26 November 2017
Two-Minute Features | 03 December 2017 | 19 November 2017

Christians Don't Follow Their Own Bibles? Part 3 (TMF:790)

Friday, December 01, 2017
Peace to Live By: Christians Don't Follow Their Own Bibles? Part 3 (TMF:790) - Daniel Litton
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       You will often here unbelievers sight past sins of current Christians, and they say things like, for example, “Well, this person cannot be a Christian because he was divorced twice, in jail for 10 years, and is a felon.” But if that person in question became a Christian after doing all these things, the person is no longer counted guilty for his sins. The person making the accusation has made an assumption. He or she has assumed the man in my example must have always been a Christian, when in reality, the person wasn’t. Or, the arguer has assumed that because the person did these things in his past, he cannot or can never be a Christian. This is a common misunderstanding. Just because a person has done ‘bad’ things in his or her past, this does not mean the person cannot now become a Christian and be set free from the burden of all those things.

Christians Don't Follow Their Own Bibles? Part 2 (TMF:789)

Thursday, November 30, 2017
Peace to Live By: Christians Don't Follow Their Own Bibles? Part 2 (TMF:789) - Daniel Litton
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       None of us perfectly follows everything God has said to be true in his Word, or even perfectly follows everything he or she proclaims. I’m not trying to discourage anyone, but we will all slip up every here and there. It is the blood of Jesus that makes us right before God, not our own actions or works. Through our actions and works, we do not become acceptable to God in his sight. We have already been accepted and approved by God from the moment we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. And this brings up the fact that all Christians—those who are truly Christians, who follow Jesus as Lord in their life—have been sanctified before God. That is, they have been made righteous before God in his sight by the blood of Jesus. Therefore, they are no longer counted guilty for their sins, past, present, or even future. And this true even if the sin committed is a ‘big’ sin.

Christians Don't Follow Their Own Bibles? Part 1 (TMF:788)

Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Peace to Live By: Christians Don't Follow Their Own Bibles? Part 1 (TMF:788) - Daniel Litton
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       Contention three: All people who go to church are hypocrites. They don’t practice what their Bible tells them. It’s sad, but you hear people say this from time to time. People just don’t want to go to church, or be part of a church, because they feel that Christians are hypocrites. Romans 3:23 and 24 state: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (ESV). We, as Christians, are defined by who we are in Christ, not by our actions or performances in life. It is true that we should be trying to follow everything God has said to be true in his Word to the best of our ability, though, we should not be legalistic about it. We should have a right ‘heart’ attitude in following God. None of us perfectly follows everything God has said to be true in his Word, or even perfectly follows everything he or she proclaims. I’m not trying to discourage anyone, but we will all slip up every here and there.

Wrong for a Christian or Church to be Rich? Part 3 (TMF:787)

Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Peace to Live By: Wrong for a Christian or Church to be Rich? Part 3 (TMF:787) - Daniel Litton
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       Unbelievers will often site the story of the rich young man in Matthew chapter 19, or Mark chapter 10. Let’s look at Matthew’s account of it: “Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Matthew 19:21, 22, ESV). If you read the verses prior to those I just read, you will see that the ‘moral’ problem in the rich young man’s heart was the fact that he loved money too much—not the fact that he had a lot of money. It’s not wrong to have a lot of money, contrary to popular belief, but if one loves that money too much—has too tight a grip on it—it is wrong for that person. And likewise, it is not wrong for a church to have a lot of money, provided they use it for the right reasons.

Wrong for a Christian or Church to be Rich? Part 2 (TMF:786)

Monday, November 27, 2017
Peace to Live By: Wrong for a Christian or Church to be Rich? Part 2 (TMF:786) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       The idea here in Paul’s words to Timothy is that a Christian should not “desire” or have the “craving” to become rich. One should try to be content with the amount of money that God has given him or her. Jesus said on one occasion, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required” (Luke 12:48a, ESV). It is true that God may give a Christian great wealth, but with that wealth comes great responsibility. Life is not easier when a person has a great amount of wealth. It’s also true that God has blessed certain churches with a great amount of wealth, and these churches should use that money wisely to help their church members become more like Jesus and to advance the Gospel, whether locally or off in great distances. But just because a church is wealthy, or a lot of wealthy members go there, does not mean that the church is not following the model of Jesus.