Last week, we addressed the transforming effect of being in God’s manifest presence, His parousia . It was the apostles’ inquiry about His parousia that provoked Jesus’ discourse in Matthew 24. We may think that we should just wait for this to come and not worry about working so hard at evangelism...

When Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24 about the signs that would mark the end of this age, He spoke about His presence coming on the earth. That time is unfolding now, and is the most important event of the age yet: the Lord’s presence, which is to be distinguished from His second coming. The word...

I know that I am only speaking to the most serious Christians in these Words for the Week. For this reason, I share with you things I do not feel at liberty to share with a general audience. I know I’m addressing some who will pursue the high calling in Christ that the apostle Paul wrote about in...

As previously covered, two of the Greek words translated “church” in the New Testament are ecclesia and koinonia . Ecclesia is the structure and government of the church, and koinonia is the church bonding together in love. Which is the most important? We are called to be a family first, not an...

We concluded last week’s Word for the Week asking why we might find ten people who will applaud the Ephesians 4 vision for the body of Christ for every one who will actually find their part in the body, get equipped for it, and then function in it. This may be the most important question we can ask...

Continuing with our theme of new covenant church life, there are two Greek words translated “church” or “fellowship” in the New Testament. The first, ecclesia, represents government and structure, and koinonia is the bonding and vital union of the church members. In much of the present structure of...

Because the Lord is building His church out of living stones—people—the great works He is building will not be completed quickly, or easily. Those who leave during the process, before the body of Christ has become what we are called to be, will not likely be part of the church at the end. They will...

Human idealism is one of the worst enemies of truth and perhaps the biggest deceiver of zealous Christians. Zeal is not the problem, since the exhortation to overcome lukewarmness is to “be zealous therefore and repent” (see Revelation 3:19). We could use more zeal in these times, and our King...

If our goal is to truly abide in the King (as it should be for every Christian), we should treat everyone with courtesy and respect. We do this because we will be in the office with our co-workers and bosses, and also because, even if they are not yet Christians, He loves them and died for them...

Just because we know in part, doesn’t mean we can’t be confident in what we know. However, we should always walk in humility, knowing there is always more to every story. We can have great confidence in the basic doctrines of faith that are clear in Scripture and should stand on these without...