Ability (part 2)

Wikipedia: taste the fruit of knowledge! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We did receive the ability to live and to use our brains. The ability of the brain to research, investigate and then to form conclusions gives us the ability to form ideas and to take action or react to those findings we got.

The ability to use our brains and to make up our mind allows us to gain and/or retrieve knowledge which never shall be complete in our lifetime. At a certain moment in life we shall be able to do certain things at an other moment we shall not be able to do those things which we previously could or later will be able to do anew or again. Even our ability to speak what God has revealed is incomplete.

We should know that it is always a gift from God when we have the ability to use our full senses and that it is God Who gives some people wealth and possessions, the power to enjoy them, the ability to accept their lot in life, and the ability to rejoice in their own hard work.

“Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:19 WEBSTR)

We must know that every person in this universe has to learn things and grow up in a world surrounding him or her, giving many impulses and many temptations. We also received the ability to resist such temptations. Though there isn’t any temptation that we have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who faithfully keeps His promises, will not allow us to be tempted beyond our power to resist. But when we are tempted, the Most High shall be on the look out, to see what we do with such temptation and how we use our own free will to react on it. If we want it is also that Most High God Who will also give us the ability to endure the temptation as our way of escape.

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 WEBSTR)

We must accept that it is the Spirit, the set-apart Power of God, Who gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom and Who gives another person the ability to speak with knowledge.  We only can hope that this Gentle Spirit also gives courageous faith to us. Because it is an ability to have faith which is only possible when we are willing to allow the Force of God to enter our hearts and to enlighten us. Our knowledge is incomplete and our ability to speak what God has revealed is incomplete.

“For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another, faith by the same Spirit; to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;”(1 Corinthians 12:8–9 WEBSTR)

“For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.”(1 Corinthians 13:9 WEBSTR)

We have the ability to listen to people and as such can hear preachers tell a lot of the Word of God. The preacher's power lies very much in the ability of unfolding to the understanding and applying to the conscience the general principles involved in the passage of Scripture which he undertakes to expound. But we may not pin ourselves to it that those preachers would know everything and would always be right in their interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. Each of us received the ability to investigate himself. That gift of ability to search and investigate we should use.

By using our own ability to read and study the Holy Scriptures we shall have the ability to grow in our knowledge of those sacred writings. Our study of the Bible shall give us more insight which at its turn shall give us the ability for a growing faith, and with it we shall receive the ability to speak and to share our knowledge, our dedication, and our love for god and His creation.

“Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.” (2 Corinthians 8:7 WEBSTR)

The ability to be able to think, investigate, making conclusions, can make us to prevail or to overcome. Our ability to work at ourselves makes it possible to build up our character and to make ourselves strong. our knowledge of Scriptures shall give us the ability to understand how God has a Plan and how He follows humankind. It also shall give us insight how God will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbour. Him not tolerating anyone with a conceited look or arrogant heart.
We should be convinced that Jehovah God His eyes will be watching the faithful people in the land   so that they may find life by Him willing to serve Him.

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Preceding: Ability 

Next:

Ability (part 3) Thoughts around Ability

Ability (part 4) Thought about the ability to have ability

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Preachers should know and continue the task Jesus has given his followers

Carving on the marble pulpit of St Stephen's Church in Bournemouth. Hampshire. The work of Nathaniel Hitch. The carvings represent three scenes from the New Testament. In the central panel Jesus is seen preaching the sermon on the mount. On each side we have St Peter preaching on the first Whitsunday(Pentecost) and St Paul preaching in Athens. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Primarily through the preached Word of God people can hear about God and His works. By all this preaching work all over the world Christ is present with his people.

Preachers, be it layman, priests, pastors may be attacked, but they should know and continue the task Jesus has given his followers.

The Word of God must occupy a central place in the life of every Christian. Luther very well knew this and therefore placed the utmost emphasis on the necessity of the preaching of the gospel for the Christian life.
Without the preaching of the Word of God, the Christian’s spiritual life will be sapped. He or she will become spiritually malnourished and waste away. It can be said without exaggeration that to be removed from the preaching of the Gospel is to be removed from Christ’s presence.

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You may find to read:
Luther on the Christian Life (1)
Luther on the Christian Life (2)
Luther on the Christian Life (3)

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Record breaking preaching in Mount Dora

Zehnder's sermon began at 7am on Friday, November 7 and continued until 7.32 am on Sunday, November 9. He was only allowed a five-minute break every hour.

All records are good to be broken people think.

There existed already a preaching record of 48 hours and 31 minutes by Vickrant Mahajan in Kashmir, India, and Pastor Zack Zehnder from The Cross church in Mount Dora whose father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all ministers in the Lutheran Church wanted to undertake the challenge to raise funds for an addiction recovery ministry run by the Hand in Hand charity.

He broke his address into 50 different parts and preached through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, using notes and a pre-prepared PowerPoint presentation. A back-up team of nurses ensured that he was fit to continue and was receiving proper nutrition, though he was forced to preach with his mouth full as he was only allowed to stop speaking for 30 seconds at a time.
At the end of his sermon, clearly exhaused, he said:

 "The one thing I've seen is God's ridiculous pursuit of you and me. Even when we fail, even when we sin, and we all have, he never gives up on us."

