Fallen Apostles We come to possibly the saddest aspect of all. It is possible, and it has occurred, that a genuine apostle might fall from grace, into backsliding and sin, and become a false apostle. the principle also applies to prophets, teachers, elders and to every...
False Shepherds at the End of the Age Jesus said many false prophets will appear (Matthew 24:11) and deceive many people (but not necessarily believers). He added that false Christs and false prophets would perform great (false) signs and miracles in order to try and deceive...
Summarising the Characteristics of the False Leader In summarising the characteristics of the false shepherd that have been given, we note certain common details that seem to be consistently part of the picture. Firstly, at the root there is always a problem in the heart, from which...
EXPECTATIONS – BASE THEM ON WHAT GOD’S WORD SAYS? It’s probably time to move on to another topic so this will for the time being my last blog on expectations. We discussed how expectations are established through experiences and the only way to break the cycle is...
Paul’s Observations About False Apostles “And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such men are false apostles,...
EXPECTATIONS – A TRAGIC CONSEQUENCE? This week I want to discuss further the consequence of wrong expectations with a specific focus. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray He said, ““when you pray, say: “Father””. Jesus referred to God as His father and tells us that...
EXPECTATIONS – WHAT SHOULD THEY BE? We saw last week that what we believe determines what we expect. We also referred to Paul’s instruction to the Roman Church to not be conformed to the pattern of this world, BUT, be transformed by the renewing of our...
Humanity and Grace Combined In earlier chapters, we spoke at some length of the grace and sovereign power of God at work in apostles. We must now recognise that our humanity remains, and is ‘mixed in’ with the grace of God at every point of the...
EXPECTATIONS – WHERE THEY CAME FROM AND HOW TO CHANGE THEM I concluded my last blog with some questions relating to the topic of expectation. I would now like to relate this back to the topics I addressed last year, those of Love and Unity. If we...
When someone is looking for the “best” church to attend, it really depends on what their motive is. I have met people who are looking for a church that meets their needs. They want comfortable chairs, wonderful music, entertaining preaching, an air-conditioned facility, and great babysitting...
