Category: Bible reading plan

New Testament & Psalms 2019

What is religious externalism?

Ron Francis

Quite a few figs on this tree!
If you have never read it Old John Bunyan has a little book on the subject.

T H E
Barren Fig Tree;
O R,
The Doom and Downfall of the Fruitless Professor:
Showing, that the day of grace may be past with him long before
his life is ended.
The signs also by which such miserable mortals may be known.

‘Who being dead, yet speaketh.’–Hebrews 11:4
By J O H N.B U N Y A N.

L O N D O N,
Printed for J. Robinson, at the Golden Lion,
in St. Paul’s Churchyard, 1688.
Online at: https://acacia.pairsite.com/Acacia.John.Bunyan/Sermons.Allegories/Barren.Fig.Tree/To.the.Reader.html

Mike Ratliff's avatarPossessing the Treasure

by Mike Ratliff

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Matthew 23:25-28 (NASB) 

Because of our old church going Purpose Driven in 2006, my wife and I left. The journey to find a new local church fellowship was a long and difficult one. One of the churches along the way was just a…

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New Testament & Psalms 2019

Pragmatism and Mustard Seed Faith

Ron Francis

Welcome back, hope you had a good time with family.
Excellent points here about faith in it’s dimensions. Seems we need a spiritual ruler to properly gauge it….is it: “weak”; “little”; “no(ne)”; or “great”; or just “unbelief”.

You conclude: “Those who do this are in unbelief for they discount the truth, God’s Word, and operate pragmatically in all things. Which are you my brothers and sisters?”

We should all look hard at that question.

BTW the idea that they had “little faith” seems on the surface to conflict with: “ On the other hand, those who walk by faith, minister by faith have faith as a “mustard seed,” κοκκον σιναπεως, which literally says, “a kernel of mustard.” This is pretty small, but it is real. It is definite”

I guess one could think of a “little” faith that was actually “weak”, like a AA battery that is still putting out some volts but not a full 1.5v charge and therefore ineffective…

Maybe it is simpler just to read it as “unbelief” as it is in the Geneva Bible and the KJV. Since even with a kernel of “real” faith they could have moved mountains. Sounds like a lack of faith or unbelief to me. I think that was your conclusion.

BTW…not to open any can of worms, but I am not sure I would characterize the majority texts as “Some”. Seems this may be one case where they got this correct, or am I missing something?

“Some Greek manuscripts have a different word here, which is form of the word ἀπιστία, which would make the rendering, “because of your unbelief.””

Mike Ratliff's avatarPossessing the Treasure

by Mike Ratliff

1 He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you. Luke 17:1-6 (NASB) 

There are many parallels between what is…

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