 He concluded with a quote from the last sermon preached by his grandfather.

The Powerhouse Addiction Recovery Program will help people with addictions including alcohol, drug and sex among others. The target of $100,000 was surpassed on Monday with a $10,000 cheque that took the total to more than $102,000.

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Many forgot how Christ should be our anchor and our focus

When we look at the trends in the spiritual life of people we notice a growing trend among elders, preachers, and members of the church of Christ which is to turn Christianity and worship into things that are casual in nature.

People are given the freedom to look at their faith like they want to have it. they also may come to worship God whenever they like “as they are” and “dressed as they are.” Some preachers do not find it necessary to prepare their sermon because it has to be casual and straight from the heart. In some churches people have become totally against prepared or printed prayers , saying they would not come from the heart. Everything in service should be improvised and or casual.

73% of born again Christians may say that it is important to share their faith with others, but when we walk around is our environment we do not hear many talking about the Word of God or about the hope we can have in the Gospel. The Good News is not heard much, though many may know it is something we should share with others.

Only half (52%) of born again Christians say they actually did share the Gospel at least once this past year to someone with different beliefs, in the hope that they might accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

This sharing of the Good News demands also knowing it and acting accordingly it. But we can notice not many youngsters today really can or want to find time to read the Bible. They think it is not so necessary and for the few times they can make it to church they will hear enough of the Scriptures (they think), but in many churches there is less and less being read from the Scriptures and often just being shouted a few verses, but that's it.

Some preachers do find it more important to get others to know those dogmatic teachings and want to get as many as possible their own church rules, often by breaking off other churches and trying to get the followers of the other church to their church, claiming they are the better church. the set of beliefs — a collection of ideas seems all to what it turns about, instead of preaching the love of Christ.

For most people it is easiest to blindly keep accepting what the preachers tells them on the pulpit. those who dare to question certain things are looked at, because they could be a danger for their own believes or making them to doubt about certain matters, which they now can accept, because the follow the preacher and count him responsible in case it would not be true.

They are not interested in to look at the meaning of one verse with looking at the context in which it was written or to compare it with other verses in other chapters of the Holy Scriptures. Why should they bother who wrote it in which circumstances, what led into it, what did it lead into, etc. 

Today it may look surprising to find it interesting that the age group that is least likely to be regular church goers are most likely to verbally evangelize. In ordinary life, at work, we can find some people (a few) who simply share what they have seen and heard and know to be true and place it in Biblical perspective. Luckily we can find people committed to a Christ-centered, faith-based relationship with God through Jesus Christ, who are not actively connected with and participating in a church. They define themselves as Christians, but they are not active in pursuing spiritual formation in the context of a congregational expression. Some might consider them as beings who could be called "Christian “nones”" in that they have no formal affiliation at this time.

Most Evangelicals, especially leaders feel it important to affirm their doctrine and call out many verses (even when it may be out of context) to affirm their doctrinal believes and to frighten their members so they  would be afraid to leave any idea of their community. 

Jesus is the true example of right understanding of the Word of his Father, the Only One True God. He is the mediator between God and man, who showed us the way to a holy living, and unconditional mercy and love for the lost. It's a message that many Christians dismiss today – just as it was 2000 years ago.

Some may think what the world needs is the revelation of the Grace of God through the complete work of the cross. They might say listening to the likes of Joseph Prince, Creflo Dollar & Rob Rufus , getting this fresh revelation and drinking of the new wine of Holy Spirit is what keeps us fresh in our faith. God never promised us a bed of roses and the road is long and tough at times, but if Christ is our anchor and our focus, how can we neglect so great a salvation?

Lots of people become more concerned how big a church is, how people are dressed, how pleasant the services are, which 'good music" is played, how entertaining the worship can be, etc..

Exterior elements seem to have become more important than the state of the heart, the inner feelings.

In 2001 Barna warned already  most self-professed Christians are only dabblers in the Faith lacking any desire for holiness; begging the question of how serious these people are about their faith, and how real their relationship with Christ is. {George Barna, Growing True Disciples (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2001), 17.}

Those who call themselves Christian, should give much more attention to the person they are claiming to follow. They should listen more to the words of the one they would call their master. Christ Jesus should be their guide, more than any particular preacher or church. Jesus should be the one they should follow.

Christianity is not a set of doctrines in the sense that a mechanic operates with a set of tools. Instead, Christianity is a comprehensive worldview and way of life that grows out of Christian reflection on the Bible and the unfolding plan of God revealed in the unity of the Scriptures. 
As such we also should need to develop more concern for our attitude, attendance, and attire. In a time when many want to practice casual Christianity, we need to practice true Christianity. We need to practice serious Christianity, devoted Christianity, and respectful Christianity.

The Bible tells us about the foggy times when religions will get against religions. The time of its prophesies has come

Men and Women of God must rise up, the Watchmen must cry out; for if the Spirit of the Living God is not poured out on us then all will be lost.

