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Tag: acts

Not ME – the deception of SIN
“Not me,” we boastfully sang out as children.

We gleefully sang each verse of the children’s song so familiar we knew the continuous scratches in our 45 rpm record. Who’s afraid of the BIG BAD WOLF? — a story also told on our little black and white television and eventually in living color by Walt’s colorful characters. (We knew the story and song by heart.)

“Who’s afraid of the BIG BAD WOLF?” Not me.
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Who's afraid of the big bad wolf,
the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf,
"Who's afraid of the BIG BAD WOLF?"  
[then 5 familiar notes of melody during which we sang out: 
NOT MEEEE!]
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I’m not even certain ANY version of the song from “The Three Pigs” even included our unanimous care-free response of each little pig; but my sister, brother and I all knew where the story was headed.

A Father’s Letter to his Gentile Children

Now you’re probably wondering what a children’s song has to do with the Apostle Paul.

(I’ll make the connection before the last verse of his letter (so to speak) as we suddenly discover a HOT TOPIC for the church.)

In the year of our Lord 49 to A.D. 51

As the Apostle Paul nears completion of a Second Missionary Journey he sends a letter to a church back in Macedonia from where the Apostle to the gentiles had been forced to flee. Paul’s heart for these new believers looks back to Christ’s love in them.

But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.
First letter from Paul, Silas and Timothy to the Thessalonian church 2:7

Thessalonica

The First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
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What do you do when travelling away from home and separated from loved ones? We do our best to communicate at a distance, (before hand-held phones) traditionally by letter.

Again, from Corinth, the year ~ A.D. 51 
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These new believers in Christ Jesus in Macedonia receive communication from Paul, a father to them in the faith. Silvanus we know familiarly as Silas and their young protoge Timothy has been their trusted courier and also a pastor to believers in distant towns.

[READ 1 Thessalonians 3 for details that complete the ACTS journey to Athens.]

Like any good father the Apostle encourages and also exhorts these young believers to maintain their new-found righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

.. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
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Is this not what every child wants to hear from its father? 

'Well done, good and faithful young follower of Christ' 

Even in other parts of Macedonia and HERE IN CORINTH ACHAIA the Thessalonian faith has become an example to others.

The Apostle then recounts their struggles in other cities.
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2: ²But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. ³For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive…
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Remember this, and remember the big bad wolf who will knock at our door later.
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5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.

Three Weeks in Thessalonica- Acts 17

Opposition to the Gospel in Philippi and then Thessalonica

We are proud of you

11 For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
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CHILD of God, Christ is at work in YOU.
Good job, son! Well done, daughter.
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14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind..

but Satan hindered us
- DO YOU BELIEVE IN SATAN?
  - “Not me,” will be the response of many 21st century claimants of Christ.
- Yet the Lord Jesus AND Paul both include along with the Gospel warnings about the fallen angel Satan who huffs and puffs at the door of faith of every Christ follower.
.. we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.
1 Thessalonians 2:18 διότι ἠθελήσαμεν ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐγὼ μὲν Παῦλος καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δίς καὶ ἐνέκοψεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Σατανᾶς ESV

19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?

Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

Furthermore then we beseech you..
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Many long-time servants of the Lord Jesus may detect a certain fatherly embrace of Paul opening his arms to his Thessalonian children of the faith. 

The more formal quaintness of the King James Version perhaps captures the Apostle's love for these saints best.
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Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians 4:1 KJV

(Some may even recall familiar and more formal prayers of your own childhood in Christ simply at hearing the plea,

WE BESEECH YOU.
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A General Thanksgiving (from the A.D. 1928 Anglican Prayer Book)

ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men; We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.

 And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may he unfeignedly thankful: and that we show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; 

through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
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NEXT: from Thessalonians 4-5 – WARNINGS

to the children of the Lord facing that Big Bad Wolf, who disguises himself as light while he huffs and puffs at the saints approaching the narrow door of eternal life.
July 13, 2023
NEW: ACTS on MISSION

Don’t miss a SYNOPSIS of ACTS 1-12 linked on our Main MENU ABOVE.

https://talkofjesus.com/acts-mission/
ACTS 1-12, so far – a synopsis & chronology

https://talkofjesus.com/acts-mission/

September 8, 2022
Church: Religion? Philosophic Discourse? or Cultural Calling?
The instant you say, ‘church,’ you dip your toe into waters of reactions which you know not how hot or cold, how shallow or deep, how stagnant or storm-tossed the hearer of your faith.

