It is not a mistake! :-)

“Den größten Fehler, den man im Leben machen kann, ist, immer Angst zu haben, einen Fehler zu machen.”  


                                                                                        - Bonhoeffer

Theological Term of the Day

Bride of Christ

The Bride of Christ is a symbolic term used to designate the Christian church in its relation to Christ as one who is a pure virgin (2 Cor. 11:2), loved by Christ (Eph. 5:22-33), who will be in the marriage supper to the Lamb (Rev. 19:7).  Rev. 21:9 says, "And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."

Quote of the Day

“God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.” 

                                                                                ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Theological Term of the Day

Blasphemy

Blasphemy is speaking evil of God or denying Him some good which we should attribute to Him.  It could also be understood to be acting in any impious, mocking or contemptuous way toward any member of the Trinity.1 The word blasphemy comes from the Greek word , blasphemia, meaning "curse" or "vilifying." 2 Blasphemy arises out of pride (Psalm 73:9,11), hatred (Psalm 74:18), injustice (Isaiah 52:5), etc.  Christ was often mistakenly accused of blasphemy by Jewish leaders (John 10:30-33).

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is understood within its biblical context as stating or believing that Jesus did his miracles by the power of the devil (Matt. 12:22-32) and is an unforgivable sin (Mark 3:28-30).  Some people assert that that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit or the unforgivable sin is rejecting Christ's death on the cross for the forgiveness of sin and the Holy Spirits offer of salvation. 

                                                                                                                        - carm.org

Quote of the Day

“I'm still discovering, right up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing, we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God.” 
                                                                      ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Theological Term of the Day

Bible

The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by about 40 authors, in three different languages, on three different continents, over approximately 1600 years.  The Bible claims to be inspired and inerrant.  This means that the Bible claims to be from God and that it is without error in everything it addresses.

The Bible describes the origin of man in the Garden of Eden along with his fall into sin and out of fellowship with God.  It then describes how God called out a special people to Himself, the Israelites.  He promised the Israelites a future Messiah who would restore mankind's relationship with God.  The Bible is the account of the work of God in history bringing to fruition His prophetic declarations concerning Jesus.  Jesus was born of the Virgin, died on the cross, and paid for sins, just as the Bible prophesied in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New.

Quote of the Day

“Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church. We are fighting today for costly grace... Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'Ye were bought at a price', and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.” 

                                                                 ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship” 

Theological Term of the Day

Beautification

Beautification is the action of making or declaring a deceased believer "blessed" and worthy of veneration in Roman Catholicism. Since 1634 the process of beautification has been regulated by Rome and has commonly become a step toward becoming canonized as a saint.

Quote of the Day

“In a word, live together in the forgiveness of your sins, for without it no human fellowship, least of all a marriage, can survive. Don’t insist on your rights, don’t blame each other, don’t judge or condemn each other, don’t find fault with each other, but accept each other as you are, and forgive each other every day from the bottom of your hearts…” 

                                            ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters Papers from Prison

Theological term of the Day

Baptism

Baptism is an immersion or sprinkling of water that signifies one's identification with a belief or cause.  In Christianity it is the believer's identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:4-5).  It is done in the name and authority (Acts 4:7) of Christ with the baptismal formula of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).  It does not save us (1 Pet. 3:21).  However, it is our obligation, as believers, to receive it.

Theological Term of the Day

Babel

Babel is the Hebrew name for Babylon, one of the cities founded by Nimrod.  In Gen. 11:1-9, it is the location where the entire world spoke a single language and worked together to build a tower into the heavens.  It was representative of the great pride of man.  God confused their languages.  The building of the tower ceased and they dispersed.

Babel, Tower of

The tower of Babel constructed by the builders at Babel became a symbol of their defiance against God, (Gen. 11:1-6).  It was probably modeled after a ziggurat which is a mound of sun-dried bricks and was probably constructed before 4,000 BC.

Quote of the Day

“Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ.” 


                                                 ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Theological Term of the Day

Baal

Baal was a Canaanite god.  The word means "lord" or "husband."  He was a god of weather, associated with thunder, which appointed the times of the rains, and was considered to be the son of the pagan god Dagon.  The ancient Jews were often tempted to follow Baal because so much of their lives depended upon the rain that fed the crops.