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Parish, local church community - Parochie, plaatselijke kerkgemeenschap

Parochie: Parish

ME Parroche paroisse fr L parochia fr LGk paroika fr paroikos Christian (fr Gk stranger, fr par para + oikos house) fr the early Christians looking upon themselves as strangers on earth, their real home being the Kingdom of God.

The ecclesiastical unit of area committed to one pastor; the local church community; a portion of diocese committed to the pastoral care of the clergyman. A district having its own church and minister or priest.




For the first Christians the parish was the house where the 'foreigners' came together.  They looked at themselves as foreigners who stayed here on this earth as temporary residences, or getting this earth in loan, until they could enter the Kingdom of God.

In the Roman catholic Catholic Church the parish became the ecclesiastic order that constitutes part of a diocese, about which a priest has been appointed.
By some protestant groups, it is the ecclesiastic municipality or the church community or congregation.  Also the association is named in the Netherlands once in a while  briefly 'the Soos'. 

By several Biblestudents one speaks more of the church community or ecclesia, by which the inhabitants of a larger territory are meant, that belong to a particular group, or follow their service  in a particular house or church or temple, considered being part of that ecclesia.

In general we can say that it is the independent ecclesiastic municipality of a denomination, under a priest, pastor or minister, which mostly forms a part of a large town or a city- municipality with a separate preacher. 

The parish transforms then the ecclesiastic territory, by the R. Catholic Church as a division of a diocese, about which a priest or legal person is appointed, there, on the order of the bishop, to take care of the soul-service.  This priest becomes named priest, pastor or minister .  The priest and its co-helpers (curates in the Catholic Church) (Elders in protestant communities) form together the parish-ministers, parish clergy or parish-elders. The Roman Catholics, that in a particular Parish have their domicile or seemingly domicilie, are the parishioners; they must turn to for their clergyman matters to the priest of the Parish. 

To set up a Parish for the Roman Catholics , change or to cancel it can only be done by the local ordinarius (the bishop of the diocees).  In the Mission, this church resort seemingly-Parish (quasi-Parish) is than  a part of an Apostolic vicariate or prefecture (Apostolic vicaris and Apostolic prefect).



The parish Church is then that church, that has been built for a particular parish in which the religious service shall be held, and the parishioners be administered the sacraments  (baptism, marriage, etc.) and their funerals are held.

Voor de eerste Christenen was de parochie het huis van de vreemdelingen waar samen gekomen werd. Zij aanzagen zichzelf als vreemdelingen die hier voorlopig verblijven, of de aarde in leen krijgen, tot zij het Koninkrijk van God kunnen binnen gaan.

In de Rooms Katholieke Kerk werd de parochie het kerkelijk gebied dat deel  uitmaakt van een bisdom, waarover een pastoor is aangesteld.
Bij sommige protestantse groepen is het de kerkelijke gemeente of geeft het de kerkgemeenschap of congregatie weer. Ook wordt het wel eens de sociëteit genoemd of in Nederland kortweg 'de Soos'.

Bij verscheiden Bijbelstudenten spreekt men eerder van de kerkgemeenschap of ecclesia, waarbij de bewoners van een groter gebied die bij een bepaalde groep behoren of hun dienst volgen in een bepaald huis of kerkgebouw of tempel, dan als behorende tot die ecclesia worden beschouwd.

Algemeen zou men kunnen zeggen dat het de zelfstandige kerkelijke gemeente is van een denominatie, onder een pastoor, pastor of dominee, welk meestal slechts een deel van een grote dorps of stadsgemeente met een aparte predikant vormt.

De parochie vormt dan het kerkelijk gebied, bij de R.Katholieke Kerk deel van een bisdom, waarover een priester of juridische persoon is aangesteld, om er, in opdracht van de bisschop, de zielzorg uit te oefenen. Deze priester wordt pastoor, pastor of dominee genoemd. De pastoor en zijn medehelpers (kapelaans in de Katholieke Kerk) (Ouderlingen in protestantse gemeenschappen) vormen tezamen de parochie-geestelijken of parochie-oversten. De katholieken, die in een bepaalde Parochie hun domicilie of quasi domicilie hebben, zijn de parochianen; zij moeten zich voor hun geestelijke aangelegenheden tot de pastoor van de Parochie wenden.

Een Parochie voor de Katholieken oprichten, veranderen of opheffen kan slechts de plaatselijke ordinarius (de bisschop van het diocees).
In de Missie heet dit kerkressort quasi-Parochie, een onderdeel van een Apostolisch vicariaat of prefectuur (Apostolisch vicaris en Apostolisch prefect).

De Parochiekerk is dan die kerk die voor een bepaalde parochie gebouwd is,  waarin de godsdienstoefeningen worden gehouden en de parochianen de sacramenten worden toegediend (doopsel, huwelijk, etc.) en hun uitvaart wordt gehouden.

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kerkdorp, kerkgemeenschap, binnen-/buiten-parochie, filiaalkerk, dochterkerk