Do you dare even ask?
- Are YOU a CHRISTIAN?
- Where did you worship last Sunday?
- Do you belong to OUR church?
- What are you currently studying from the Bible?
- Would you talk of JESUS with me?
- May I SHARE the Good News of my Biblical Christian faith?
Just imagine the wide range of reactions of any other soul to ANY of these questions of the faithful evangelical Christian daring to share the Gospel of their Biblical Christian church.

An even more troubling question:

Does a Christian dare engage OTHER ‘christians‘ in a conversation about Christ (the Namesake of our Christian faith) addressing ALL of these questions and more about our Biblical Christian faith?

Have YOU, in fact, tested these troublesome waters?

IF SO, perhaps you too have received a baptism of hot opposition or a cold withdrawal of the flesh from the waters of faith.

That would be evangelism = a RED FLAG of RELIGION to which a world (inclusively with some calling themselves a ‘church,’) will often react with ears that do not hear, as well as the rhetoric of rebellion against the Lord God and anarchy against salvation of the sinful soul.
- Perhaps evangelism nets too few caught in the rising waters of a cultural flood of this world reacting to the ‘church,’ by denying Christ Jesus.
- Maybe a pure Biblical Christian faith offends some tiptoeing into the mire of murky waters of philosophic denial.
The [*] wicked fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They act corruptly, they commit abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.
Psalm 14 :: Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) * wicked – one who rejects wisdom in rebellion against God
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(Although some these wicked fools have crept into pulpits of places which call themselves, 'church.')
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ANY constant questioning of authoritative adherence to the Word of God, the Holy Bible of our Christian faith, should sound an alarm to the faithful:

Beware of the tempter in sheep’s clothing.

Who else would deconstruct the Biblical Christian foundation of the Church, only to reconstruct our faith by compromises of the only Truth, replacing authoritative Scripture with several shifting pebbles of heretical half-truths ‘reasoned’ by the wicked at war with Christ?

So I ask you .. I ask us:

Who are these 21st century Christians?
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What are YOUR answers to my earlier questions I dare to ask my fellow evangelical Christian believers and worshipers of Jesus Christ? (ADD your Comment on Scripture to this Saturday Post of TalkofJESUS.com) 
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Our church in Christ Jesus has no place for the unrepentant wicked fool; for our Gospel is for those who believe.
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I began this Saturday Post series as a deeper discussion of DOCTRINE (or teaching) of the Church. The alarm of the watchman on the wall rang in my ears while hearing about a subtle teaching, an undercurrent of doctrine seeping into the evangelical christian church.

Evangelical RECONSTRUCTION was something I naively had never heard of; YET now I will raise the trumpet of warning to sound the alarm:
Something’s wrong with our church!

(Who wouldn't agree?) YES it is.

So why not RECALL it?

(Send it ‘back to the manufacturer? Can’t do that. So how can WE evolve the church into a 21st c. style faith?)
Tear it down to the ground demolishing doctrine by doctrine.

Then WE can RECONSTRUCT that which WE have deconstructed to fix the church how WE want.

But WE had better do it subtly (so as not to offend anybody) and stealthily (without account of a foundational Biblical Christian teaching).
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A 21st c. RECALL of the CHURCH is just what WE need for OUR Evangelical Reconstruction of the Church into a socially acceptable gathering which will attract any follower from religions of every culture of our world.
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NOT!

To borrow from the Apostle Paul refuting premises of clear untruths:

By no means!

Perfect Teaching (for God’s imperfect ‘church’)

https://talkofjesus.com/talk-jesus-com/what-is-doctrine/
διδασκαλία – didaskalia – doctrine (19x), teaching (1x), learning (1x). – source: BlueLetterBible.org

Doctrine, whether by preaching or teaching or proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is foundational to faith and therefore never to be torn down by any mortal sinner. Scripture affirms God’s truth and the trustworthy teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ for those who believe.

