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Tag: peter

agapē a fruit of Love from a Higher Branch
Charity (agape)

This is our chief aim, the unconditional love of the Father given to us through his Son. Affection, friendship and romantic love are each the training ground for charity to grow. It’s also a rival to the three.

C.S. Lewis – Four Types of Love

Even with a half-dozen mentions of the agape love including definitions last time, as you can see from Lewis’ quote this is a fruit of a higher UNCONDITIONAL LOVE – a gift of God the Father through Jesus Christ.

All you need is Love Love Love

ἀγάπη – agapē

– feminine noun

The KJV translates Strong’s G26 in the following manner: love (86x), charity (28x), dear (1x), charitably (with G2596) (1x), feasts of charity (1x).

From ἀγαπάω (G25)

We also followed a relational connection between some of ‘The 4 Loves’ last time, but let’s see some of the connecting branches of the love agape as well.

ἀγαπάω (G25) – agapaō

verb

The KJV translates Strong’s G25 in the following manner: love (135x), beloved (7x).

You may say, ‘God is love,’ a use of agape as a noun; but the relational verb for love — agapaō requires an action of personal relationship.

The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

First Letter of the Apostle John 4:8 LSB

a LOVE of persons OR of things
- of persons
  - to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly
- of things
  - to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
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Lewis also cautions that these could become idolatry as well, rather than the intended love of God the Father through His only Son Jesus Christ. 
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Root Word (Etymology)
Perhaps from agan (much) [or cf φιλέω (G5368) phileō, also a verb to love or to kiss ]

Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

the Apostle Paul writing to the churches

or

Greet one another with a kiss of love.

the Apostle Peter writing to the churches
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We certainly cannot avoid the worldly love-connection to the idolatries of Eros attributed to the genuine signs of affection the Lord and Apostles modeled for the saints of our local churches. 
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The KJV translates Strong’s G5384 in the following manner: friend (29x).

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Gospel of John 15:13 KJV

How would you describe your LOVE for a friend?

Agape embraces another with affection like no other love.

ἀγαπητός – agapētos

the adjective from From ἀγαπάω (G25) agape
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Strong's Number G27 matches the Greek ἀγαπητός (agapētos), which occurs 61 times in 60 verses in the MGNT Greek.
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Outline of Biblical Usage

beloved, esteemed, dear, favourite, worthy of love
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God the Father, Jesus and all the Apostles use it. 

Peter, for example:
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Therefore, beloved G27, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved G27 brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, \

2 Peter:3:14-15 LSB
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And the Apostle Paul in several epistles: 
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I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved G27 children.

Therefore, my beloved G27, flee from idolatry.

Therefore, my beloved G27 brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 4:14, 10:14, 15:58 LSB

For the Love of God [O.T.]
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And recalling love from the Scriptural roots of Jesus and the Apostles in the Hebrew Bible: 
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A song. A psalm of David.

(WLC 108:5)כִּי־גָדוֹל מֵעַל־שָׁמַיִם חַסְדֶּךָ וְעַד־שְׁחָקִים אֲמִתֶּךָ׃

For your faithful love is higher than the heavens,

and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Psalm 108:6 CSB

Yet from the root word חֶסֶד
ḥeseḏ:

For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the skies.

Ps 108:6 NASB95

For Your mercy is great above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the clouds.

Ps 108:6 NKJV

Do you see the high relational LOVE between God the Father, Jesus the Son and those who in and by the Spirit love the Lord?

Mercy, Lovingkindness and agape love cannot be simply jargon among those saints saved in Christ Jesus.

agapētos agapaō .. agapē
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Finally, your search for LOVE in New Testament Greek will draw you to one holy Scripture penned in a letter of the one Jesus loved. 
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ἀγαπητοί ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται καὶ γινώσκει τὸν θεόν

Α΄ Ιωάννη (1 John) 4 :: Morphological Greek New Testament (MGNT)
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It's all Greek to me too, so let me help you out. 
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Beloved

