Hosea: The Prophet and the Prostitute (Part 1)
“He loved us not because we are lovable, but because He is love” (C. S. Lewis)
Have you ever been unfaithful to God? Have you ever backslidden as a believer in Christ? Do you ever feel like a failure? In Hosea 1, we see how the Lord disciplines every one of His children. He will not let us continue in sin. His love is relentless, and He always comes after His straying child.
The believer in Jesus Christ is constantly growing. We are not in any way sinless, but we ought to be sinning less. If you find yourself not sinning less, then chastening is coming your way. God will do what it takes to bring you to your knees not because He is cruel, but because He is the most tender compassionate Being in the universe. He wants you to be what He saved you to be. He wants you to confront sin in your life.
Discussion
Got Milk?
The Bible sometimes uses the same imagery to teach a variety of things. For example, the lion is used to represent the Messiah (Revelation 5:5) and Satan (1 Peter 5:8). Jesus is the Morning Star (Revelation 22:16); He will give faithful believers the Morning Star (Revelation 2:28), and Lucifer means “Morning Star” (Isaiah 14:12).
Marriage is another example of imagery used to illustrate different relationships. The church is betrothed and will be married to Jesus (Revelation 19:7), Israel will be married to the Lord (Hosea 2:19-20), yet Israel will also be married to a destination, the Land of Israel (Isaiah 62:4). Revelation 21:2 suggests believers who are married to Jesus will also be married to a destination: the New Jerusalem.
Discussion
The Project 14 Global Missions board of directors will lead Northland Baptist Ministries
Body
“We will merge our global mission efforts at Project 14 Global Mission agency, Global Bible University, OneLife Christian Camps, and BluePrint Church Planting program to Northland campus in strategic ways to be determined soon.”
Discussion
What are the Alternatives to the Biblical View of Freedom?
Body
“Many people in our culture believe freedom to be a lack of norms, rules, or laws restraining us from doing what we want to do or be.”
Discussion
Is the Accumulation of Wealth Wrong?
Discussion item in my Sunday school class today around “Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19 HCSB)
Or what is this text about?
Poll Results
Is the Accumulation of Wealth Wrong?
Yes Votes: 0
No Votes: 4
Other Votes: 2
Discussion
How Small Colleges Can Not Only Survive, But Thrive
Body
“The university now follows a discipline advocated by Peter Drucker many years ago; the first rule of strategy is to abandon activities that require the resources of personnel or money, indeed even time, if they are no longer productive enough.” How Small Colleges Can … Thrive
Discussion
Legalism & Galatians Part 3: Adoption
Portions of the epistle to the Galatians have been used in a manner that breeds confusion and misunderstanding regarding legalism, grace, sanctification, and Christian living. It’s a pity, because the epistle speaks powerfully and clearly on all of these topics. The book’s teaching on adoption is an especially potent message for our times, carving a clear, joyful—yet responsible—path between the opposite errors of justification by works (legalism) and sanctification without works (antinomianism).
But that’s not all. The reality of believers’ adoption as God’s children not only answers the extremes of legalism and antinomianism, but also counters other common errors. Here, we’ll consider two additional errors as well as the two opposite extremes.
Discussion
"We cannot expect our kids to always swim against a cultural flood tide."
Body
Homeschool vs. Public School: How a Christian Parent Should Decide on Education
Discussion