Let us learn to respect our spiritual elders

As a relatively young pastor, I have had to learn and apply this teaching to my own life over and over again. I am not teaching pure theory. This comes from years of practical application. As people, our sin nature does not like authority. Because of this natural state, it is very difficult for us to honor our elders. We have to be taught and reminded over and over again. That is why “Honor your father and mother” is a command. It is a command because it goes against our nature. Showing honor and respect to elders is not natural to anyone. It is a conscious effort that we must make, moment by moment, day by day. The command to honor has no time limit. Even when you are married and have your own kids, you are still to honor your father and mother. The same is true once you receive authority yourself, you must still respect the authority of those who are older than you are.

I. Walk humbly in authority

Parasite, Body part, human embryo

For Logan P., yes, there is a difference between the 3 distinct things. Abortion ends a life.

Overcoming Fear L4

This lesson deals with fearing people. Many times, many people are afraid to dedicate themselves fully to the Lord and serving Him because they fear what people might think or say about them. I am baffled by this response but I hear it often. God knows what we are like because He created us. He also knows why we act the way that we do because of the Fall of mankind into sin. In order to help us overcome our fear of people, God moved long ago through a righteous man to write down reasons why we should not fear the people around us, why we should not be afraid of what they will think and say about us. Before we get into this lesson though, I would like to have a quick review of what we have studied so far in overcoming our fears.

A little premarital counseling

I have been asked to lead a wedding ceremony for a member of our church, Good News and today I have our first premarital counseling session. I would like to share some of the information here in this article as resource for those of you who are planning on getting married one day.

I have been married for almost 11 years and most of the stuff that I will write about has come from my own personal experiences. Before doing anything else, you must study the Bible study course “Marriage without Regrets” written by Kay Arthur. Secondly, you must buy the book that accompanies the study. These must be read and studied constantly before you get married and during your married life.

Advice on getting married

The other night, we were blessed at the youth group to have our Senior pastor, Vasile Filat, come and join us and teach us the Biblical perspective on how young people are to act while waiting to get married and what are the proper steps to take in order to get married. It was an interesting and helpful lesson so I decided to share it via an article, especially for those who do not speak Romanian. So, here are the 9 simple steps to the process of marrying according to God’s will.

Is it important to have a profession?

I went to teach my two 8th grade classes yesterday and the theme of the lesson was the importance of choosing a profession. After finishing the Bible study “What does the Bible say about sex”, I have been invited to add a Biblical perspective on the topics covered over the course of the rest of the semester during civics class. Yesterday’s topic was careers, as I have already mentioned. I would like to share some of the truths from the lesson here.

What happens to a nation that forgets God?

We live during days that are very similar days to the days of the prophet Joel, even though many centuries separate us, our cultures are very similar. At one time during the history of the USA, there was a very healthy fear of the Lord. Children used to pray at school even if they did not come from families that were faithful to God. Many children learned how to read using the Bible as their guide. Bible stories were once the bedtime stories that children heard from their parents. Somewhere along the way, people stopped seeking fellowship with God. It did not happen overnight. It happened little by little until social/secular life became separate from spiritual life and many just completely moved away from spirituality. This discretion is a mirror image of what happened in Israel during the life of the prophet Joel. Society was falling apart then as it seems to be doing now. I would like to examine the root of the problem and see what solution God offers to right was has been made wrong by us, the people.

Cohabitation and Domestic violence

We hear more and more discussions these days about stopping domestic violence. There are many, many campaigns out there that want to “educate” people on the problem of domestic violence and how to stop it. The discussion is very similar to AIDS awareness discussions. They speak of the problem and offer solutions but never address the root of the problem. If you know anything about medicine then you know that if you just treat the symptoms and never get to the root of the problem then the person will never be cured, he just becomes dependent on the meds that treat the symptoms. I have written on the subject of cohabitation and you can read it here.

Discipleship and Second Timothy (3)

I would like to continue our study on the topic of discipleship from II Timothy. I addressed the issue of suffering for the Gospel in the last article and you can read it here. As a recap of the previous article, when suffering for preaching the Gospel:

1. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel.
2. Do not be ashamed of those who do suffer for the Gospel.
3. Follow your mentor’s example of suffering for the Gospel.

Christians and Poverty (social justice)

During the previous election cycle, I spoke with many people about voting for Christian values and unfortunately, many no longer consider pro life and pro traditional marriage as “the most important” or “only issues”. When confronted with what the Bible teaches on the subject, the most frequently used argument is some form of social justice. Are Christians not supposed to take care of the poor and needy of society? Did Jesus not do that when He ministered on this earth? Does Saint James not speak about taking care of widows and orphans?