Orthodox belief and practice in Christianity claims that man’s ultimate purpose is the glory of God. Being orthodox in belief and practice, I wholeheartedly agree. Something that has always been a struggle intellectually for me, however, is answering the critics who paint a picture of God as a selfish megalomaniac who is so insecure that he “recruits” believers to go…
Christian Joe Posts
I am becoming more and more convinced that two qualities of life that are absolutely necessary to preaching the gospel are humility and love. Of course these two qualities are necessary whether one is preaching the gospel publicly in a formal setting or preaching the gospel “across the fence.” However, my thoughts are more inclined toward the public proclamation of…
I was reading the introduction to a book written recently concerning marriage and the family. The author began with something that you will find in most Christian literature written today. He began with the premise that we are living in a post-modern era and therefore living in a culture that believes truth is relative. I used to believe this, but…
I recently saw this commercial Audi Green Police (okay so it has been out for a while, but I guess I don’t watch enough TV and when I do, I am notorious for channel surfing during the commercials); and I get that it is just a commercial and supposed to be funny, but since when did totalitarianism become a hip…
It was a blessing to be able to speak at a youth conference in Grand Junction, CO, this past Friday. There is nothing I enjoy more than preaching God’s Word to young ready hearts. I often think that I could have been a youth pastor for the rest of my life and been totally satisfied ministering to young people. While…
If, as a Christian, I believe that God is supreme over nations and governments. . . and if, as a Christian, I live in a nation that allows me freedom to express my belief in God. . . Then I have a duty to be a patriot by proclaiming the sovereignty of God in America. If I am to be…
The Lord has used some people recently in my life to teach me about priorities. I am not talking about priorities when it comes to human beings, but rather priorities as a minister of the Word of God, a preacher, if you will. These are not new things, just things that I need to put in remembrance. 1. My personal…
I have been studying the use of the words “anger, wrath, hatred, fury, indignation” in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Although, there are several words used in the original languages (Greek) that correspond to these translations, there are three common Greek words and their derivatives. Orge-noun and orgidzo-verb which are translated wrath, anger, indignation, fury-but most commonly “wrath”; miseo/misos which is translated as hate, hatred, etc.; and thumos which is translated passion, wrath, or anger (I only referenced the passages referring to “passion that stirs up anger”, not sensual passion).
Although these words are used at times interchangeably, they are not completely synonymous. I won’t go into the details of the comprehensive word searching and studying of each passage, but I did want to draw a few applications from my study.
Thirty one of the ninety-three instances (or thereabouts) refer specifically and uniquely to God’s wrath and anger in judgment. Most if not all of those references refer to ultimate or final judgment upon unbelief. Fifty-one instances reference mankind and anger, wrath, or hatred. I broke down these instances categorizing them as Command/Principle and Example/Illustration.
I am going off-grid for a while as we move into our new house. I will be back in a few days with a few thoughts that have been rolling around in my little brain.
Yesterday, as I was studying the book of Romans for the series we just started at church, I was overcome with the wealth of counselors I have available. I was sitting at my office, reading chapter 1 of Romans pondering some truth penned by the Apostle. Knowing how good it is for believers to be able to discuss Spiritual things…