.. so that we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming, ..
Letter of the Apostle Paul to the Church in Ephesus 4:14 Legacy Standard Bible

This same Apostle (to the Gentiles) confesses in his first letter to the pastor, Timothy 1:15

.. that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

And the Apostle Peter fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying,

“Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
the Good News of Luke 5:8 Legacy Standard Bible

Some call Peter and Paul, Saints (and they are); yet all of God’s faithful are saints to the Lord.

Psalm 34:9 (WLC 34:10) יְראוּ אֶת־יְהוָה קְדֹשָׁיו כִּי־ אֵין מַחְסוֹר לִירֵאָֽיו׃
Yodh
Oh, fear Yahweh, you His saints;
For there is no want to those who fear Him.
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Do YOU FEAR THE LORD GOD, oh you sinner?

The MARQEE denominational name of your 'church' matters NOT, my fellow sinner. 
Seek the salvation of the Lord, my dear fellow saint, His redemption of your soul to eternal life witnessed in the Gospel of the Christ JESUS.
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Perfect Preaching (Teaching)

Is based on & does not manipulate Scripture.

THE LORD GOD IS! (God IS God and mankind is not.)

God spoke to and through men whom the Lord God chose and commanded to write HIS words.

“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent;
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it?
Numbers 23:19 LSB

ONLY Scripture – Sola Scriptura

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:16 LSB

NOT ‘some,’ NOT ‘select scripture’ ..

AND separate from the truth that some church pastors will never reprove or correct those wayward weak sheep of their own flock,

ALL of the WRITTEN WORD OF SCRIPTURE IS GOD INSPIRED!

Mortal SINNERS DO NOT get to reconstruct what GOD has said.

(But false teachers of every era subtly seek to lead Christ’s lost sheep into the abyss of disbelief.)

Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

The Apostle John’s Good News for you is:

.. that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.

Evangelical RE-construction of the Church
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Source material for the following is transcribed (written as accurately as possible) from the A.D. 2022 podcast 'Just Thinking,' previously recommended and linked on TalkofJESUS.com and used with permission of its author. - RH
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In deconstruction everything is a SOCIAL construction, including the church.
Darrell Harrison
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By the way, this Saturday Post series, Church – Who are these 21st c. Christians? - is directed toward faithful evangelical Christians who fear God and believe Scripture as a warning and caution for infidelity to Christ we increasingly hear from the pulpits of our RE-engineered 21st c. 'churches.' - RH

I will add brief comment to Harrison's outline below for your consideration and intentional thinking about the teaching of your church. Why not add your own thoughts in the Comments at the bottom of this post. 

God-willing, we will continue the course of identifying the faithful of our 21st century 'Church' next Saturday.
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Evangelical Deconstructionism

Most of the points quoted may be found in the Just Thinking Podcast near 1:32.

FIVE-POINT PROGRESSION of Evangelical Deconstructionism
1. EMBRACE and posit [plant or assume] the idea [philosophy] that the CHURCH is a SOCIALLY constructed system, NOT a divinely ordained idea [institution] that originated in the mind of God.
2. ASSUME that this socially constructed system is designed to be exclusive of certain intersectional identities, traditions and behaviors.
3. IDENTIFY subjective [reasoned in the mind] points or cracks in that socially constructed system that have failed [as reasoned by the philosopher] AND need to be fixed [or reconstructed].
4. APPLY a hermeneutic [interpretive explanation] of SUSPICION to that SOCIALIALLY-CONSTRUCTED system so that ANYONE [who even remotely] connected to that system is deemed UNTRUSTWORTHY.. deemed an enemy.
5. RECONSTRUCT this SOCIAL SYSTEM [church, etc.] into the IMAGE and likeness of the CULTURE with socially acceptable.. [everythingology].
Have you heard the alarm?

“Therefore watch out, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you:
Acts of the Apostles 13:40 LSB [in context 13:23-41]

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Gospel of Matthew 7:15 LSB – a warning of Jesus

“Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

Gospel of Luke 6:46 LSB – CHALLANGE of the Lord Jesus Christ to followers

What must we do?

Does YOUR local church have a new cultural calling to evangelism?

Please comment below on what you observe of Evangelical Deconstructionism?

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
August 27, 2022