There was a Time

There was a time when I knew what I wanted to be. There was a time that I thought that I had life all figured out. There was a time when I didn't think that I knew everything, but that I knew enough to survive and thrive. There was a time that I was never wrong. And boy, was I wrong.

Do Jews go to Heaven?

Let me start off by saying that it is entirely up to God if anybody goes to Heaven. This post is about an often heard thing in many Protestant circles, or at least something I heard about a lot growing up in the Southern Baptist Church and attending Christian schools with a Baptist lean. And that is that the Jews are God's chosen people still.

Christianity without Repercussions: Salvation pt. 2 - Theosis

 In my last post in this series on the subject of Salvation, I covered quite a lot about the faith/works paradigm. I wrote quite a fair bit about how faith and works go hand in hand with our salvation. Even from an Evangelical point of view, works are needed for salvation - thus destroying one of the Solas.

Assured Salvation?

 I have avoided writing in depth on soteriology since I started this blog. The reason for my hesitancy is that I feel like I do not have an adequate understanding to properly speak about such a topic. However, recent conversations have impressed upon me the desire to write at least whatever this post will become, so please bear with me.

On Faith and Works

Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Matthew 15:21-28 KJV
http://bible.com/1/mat.15.21-28.KJV

I find these verses slightly reassuring and also very relevant to our times today.

In this passage from today's daily reading we see that this Canaanite woman comes to Jesus because her daughter was being vexed by a demon. At first Jesus simply ignores her, but through her faith she keeps asking for His help. Finally, even after telling her that He was here for only the lost sheep of Israel, Jesus helps the woman and saves her daughter.

Christianity without Repercusions: Salvation Pt. 1

In my first post of this series I realized that I did not go in to much depth of each category that I touched on. This was on purpose, as I did not want an overly long blog post (despite my post on the rapture); instead I wanted to be able to go back and expand on those areas I touched upon in their own separate posts as they can be quite extensive subjects. This week I present a comprare and contrast on Salvation.

Christianity Without Repercussions

I remember when I was growing up one of the things that I always heard against the Roman Catholics is how they go and live their lives how ever they want, then they just confess their sins to a priest and start the cycle all over again. They pretty much believed that they would just get a free pass as long as they confessed to their priest every once in a while. They supposedly had no repercussions for their sins, no consequences.