Worthy of Trust? Childhood memories of the days before credit and debit, bring to mind the sign on the cash register that said, “In God we trust, all others pay cash.” Due to the fickle nature of the human heart that Jeremiah describes as deceitful and wicked, we can often find ourselves wondering about the issue of trust. Who is worthy of our trust, and why? Many of those who are trying to escape addictions and change their lives wrestle with the bad choices they had made previously. Often these choices were the result of misplaced trust that ended in incarceration or mental health issues.
September 5th, 2021
Feast of Trumpets the Day of Reckoning
Comments Off on Feast of Trumpets the Day of Reckoning, Videos, by CGP.Isaiah’s Prophetic Message In poetic language and metaphor Isaiah expressed the message of the Feast of Trumpets the Day of Reckoning. It is a sobering warning to everyone for all time, but most importantly to the leaders who dictate political, social, economic, and military policy. No matter who you are or where you are, God is promising to cut down the proud and the arrogant. He will destroy the great economic system – their magnificent ship of state – along with the builders. Much later the apostle John wrote a similar vision in the book of Revelation. John revisited this theme of the Feast of Trumpets the Day of Reckoning when he scribed the message, “The great Babylon is fallen, fallen…” He recorded God’s judgment against the elite rulers of the world who had built a life of luxury on the backs of those they had enslaved. They would fall in a day and be brought to ruin in a single hour. And the merchants of the world who had profited from this tyrannical but profitable system would mourn its destruction. But why would God judge them so harshly?
August 7th, 2021
Tenth Commandment — Overcome Covetousness
Comments Off on Tenth Commandment — Overcome Covetousness, Videos, by CGP.Defining Covetousness The tenth commandment — avoiding covetousness — is perhaps the most challenging of God’s divine directives. God is very concerned about what we think, as thought often leads to action. Covetous thoughts, those keen, overwhelming, selfish desires must be overcome. The scripture contrasts the passionate fleshly lusts and urges against the passionate godly desires. But how can we know whether our passions are good or bad? It is only through a thorough understanding of God’s law that we can understand is will. Those caught up in covetousness are those guilty of ‘anomia,’ lawlessness.
Christianity without Christ? Is America being subverted by a fake Christianity – a Christianity without Christ and his teaching? A recent Barna study concluded that being Christian in America in 2021 has very little connection to the message of scripture. Modern Christians are not ‘sola scriptura’ Christians as were the Celtic Christians of the 400’s AD or the European Reformers of the 1500’s. In fact you might think that these Christians consider Eve’s choice of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as the wiser choice…if they even know the biblical story. We might wonder if the decline in America is a consequence of an erosion of basic values and the watered-down Christianity that is the most popular religious worldview.
July 12th, 2021
Your Roots Your Destiny — Solving the Mystery of the Lost Ten Tribes
Comments Off on Your Roots Your Destiny — Solving the Mystery of the Lost Ten Tribes, Authors, Books, Jeff Patton, by CGP.Introduction: Solving the Mystery of the Ten Lost Tribes The ultimate promise that God made to Abraham and his descendants was that they would inherit the world and eternal life. This promise was accepted by Abraham in an attitude of complete and total trust that our cynical age finds extremely hard to even begin to understanding, much less emulate. Read the introduction: YRYD — Introduction Solving the Mystery of the Lost Ten Tribes Chapter 1: Beginnings The story of Israel is the story of a single family that was chosen for divine service by the One who asserts that He created all humanity from one blood (cf. Acts 17:26). The Israelites were a people born by a series of divine miracles, as well as, circumstances common to the human condition. They were a “chosen” people, but in no way could they ever have been considered a “pet” people either in antiquity or now. After all, God is not a respecter of persons. Read Chapter 1: YRYD Chapter 1 — Beginnings
June 26th, 2021
The Prophets — Amos Delivers God’s Message
Comments Off on The Prophets — Amos Delivers God’s Message, Videos, by CGP.Amos Speaks Truth to Power Amos, the prophet, understood that the Lord God loved his people, even though they had rebelled time after time. So God had commissioned Amos, a farmer, to take a message to the leaders of the Northern Ten Tribes of Israel in Samaria. The Lord was giving them both a warning, and a message of hope. Amos knew that the Lord had chosen Israel to bring the light of truth and hope to the world. But they could not do that task unless they were willing to walk in agreement with God. So Amos, was tasked with speaking God’s truth to the powerful leaders of the day, who had forgotten God.
June 23rd, 2021
Eighth Commandment — Combatting Theft and Deception
Comments Off on Eighth Commandment — Combatting Theft and Deception, Videos, by CGP.The Way of Deception The Eighth commandment, Lo T’ganav literally means, “NO you steal!” This is God’s instruction for combatting theft and deception. It is sometimes easy to ignore our complicity in this problem. We can perhaps quickly say that we are not pirates, burglars, robbers, or thieves. But then, perhaps we are not truly grasping the full implications of this command. This teaching underscores a deep systemic problem in society that has been a part of humanity for millennia. Paul characterized it as the ‘carnal’ attitude, that was opposed to God’s will and would ultimately end in death. The way of thieves was one of deception, as their intent was to gain through stealth what was not rightfully theirs. So do we follow this way or support it by our actions or attitudes?