Today
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bennettc2969 added contributions: Loving My Neighbor Justly, Prayer: Persist and Wait, Beware of the Hype & Flash and Materialism and the End-Times
Oct 19
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bennettc2969 added contributions: Defeating Temptation, Report Card, Elect Fishing, Share Fair, God, Give Me the Faith of a Centurion and Wounded Widow
Oct 8
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bennettc2969 added contributions: Undefiled Compassion, Offend-able Hearts and Tradition Doesn’t Purify
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Sword in the SoulAnd Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. This is an incredibly poignant picture of the Gospel lived out for all believers to consider. Joseph and Mary, filled with awe, at the... Read more »
Aug 21
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bennettc2969 added contributions: Worthy of His Calling...Really?, Counterfeit Letters and The Spiritual "Gift" of Delusion
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Aug 20
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Admonish the IdleObviously, Paul is not speaking about freeloading or non-active members. He's speaking about spiritually disengaged people who still attend services and fellowship. These people are in our midst and must be warned of their dangerous spiritual condition. Read more »
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bennettc2969 added contributions: Sexual Immorality is to Reject God!, Taught by God to Love, Overemphasized Eschatology? and Sleeping with One Eye Open
Aug 11
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Lost SaltinessAs I reflect on your warning, Jesus, in Matthew 5:13 to retain the salty flavor of my faith at all costs, I think about the context of your guidance. I look back on the core competency of Christianity as recorded in the preceding verses, 3-11. Here, you offer the richness of the kingdom to those poor in spirit. Thus, I should at all costs avoid the Satanic offer of worldly riches, which will surely... Read more »
Jun 16
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bennettc2969 added contributions: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!, Hezekiah's Selfish Sin, Why Church Is Hard, Progressive Growth, DYNO-MITE!, Walk and Reaction
Jun 12
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution The Will of GodPaul elaborates on what the will of God is. Note the comma, which indicates equality of thought between these two phrases: "...the will of God, my sanctification." Anybody who thinks that Christianity is just about "knowing God" is mistaken. Our faith can't be boiled down or encapsulated. It's not necessarily complicated, but it's not 2 or 3 bullet points either. God's will is eternal and immutable... Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Saving Faith in JamesThis verse is a clear indication that James didn't believe works saved, for he asks the question, "Can that faith save him?" What he is addressing is the kind of faith that saves. The kind that is merely mental ascent to given data is not soul-saving faith. The kind of faith that saves is that kind that has compelled a person to resign him/herself to the works of God. We are privileged to be included... Read more »
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May 22
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution So That12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,13 SO THAT he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. This text contains a gigantic "so that." Concerning our becoming blameless in holiness before God, we MUST increase and abound in love for one another. Without... Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Now I LiveA friend recently pointed out this verse to me. Paul, from the perspective of an Apostle and founding leader of this fellowship of believers, says that he lives if they stand firm in the faith. I don't think Paul was being melodramatic when he said this. Although, clearly, he would not have breathed his last if he had discovered this church had ruptured, he most certainly would have emotionally suffered.... Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Careless DiscipleshipAs a pastor, I don't know how many times I have observed someone fleeing the faith or even whole churches collapsing and the founding leader(s) reacting with indifference. Trust me, this is commonplace. Here, Paul urgently needed to know if the church that he had worked so diligently to strengthen and establish was continuing in the faith. His zeal and passion reminds me of a person who is terrified... Read more »
May 19
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution The Test of Our ProclamationFor our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. Paul indicates that one of the ways that God tests our hearts is through our preaching of the Gospel. Of course, when I use the term, "preaching," I don't necessarily mean... Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Discipleship Through AfflictionPaul affirmed the Thessalonians for their imitating of him and his colleagues. What was his proof of this imitating amongst the Thessalonians? That they received the word in "much affliction." This is one of the core problems (if not THE core problem) of the church today. We THINK that people have received the word when, in all actuality, they might have an affinity for the word, at best. But they... Read more »
May 16
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Interesting Verbage"...you have been filled in him..." I love the play on words that Paul uses here. We can only be filled if we are IN him. If we are in him, he is unleashed in us. This seems to be a stealth conditional clause. If so, it is the most important on in the Bible, for it has everything to do with cultivating a vibrant faith-walk. Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution The Power of CommunityI'm not into the worship of community as is seemingly so popular these days. But there is something very profound about what Paul says in this passage. I don't think the church realizes the mysterious power that lies within true, covenant-oriented, Christ-exalting community. In this text Paul very clearly identifies a necessary avenue "to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and... Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Paul's Toil, Our Toil"...presenting everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil..." I love Paul's passion for maturity. We must have this same passion in our ministries. But note his passion is not for the ACT of ministry, as it is for so many people today. "I love to preach," we often say. "My gift is to teach the word." "I'm called to intercession." "I feel compelled to evangelize." "I'm a servant - just behind the... Read more »