Today in Church History

May 12, 1792: Father of Modern Missions William Carey publishes his highly influential (though deplorably titled) book on the importance of evangelism, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to use means for the Conversion of the Heathens in which the Religious State of the Different Nations of the World, the Success of Former Undertakings, and the practicability of Further Undertakings, are Considered.

May 12, 1861: Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic," published in the Atlantic Monthly three months earlier, is first performed at Fort Warren, Massachusetts, during a flag-raising ceremony for new Union recruits 

Today in Church History

May 10, 1310: In Paris, 54 Knights Templar are burned alive. The catholic church created the Templars to protect Holy Land pilgrims from bandits, but the knights' quick rise in power and wealth made them unpopular. Philip the Fair of France against them trumped up charges of blasphemy and homosexuality to convince Pope Clement to disband the order and persecute its members.

May 10, 1886: Karl Barth, the most important theologian of the twentieth century and opponent of theological liberalism and political fascism (especially under Hitler), is born in Basel, Switzerland. When asked in 1962 (on his one visit to America) how he would summarize the essence of the millions of words he had published, he replied, "Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so." 

Quote of the Day

Be the kind of Christian that when you get up in the morning, Satan says, "Crap, he's up again!"

Theological Term of the Day

Atonement

Atonement theologically speaks of God's acting in human history to reestablish the original relationship between God and man by dealing with sin.  To atone means to make amends, to repair a wrong done.  Biblically, it means to remove guilt of man.  The Old Testament atonements offered by the high priest were temporary and a foreshadow of the real and final atonement made by Jesus.  Jesus atoned for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2).  This atonement is received by faith (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:8-9).

Man is a sinner (Rom. 5:8) and cannot atone for himself.  Therefore, it was the love of the Father that sent Jesus (1 John 4:10) to die in our place (1 Pet. 3:18) for our sins (1 Pet. 2:24).  Because of the atonement, our fellowship with God is restored (Rom. 5:10).  (See Reconciliation.)

                                                                                                       - carm.org 

Quote of the Day

The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.


                                                                                       -  Samuel Clemens

Theological Term of the Day

Assumption

Assumption refers to a person being taken into heaven, by God, in bodily form before death.  There are two persons who are spoken of in the biblical text as having been assumed into heaven, Enoch (Gen 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11).

Assumption of Mary

The Assumption of Mary is a Roman Catholic teaching that began in the midevil time period, and was made offical church dogma by pope Pius XII in 19501in the decree Munificentissimus Deus.  It states that Mary was taken body and soul, by God, into Heaven. Catholic doctrine, apparently, does not state whether or not Mary died, but tradition holds that she died and was immediately afterward assumed into heaven both body and soul, not entering Purgatory.  Because of the lack of biblical support for this doctrine, it is generally rejected by people who are not Roman Catholic.

                                                                                                                 - carm.org 

Church?

Drive-thru Church from ourprecioussavior on GodTube.

Quote of the Day

“He is your friend who pushes you nearer to God.” 
                                                                                                                  ― Abraham Kuyper

Theological Term of the Day

Armageddon

Armageddon (lit. har 'mount' and 'megiddo') is the location of the final great battle between good and evil called the Great Day of God Almighty.  The word "armageddon" only occurs in Rev. 16:16.  It is also spelled Harmagedon. Many armies will gather there from all over possibly, China, Iran, Iraq, Russia and more.

Megiddo is located between Mt. Carmel and Mt. Gilboa and about 15 x 15 x 20 miles.  It is a large flat area.

                                              - carm.org 

Quote of the Day

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.                                                                      - Charles Swindoll

The Fates are cruel. They take great opportunities, wrap them up in impossibilities, miseries, and hard-to-do’s, and then throw it all our way and see what we do with it.

And do you know what we do? We run. And we run fast. We don’t want all that trouble and hardship; let someone else deal with all that.

And do you know what that someone else does with that? They lay it bare. They, having no option but to be strong, become strong. They stand their ground and they strip off the hard-to-do’s, the miseries, and the impossibilities, and rediscover, beneath it all, all the great opportunities. And they use these new opportunities to grow even stronger.

And do you know what we do? We come back and complain. Complain about how it’s not fair these beings got these opportunities we weren’t given. Oh, what such tragic beings we be. To know how foolish we are, and yet still be.