I would rather live my life as if there is a God, and die to find out there isn’t, than live my life as if there isn’t, and die to find out there is!


Monday, February 22, 2010

Can Christians Play Cards, See Movies, Go to Dances?

Photo of "Bicycle" brand playing car...Image via Wikipedia
Questions: I have some friends who say it is wrong for Christians to play cards, go to movies, go to dances and stuff like that.  Is that correct?

I do not believe so. The above Scripture, 1 Corinthians 10:23, seems to indicate otherwise. I think studying 1 Corinthians (specifically chapter 8) will give you a lot of insight into this age-old question. While this chapter talks about meat, eating and idols, try replacing those with cards, dances and movies, or anything else for that matter, and in no particular order, and see what message you get. I think we are being told that while what we do is somewhat important, the affect of our actions upon those we come in contact with is far more important (see verse 13). Also: It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. Romans 14:21  So, it appears playing cards, going to movies, going to dances and such activities can be OK, or, under some conditions, not OK. You might find it helpful to apply the test of 1 Corinthians 10:31,32 to any questionable activity. I think the answer will become apparent.

Relevant Scripture
"Everything is permissible" -- but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible" -- but not everything is constructive. 1 Corinthians 10:23

Be blessed,
Wayne
http://www.Capstone-Ministries.org

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

What Would Jesus Do?

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Question: "What would Jesus do?" is still popular right now, and was very popular in the recent past, especially among the young. Does it really have any application to how Christians are to live their lives?

Absolutely! WWJD can be applied to every event and decision in our lives; right now, today! In view of 1 John 2:6, we ought to constantly be asking ourselves this question.  You see, the standard for Christian living is not the Ten Commandments (though we need to heed them), and it's not even the Golden Rule (though we ought to heed it)-- the standard is Jesus Himself. The Lord Jesus gave His disciples a new law to live by: John 13:34, and the example of Himself. Jesus is our model. You are wrong if you ask yourself "What would other Christians tell me to do?" And wrong even if you ask "What would other Christians do?" But you will always be right if you ask "What would Jesus do?" and then do the same. Of course, you must know Jesus before you can know what Jesus would do.

RELEVANT SCRIPTURE:

Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
1 John 2:6


Be blessed,
Wayne
http://www.Capstone-Ministries.org

If you enjoy some of the articles posted here please subscribe to this blog via RSS feeds or email. Send your friends here too, and consider being a follower. You can subscribe and/or become a follower in the left-hand column.

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Monday, February 15, 2010

Did Moses Write Genesis?

Moses mosaic on display at the Cathedral Basil...Image via Wikipedia

Question: How could Moses have written Genesis when writing was not yet known in his time?

This is an old criticism which is still voiced sometimes today. First, we need to all get on the same page; writing was known and widely used long before Moses' time. Archeologists have unearthed an ancient library in the city of Ur containing thousands of stone "books." You may recall that Ur of the Chaldees was Abraham's home long before he migrated to Canaan, and those stone books were written even before Abraham's day. Many of the books constituted records of very mundane activities, which seems to indicate that not only scholars, but also common tradesman could read and write. It is quite certain that Moses, educated in the palace of the Egyptian emperor as he was, was fully competent to write the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible).

RELEVANT SCRIPTURE:
Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. Who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt -- to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land.  Deuteronomy 34:10-11.


Be blessed,
Wayne
http://www.Capstone-Ministries.org

If you enjoy some of the articles posted here please subscribe to this blog via RSS feeds or email. Send your friends here too, and consider being a follower. You can subscribe and/or become a follower in the left-hand column.

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Monday, February 8, 2010

Did God Get Tired on Day Six of Creation?

The Flammarion woodcut portrays the cosmos as ...Image via Wikipedia

Question: If God is all-powerful why did he have to rest after working on creation for six days?

Well, certainly not because he was tired! He did not rest in the sense that His physical energy had been depleted or that He needed to recuperate. An all-powerful God doesn't need to rest. The Hebrew word for rest communicates the idea of "ceasing from activity."  Genesis 2:2 simply says God completed His work on creation and stopped. The job was done. There was nothing further to do. Perhaps He ceased working in order to make a division between His work of creation and His later ongoing work in the world. Whatever the reason, it's clear that He modeled a pattern that He wants us to follow -- we should rest one day in seven, and we are to set that one day apart as holy to the Lord.

Relevant Scripture
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Genesis 2:2


Be blessed,
Wayne
http://www.Capstone-Ministries.org


If you enjoy some of the articles posted here please subscribe to this blog via RSS feeds or email. Send your friends here too, and consider being a follower. You can subscribe and/or become a follower in the left hand column.


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Saturday, February 6, 2010

What is the gospel?

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Question: What is the gospel?

The word gospel, translated from Greek in the New Testament literally means "good news."  The gospel is simply the "good news" that Jesus the Lord, the Son of God, became a man so that He could die in atonement for our sins, then after being buried for three days rose from the grave forever settling our sin-debt before a holy God. Perhaps the best single definition of the gospel found in Scripture is the one above -- 1 Corinthians 15:3,4. According to this passage the "good news" has four components: (1) man is a sinner; (2) Christ is the Savior; (3) Christ died as a substitute for man; and (4) Christ rose from the dead. From the time of Paul, this is the "good news" he and others preached.  We are called to do the same.

Relevant Scripture
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 15:3,4.


Be blessed,
Wayne
http://www.Capstone-Ministries.org


If you enjoy some of the articles posted here please subscribe to this blog via RSS feeds or email. Send your friends here too, and consider being a follower. You can subscribe and/or become a follower in the left hand column.

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Will I Become an Angel when I Die?

Archangels Michael and Gabriel, 12th cenrtury,...Image via Wikipedia

Question: Growing up I believed that we humans became angels in heaven when we died.  Is this so?

No. Many people grow up with this misconception. It probably stems from parents seeking an easy way to explain the afterlife to children, but it is incorrect.  Colossians 1:16 tells us that Christ created the angels, and that He created them as angels. Elsewhere in the Bible distinctions are made between man and angels supporting their being separate distinct creations. Hebrews 12:22,23 seems clearly to distinguish between "thousands and thousands of angels in joyful assembly" and "the spirits of righteous men made perfect." 1 Corinthians 6:3 tells us there will be a time (in the afterlife) when man will judge the angels. It also seems that 1 Corinthians 13:1 makes a distinction between humans and angels.



Relevant Scripture
What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.  Psalms 8:4,5.


If you enjoy some of the articles posted here please subscribe to this blog via RSS feeds or email. Send your friends here too, and consider being a follower. You can subscribe and/or become a follower in the left hand column.


Be blessed,
Wayne
http://www.Capstone-Ministries.org


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