If you are shopping for a new church to join, the first test is to find your favorite denomination, usually. Further tests are preaching style, music style, dress code and level of friendliness/welcome. Some theologians have managed to discern that looking for a position in ekklesia is very different. Not really grasping how different the socio-governmental word ekklesia is from the James the 1st mistranslation into the English word church, […]
Author Archive: Douglas Thomas
Proper Boasting
This is what the Lord says: The wise must not boast in his wisdom;the mighty must not boast in his might;the rich must not boast in his riches.But the one who boasts should boast in this,that he understands and knows Me—that I am the Lord, showing faithful love,justice, and righteousness on the earth,for I delight in these things.This is the Lord’s declaration.(Jeremiah 9:23-24 HCSB ©®)
Give a Good Report
The Lord responded, “I have pardoned them as you requested. Yet as surely as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, none of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested Me these 10 times and did not obey Me, will ever see the land I swore to give their fathers. […]
Be Wise
“I was there when He established the heavens,when He laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean,when He placed the skies above,when the fountains of the ocean gushed forth,when He set a limit for the seaso that the waters would not violate His command,when He laid out the foundations of the earth.I was a skilled craftsman beside Him.I was His delight every day,always rejoicing before Him.I was rejoicing […]
Being Awesomely Generous
Generosity in the Kingdom of Heaven is not looking at a budget. It is fixed on the horizon. It is not asking “How much seed does it take to produce a harvest?” It is asking, “How much seed do we have?” It is more concerned that we are investing in the next generation’s success than in our own. It is more interested in leaving an inheritance than in preparing for […]
Letting Your Talk Be Awesome
Most of what I write to you has a blessing prophesied in it somewhere: “Be strong; be courageous; be awesome.” What are you saying to yourself? If it sounds like, “I’m tired; none of my friends really care about me; I can’t stand ____ anymore; I’ll never get this paid off; the next thing to break will probably be ____;” or anything else that sounds like Eeyore in Winnie the […]
Ishmaels and Isaacs
Ishmael was a son. He was not, however, the promised son. Saul was a king. He was not, however, the promised king. The church is a gathering of the people of Jesus. It is not, however, the promised gathering. The house of Saul was at war with the house of David for a long time, with the house of Saul growing weaker and weaker, and the house of David growing […]
New What’s Next Things
I expect that until there is a new earth and a new heaven and a new Jerusalem passing between them, there will continue to be “what’s next” things. What was next to wrestle control of the people of Jesus from the soiled hands of the popes was a movement Luther helped mid-wife. A bit later, the holiness movement was birthed from Anglican-ism. Pentecostals followed, and were followed by Charismatics. They […]
Good Investment
Sitting across from the temple treasury, He watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. Summoning His disciples, He said to them, “I assure you: This poor widow has put in more than all those giving to the temple treasury. For they all gave out of their […]
Message of the Kingdom
Reading the Bible a few times is not really a responsibility.It is an opportunity.A privilege, actually. Consider, then, the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word […]