Strong’s G27 – agapētos From ἀγαπάω agapaō (G25)

let us love

g25 agapaō

one another,

allēlōn

for love

hoti agapē (G26)

is from God;

eimi ek θεός theos

and everyone who loves

kai pas ho agapaō (G25)

has been [begotten] born of God

gennaō ek θεός theos

and knows God.

kai ginōskō θεός theos

1 John 4:7 LSB

INTERLINEAR MORPHOLOGICAL Greek New Testament

Questions of Agape Love

source: BibleHub.com STUDY Questions

Beloved,

In what ways can you demonstrate “agape” love to those in your church community this week?
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And, dear friend, here's one to make it yet more personal
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How does the command to love one another serve as evidence of being “born of God” in your personal spiritual journey?

more from 1 John 4:7 study

Talk of JESUS .com

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February 22, 2025
Paul a Prophet Sent out by Jesus
Great Prophets and Signs from God
- HOW DO WE KNOW A TRUE PROPHET OF GOD?
- WHAT is the SIGN of a true Prophet?
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”
Gospel of Luke 7:16 ESV

A great prophet among us

Before we look at an extraordinary sign in Troas suggesting that Paul is also a Prophet of Almighty God, let’s look at other true Prophets of the past.

Talking for hours with the prophet Paul

~A.D. 56 – Previously in an upper room at midnight in the port of Troas..

The gospel points to JESUS and not to the Apostle Paul or some other Old Testament prophet.
- WHO does a prophet speak for and what does he say?
- Is it the message and work of ALMIGHTY GOD or that of rebellion against the LORD?
The Lord Jesus Christ
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~ A.D. 28 - the year being less important than the short time of two decades before this present miracle by Paul

Luke 7:
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.. behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother..

And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”

And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

.. for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
Gospel of Mark 6:14b-15 ESV

Elijah
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About 860 Before Christ - the sign from GOD being more important than the year.
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Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
1 Kings 17: ESV

God speaks to him and also commands the response of one (or more) to whom he is sent. Paul has already experienced this as have Peter and other Apostles sent out with the Gospel by the resurrected Jesus Christ.

14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.
1 Kings 17:14-15 ESV

All are obedient to God for an extended time. They continue to witness a miracle but a greater sign will soon prove the power of God and truth of his prophecy through Elijah.

After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him..

19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed.

.. Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord,

“O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”

.. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”

24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
More on Elijah AND other prophets What did they see?
The Apostle Simon Peter
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About A.D. 40
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“Tabitha, arise.”

Another Resurrection in Joppa

Resurrection of a body which has fallen from life into the valley of death is nothing new to the Apostles. To Peter another resurrection would be completely possible IF it is the will of the Lord.

And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.

WHAT FURTHER SIGN DO YOU NEED THAT THE HAND OF THE LORD IS ON A MAN THAN A RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD?

The Apostle Paul

Troas – important 1st C. A.D. Roman port
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Returning now to the mid- A.D. 50's about a dozen years after the resurrection of Tabitha or Dorcas in Joppa by Peter, a couple of dozen years after many witnessed the signs of multiple resurrections by the Lord Jesus AND more than nine centuries since the sign of the Prophet Ezekiel for a widow in Zarephath.
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Acts of the Apostles 20:
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after the 3-story fall of Eutychus from an upper room window to his death
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But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”

11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.

12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
Acts of the Apostles 20:12 ESV

WHAT THEN?

Paul’s preaching, worship and discussion with the believers in Troas had gone until midnight. (WHAT A LONG EVENING SERVICE!)

But then AFTER the SIGN of the Lord through PAUL raising the dead youth, the faithful returned to WORSHIP (and no doubt thankfulness) until the break of the very day. The Apostle would then continue to sail into the rest of the world with the Gospel of JESUS Christ.

JOY of the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues not only in Troas and back into Macedonia and Greece, but in other ports along the Apostle Paul’s third missionary journey.

12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.

13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.

Prophets and Signs

A false prophet shows NO SIGNS other than deception and ambition against Almighty God.

Saul of Tarsus had been a great aggressor of Zion without regard for the mercy of God and ears to hear the warning of Israel’s Prophets predicting a servant Messiah who would not ‘break a bruised reed’.

