We don’t need more good works. We need more freedom granted to the Holy Spirit to do His work. That will, of course, produce more good works, but His main work is to form Christ in us. My children, again I am in the pains of childbirth for you until Christ is formed in you. (Galatians 4:19-20 Holman Christian Standard Bible ©®) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, […]
Author Archive: Douglas Thomas
Fresh and New, Just for You
Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end.They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him. (Lamentations 3:22-24 from Holman Christian Standard Bible ©®) You can’t even find your car in a parking lot some days. Suppose it was a different car each day. Yahweh’s mercy to you […]
Fiery Baptisms
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to take off His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn. But the chaff He will burn up with fire […]
God Will Keep You Sound & Blameless
For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We’re not of the night or of darkness. So then, we must not sleep, like the rest, but we must stay awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we are of the day, we must be sober and put the armor of faith […]
Jesus, Remember Me
Shouldn’t it seem strange to us that no one was asking Jesus when He would start His church? The magi were looking for a King Who was worthy to be worshiped. The disciples wanted to have a place of authority in His Kingdom. The thief who was crucified with Him was looking toward His Kingdom. The two things that Jesus preached were His Kingdom and a relationship with His Father. […]
The Kingdom and the Name
But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (Acts 8:12-13 Holman Christian Standard Bible ®©) Philip preached the Kingdom and the Name. If that raises questions in your mind, like, “why didn’t he preach salvation?”, please search for the answers to those questions. If it doesn’t raise questions, is it […]
The Ekklesia of Christ is Like…
No two families are exactly alike. The cultural, economic, educational and geographical influences change things drastically from one to another, and many other dynamics have positive or negative impacts. The leadership style is based on the leader’s (or leaders’) strengths and weaknesses. The tribe’s history makes its mark, too. Congregations of the ekklesia are different in the same way. The leadership’s spiritual gifts, their process of preparation, the level of […]
Telling the King’s Household
2 Kings 7 tells the story of four men with leprosy helping bring to pass a prophetic word offered by Elisha. The Arameans had besieged the city of the King of Samaria. Elisha announced that the siege was about to end the next day. When the four lepers discovered the truth that evening, they “evangelized” the king’s household: they announced the good news that the siege was over. We should […]
Two Awe-full Pictures
When Jesus saw the contents of the cup of Yahweh’s wrath Wake yourself, wake yourself up!Stand up, Jerusalem,you who have drunk the cup of His fury from the hand of the Lord;you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs—the cup that causes people to stagger.There is no one to guide heramong all the children she has raised;there is no one to take hold of her handamong all the offspring […]
Prophets and Teachers
The ekklesia at Antioch of Syria had both prophets and teachers at work. One is more interested in interpreting the past (teacher) and the other is more interested in interpreting the present and the future (prophet). For both to be welcome as leaders, it must have been like a man who can bring out of his storehouse both old things and new things (Matthew 13:52). “You have heard it said […]