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Doctrinal Matters From One Year Ago

courtesy of freeimages.com

Now that a new year has started, I thought it would be fun to look back at my posts from January 2014.  It happens that my posts from last January are some of the most often viewed posts on my blog. They are (in order of most viewed):
  1. The Lord's Supper and Eating Unworthily  -an attempt to explain 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
  2. Thoughts on Our Adoption  -a reflection on our adoption after 1 year
  3. Do Not Judge?  -an attempt to explain Matthew 7:1
  4. A Personal Testimony  -my salvation testimony.


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A Personal Testimony

I grew up in a loving home with Christian parents and Christian siblings (an older brother and sister). My dad felt God's call on his life to become a pastor before I even started school so I have been a preacher's kid for practically all of my life.  Yeah, I'm that kid.  The one that got to go on the youth group snow skiing trip before I was in the youth group because I got to tag along with my pastor/dad. I have heard a lot of stories of preacher's kids (pk's) who are bitter about their experiences; the perceived constant scrutiny from church members, the lack of privacy, having to share their dad with hundreds of other people, missing out on family vacations because someone's aunt so-and-so died, etc. Those are real experiences, but I consider it a privilege to have the example of a godly dad who gave himself to minister to others as their pastor.  The blessings of being a pk far outweigh the challenges in my opinion. When I was around five years old, my ni...
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The Lord's Supper and Eating Unworthily

By far the most popular passage in Baptist churches concerning observing the Lord's Supper is 1 Corinthians 11:17-34.  A particular focus has been placed on verses 27-31 quoted below from the King James Version that many of us grew up with. 27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. (1 Cor. 11:27-31 KJV) photo courtesy of www.freeimages.com Pastors often point to these verses as a warning to would be participants in the ordinance that they should first examine themselves so that they don't partake unworthily ...
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The Abusive Positive Confession Heresy

I was asked today whether I believed in the "power of the tongue".  The Christian who asked me this is from a charismatic background.  What she wanted to know is if I believe that we can speak negative things into existence in our lives.  Is it possible for me to create my own bad circumstances, i.e. cancer, sickness, tragedy, etc. by speaking them into existence?  She referenced the fact that God created the universe by simply speaking.  The implication is that words have power and, since we are created in God's image, our words have power also.  Since God's words can create, then we, His image-bearers, should also be able to create with our words.  We can literally speak things into existence, negative or positive.  This idea is called "positive/negative confession".  This is a heretical idea with no Scriptural support.  The Got Questions? website ( http://www.gotquestions.org/positive-confession.html ) has a good refutation of ...
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