the sheepfold and, of course, the sheep.  And without a proper understanding of what these terms mean, for example, we will never grasp the essence of the following:"To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" (John 10:3).Keep listening to discover the truth hidden behind these simple words.The following is a study on John 10:1-9.

In John 10 Jesus begins to speak, point-blank and unashamedly, to the sins and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the other members of the Industrial Religious Complex of His day.  And in doing so He introduces a strange cast of characters and idioms that must be identified and defined in order to understand the deep meaning of His words.Jesus speaks of the Good Shepherd, the Door, the false shepherds, thieves and robbers, the doorkeeper, the sheepfold and, of course, the sheep.  And without a proper understanding of what these terms mean, for example, we will never grasp the essence of the following:"To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" (John 10:3).Keep listening to discover the truth hidden behind these simple words.The following is a study on John 10:1-9.

The cherished and beloved 23rd Psalm begins with both a statement and a promise.  The statement:  The Lord is my shepherd.  And the promise:  I shall not want.It seems like the rest of the Psalm simply elaborates on this wonderful promise.  For example, I will not want for:Food -  because I am made to "lie down in green pastures" (23:2)Refreshment -  because "He leads me beside the still waters" (23:2)Forgiveness and Renewal of Spirit -  because "He restores my soul" (23:3)Direction and Guidance -  because "He leads me in the paths of righteousness" (23:3)Fear of Failure and Death -  because "I will fear no evil in the valley of the shadow of death" (23:4)His Presence, Acceptance -  because "You are with me" (23:4)Comfort and Peace -  because "Your rod and Your staff they comfort me" (23:4)Victory in the Face of Our Enemies -  because "You prepare a table before me in the presence of My enemies" (23:5)Do you want to know more?  Then keep listening.The following is a study on Psalm 23:1-2.

The cherished and beloved 23rd Psalm begins with both a statement and a promise.  The statement:  The Lord is my shepherd.  And the promise:  I shall not want.It seems like the rest of the Psalm simply elaborates on this wonderful promise.  For example, I will not want for:Food -  because I am made to "lie down in green pastures" (23:2)Refreshment -  because "He leads me beside the still waters" (23:2)Forgiveness and Renewal of Spirit -  because "He restores my soul" (23:3)Direction and Guidance -  because "He leads me in the paths of righteousness" (23:3)Fear of Failure and Death -  because "I will fear no evil in the valley of the shadow of death" (23:4)His Presence, Acceptance -  because "You are with me" (23:4)Comfort and Peace -  because "Your rod and Your staff they comfort me" (23:4)Victory in the Face of Our Enemies -  because "You prepare a table before me in the presence of My enemies" (23:5)Do you want to know more?  Then keep listening.The following is a study on Psalm 23:1-2.

Many of those who deny the doctrine of the Rapture of the church smugly say the word rapture doesn't even appear in the Bible.  And, to a degree, this is true.  Unless you have a Latin Bible, and then everything changes.  You see, the Greek word translated rapture in Latin is harpazo and means:  "to seize upon, to snatch away, to draw away, to carry off, to catch up, to receive, to pluck out, to rescue, to forcefully take away."Rapture is the Latin form of harpazo and is found in the Vulgate which was translated by Jerome in the late 4th century and in the 16th century became the official Bible of the Catholic church.Do you have questions about the coming rapture (harpazo) of the church?  Good.  Then keep listening.The following is a study on the rapture of the church.

Many of those who deny the doctrine of the Rapture of the church smugly say the word rapture doesn't even appear in the Bible.  And, to a degree, this is true.  Unless you have a Latin Bible, and then everything changes.  You see, the Greek word translated rapture in Latin is harpazo and means:  "to seize upon, to snatch away, to draw away, to carry off, to catch up, to receive, to pluck out, to rescue, to forcefully take away."Rapture is the Latin form of harpazo and is found in the Vulgate which was translated by Jerome in the late 4th century and in the 16th century became the official Bible of the Catholic church.Do you have questions about the coming rapture (harpazo) of the church?  Good.  Then keep listening.The following is a study on the rapture of the church.

There is so much confusion about the Holy Spirit today.  You have entire Christian denominations committed primarily to their particular view of the Holy Spirit:  Who He is, how He is received, the importance of gifts, are tongues real, has prophecy ceased, and of course the debate about the difference between baptism and filling of the Holy Spirit, and on and on it goes.Ahem.But the Scriptures are clear about the Holy Spirit and His role today.  In fact, there really shouldn't be any confusion or disagreement between Believers on this issue - especially concerning some of the more troubling passages in Acts.  And it is these very passages that we are going to examine from the Scriptures.  Are you interested?  Good.  Then keep listening.This is a study on the Holy Spirit.