“HE changes times and seasons, HE removes kings, HE sets up kings.”
Far too often, church leaders exhort us to work diligently to elect politicians and pass laws of which they approve, claiming it is God’s will and warning of the dire consequences that will befall us if we fail to do so. Believers must fight tooth and nail for their chosen candidates and programs! But chosen by whom?
Continue readingSYNOPSIS – The “righteousness of God” refers to the faithfulness of God to His promises that is demonstrated in the salvation provided in Jesus.
The second and third chapters of the book of the Romans present the gospel as the Great Leveler – Both Jews and Gentiles have fallen short of the righteousness of God and, therefore, both stand under His “just sentence.” Consequently, Jews and Gentiles alike are destined for “wrath.”
Continue readingJesus began to proclaim the Kingdom of God after the arrest of John the Baptist, and that incident foreshadowed the opposition that would characterize his own ministry. At the time, Palestine consisted of three territories – Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, and the latter included a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles.
Unlike John, Jesus began his public ministry in the villages of Galilee, and unlike the prophets of ancient Israel, his messianic mission did NOT begin or center in the city of Jerusalem, though it certainly ended there – (Matthew 4:13).
Continue readingThe gospel of Mark provides only a few examples of the many parables taught by Jesus (“Apart from a parable he did not speak to the crowds”). But in those few, the dominant theme is the kingdom of God that commenced in his ministry and has continued since whenever the gospel is proclaimed.
Jesus taught the Jewish people in parables, but only as they “were able to hear.” That aspect stresses the responsibility of the listener to hear and heed his words.
Continue readingThe Parable of the Sower provides the key to understanding the other parables of Jesus. Its point is that the kingdom of God began to invade the present age with the proclamation of the kingdom of God by the “Son of Man.” He inaugurated the process, and ever since, the kingdom has been advancing throughout the earth though largely unnoticed by humanity.
Continue reading
Disciples Global Network 