YET the LORD had bruised Paul’s zeal near Damascus and confronted his heart with the Gospel of His Own RESURRECTION!

NO SIGN of a Prophet proves his message true more than a resurrection of a body and restoration of a soul.

THE LORD had provided proof of His Word through Moses and through Elijah who have now appeared to Jesus’ Apostles Peter, James and John. The Word provides a sign to Saul by once more appearing to the apostle then prophesying the most difficult journey ahead as JESUS would send Paul out to the Gentiles as His chosen instrument.

Who is this Saul, Apostle to the Gentiles?

Previously, at the conversion of Saul

“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
Acts of the Apostles 9:15b-16 ESV – The Lord sends Ananias to open Saul’s eyes.

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To Be Continued.. Lord willing, when we will meet Paul in Assos and sail back to Ephesus…
December 9, 2023
christianity-lite Doctrines of the Christ-less Era
Are christian pulpits erasing Christ’s Biblical line of DOCTRINE?

a Christ-less Church of the Common Era

JESUS Christ was the SON worthy of Christians who once worshiped like this:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
First Letter of the Apostle Peter 1:3-5 Legacy Standard Bible
- HOW OFTEN DO YOU HEAR ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ preached from the pulpit of your Common Era church?
- IS SCRIPTURE INSCRIBED on the doorposts and gates of YOUR COMMON ERA CHURCH?
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃ דְּבָרִים

(Deuteronomy) 6 :4

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart..
Deuteronomy 6:5-6 ESV

And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
From the LAW of Moses – Deuteronomy 6:9 King James Version

a HOLY Gospel or a Common Era Jesus?

SOMETHING CHANGED, but I’m not certain when.

In the year of our Lord 1959, I joined our local Christian church and the Pastor presented me with a Revised Standard Version of the HOLY BIBLE, which our membership class had studied beginning with the first five books of the Law in addition to discussing key verses from the New Testament.
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So the A.D. 1950's apparently were not yet a time when Christians walked away from God's HOLY BIBLE.
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As children of Christian parents we were expected to become part of our local church and community. Some did so begrudgingly and others of us out of duty to family. What else could we do? And everyone I knew seemed to ‘go to church’ one place or another.

We referred to God and Jesus as ‘Lord,’ addressed adults as ‘Mister‘ or ‘Missus‘ [so and so] or if we didn’t know them sir or ma’am.

Our pastor and preacher was to be addressed as, Reverend, just like most of our parents addressed him. (Even children understood what reverend meant as to respect due to this man and his piety associated with God’s leadership of our church.)

Before the Common Era

SOMETHING CHANGED during the 1960’s, continued to change into the 70’s and yet more beyond the close of the 20th century.

Many churches still EXPECTED Christians to stand in acknowledgment of GOD’s HOLY Word as WE bowed in silence to hear proclaimed:

“THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO .. [Matthew, Mark, Luke or John],”

and then the Holy Scripture was read.
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christianity-lite churches of 2023 of the Common Era can hardly imagine it!

Some imagined it to have been liturgical routine rather than intended due reverence for the HOLINESS of God's Very Word.
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The dichotomy of holiness as separation of GOD ABOVE ALL and JESUS CHRIST as LORD of ALL seemed to blur into a common division from contemporary culture.

Christians loved their Christ of Christmas and Easter, while ALL the world (mostly US) awaited a dismissal of JESUS as just another sweet lord of some days of a future passed.

A.D. 1960 – Do you remember when?
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Source for most: Year 1960 Fun Facts, Trivia, and History
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- JFK was elected the first Roman Catholic President of the U.S.
- The average family income was $5,600
- and a new house cost $16,500.
- The starting salary for a teacher was $5,135. It was $4,400 for a police officer and $9,400 for an engineer.
- A slice of pizza cost 15 cents, a McDonald’s hamburger was also 15 cents, and candy bars were five cents apiece.
- The minimum wage was $1.00, (family members no min. I made .50/hr. in the 60’s)
- Farmers made up 8.3% of the U.S. labor force.. about 3,711,000 American farms.. about 303 acres apiece.
- Over 90% of American households had at least one TV,
  - and about 65% of Americans were churchgoers.
- The FDA approved the world’s first commercially produced birth control pill.
  - The Roman Catholic Church opposed its use (even by married couples)
  - Protestant churches and other religions still expected NO SEX before marriage and discouraged any divorce.
Why did christians erase the LINES of Scripture?

