Short answer: Communistic living is not a model for churches. The early church practiced generous sharing not communal living. Explanation: Acts 2:42-46 (NIV) reads, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…All the believers [...]
First, we must obey God’s will in all matters. Acts 5:28,29, 33 (NIV),“‘We (the Sanhedrin and the high priest) gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make [...]
“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on [...]
Jesus said, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” Luke 18:1. The Apostle Paul taught us to “pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6 (NLT). The Bible never gives us a [...]
To become Christ-like is the ardent prayer of every consecrated Christian. But how can this become a reality? Jesus prayed for His disciples that they would be “sanctified by the truth” - God’s holy word (John 17:17). Therefore, our answer is in the Bible. Jesus [...]
In both the Old and New Testaments, there are many examples of God-honoring people who refused to submit to men. Consider the account of the three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach and Abegnego in Daniel 3. They refused to bow down and worship the golden image [...]
Friends agree with each other. Amos 3:3 (NLT) reads, “Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” Friendship depends on shared values, behaviors, and goals. So, which values and behaviors does the Bible point to as indicating friendship with the world?1 John [...]
Alcoholism is not a curse, but it is an enslaving addiction. Family, work, health all become unimportant compared to the desire for the next drink. Today, science has proved that the predisposition to become addicted is part of a person’s genes. Children and grandchildren [...]
Embrace the beautiful promise, “The Lord has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,” 2 Timothy 1:7. A sound mind is a balanced and healthy mind. The closer we walk with God, the more [...]
This is such a painful experience. When a married couple cannot even talk, there are deep wounds, anger, and sorrows for both people. Sadly, there are many reasons marriages fall apart: adultery, drinking, gambling, domestic violence, bitterness, the occult, etc. Sin is a part [...]
It is always appropriate to sing to and praise God. 1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always.” Ephesians 5:19,20, “speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God [...]
Romans 5:9 says, “…being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” This means that believers are under the blood of Christ and no longer under Adamic condemnation. Although the blood of Christ covers the sins inherited from father Adam, [...]
Tithing or giving 10 percent (or some other amount) is nowhere commanded in the New Testament. Tithing was part of the Law Covenant God made with Israel. The tithe was to support the tribe of Levites, who were not given an inheritance in the land. They were to be fully [...]
God’s command to give tithes (ten percent) started with the Israelites in Leviticus 27:30-34, Numbers 18:26-29, Deuteronomy 12:17. Deuteronomy 14:22 seems to say that you are to tithe of all of the produce. This was all part of the law given to the Israelites. The [...]
God established the office of elder in order to help Moses govern Israel while the nation was traveling in the wilderness: “The LORD therefore said to Moses, ‘Gather for me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders [...]
“There is a sin which is not unto death, [and] there is a sin unto death; I do not say you should pray for it.” (1 John 5:16) That sin is described as a sin against the holy Spirit of God. It is not [...]
Moses’ first wife was a Black woman. When Miriam and Aaron spoke poorly of the marriage, God became very angry with them. Numbers 12:1-15, “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian [...]
Summary: Jesus said obedient Christians will “receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life,” Luke 18:30. But “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James [...]
"Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord." Isaiah 52:11. The divine method seems to be to make a clear separation between the servants of God and the servants of the world. The privilege of testifying for God or being ambassadors for [...]
The mistake many make from this verse is in thinking that we should pursue earthly goods so that we can pass it on to our children… What we should be pursuing is wisdom, and how to pass that wisdom on to our children. Proverbs [...]