Churches had to re-imagine JESUS for a post-Christian world of members who no longer wanted to GO TO CHURCH.

Christians of OUR future world will embrace a Jesus Christ SUPERSTAR along side our flawed antagonist apostle Judas who seemed to be just as I am. WE are the world, too.

Among our [*] secular friends WE continued to claim that WE are ‘believers,’ BUT we no longer liked to be identified as MEMBERS of the [*] BODY of CHRIST.

a few definitions erased and eroded
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*SACRED [now archaic in the Common Era] once meant separated from the common sin and evil of the world in order to remain HOLY [on GOD's side of good and evil] and used in 700+ verses in the HOLY BIBLE.

*SECULAR [also archaic to Common Era culturaly inclusive speech] pointed outward to a world separated from the SACRED by clear BIBLICAL LINES of DOCTRINE. 

The Body of Christ and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ point to HOLINESS only attainable through Christ as symbolized in HOLY COMMUNION.
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So clearly defined Biblical church lines of religion blurred

AND antiquated doctrine retired and relegated into the annals of church history.

The Church of our Lord OR christians of the Common Era?
- HOW OFTEN DO YOU HEAR ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ preached from the pulpit of your Common Era church?
  - Rarely, since in a post-Christian world HE is now a familiar pronoun for a more familiar jesus who embraces believers of every culture into gatherings for the anonomous ME.
- IS SCRIPTURE INSCRIBED on the doorposts and gates of YOUR COMMON ERA CHURCH?
  - god forbid! For holy means separated and WE are together.
  - Therefore the BIBLE bows down to OUR corporate vision to which WE must preach to include ALL the world for the love of our culturally correct Jesus.
    
    Just call Him KING; NEVER Prophet or Priest, which would separate HIM from the multitudes of the world WE seek to gather. AND remember,
    
    MOST books of the BIBLE are OFFENSIVE to seekers of other beliefs; consequently NO Scripture on the walls (or church building or worship screen up front).
    
    THE BIBLE HOLY? – Prophets, Priests and gods forbid!
christianity-lite

a graceful LIFE

RE-imagining jesus

for a culturally-correct

church of the Common Era

christianity-lite is weightless witness of Christ-less preaching to the Scripture-starved chaff of Common Era culture
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

In the context of Western culture and because of growing biblical illiteracy in our churches, the content has often been highly eroded. It has been made light and insubstantial, replaced by a set of self-focused interests.
David F Wells – GOD IN THE WHIRLWIND, p.188

The challenge of Teaching GOD’s Truth

SOMETHING CHANGED between the years of our Lord in centuries past and these last days of the Common Era.

God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Numbers 23:19 ESV

It wasn’t God.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8 ESV

And it was not Jesus Christ (re-branding HimSELF for a Common Era church).

“Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings..” the letter to the Hebrews continues in 13:9a.

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Second Letter of the Apostle Paul to the pastor Timothy 3:16-17 LSB

It wasn’t God’s HOLY BIBLE that changed..
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(although some have intentionally smudged scripture by their own rewording).
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COULD IT BE THE COMMON ERA CHURCH (members, not the building so much) THAT HAS CHANGED?

..it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

Lord OR just another king of culture?
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Let the church of these last days of a Common Era hear the prophesy of John the Baptist:
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“And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals;
Gospel of Matthew 3:10-11b LSB
- DO YOU WORSHIP JESUS IN TRUTH AND WITH THE HUMILITY OF JOHN?
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’

“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
The GOSPEL of Matthew 7:21-23 Legacy Standard Bible

DOCTRINES of the COMMON ERA CHURCH – To Be Continued… God-willing
September 30, 2023