Speaking of the name of Jesus, years ago when I was a small boy, I used to suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, unable to speak, move or do anything for that matter. Doctors call it, sleep paralysis, a transitional state between wakefulness and sleep, characterized by a temporary inability to move muscles. According to them sometimes it can be accompanied by hallucinations also. I never had hallucinations but still, the experience was scary enough.
The believers in the early church belonged to three social groups. Slaves, former slaves, and people who were born free. Slaves in the Roman Empire were always not slaves. They were forced into slavery by the circumstances of life. By the time the New Testament Church was formed however the slave community of Rome consisted mostly of people that were born into slavery.
Like any human being, slaves also desired to be free. Therefore at times, they ran away from their masters, in search of everlasting freedom. According to Roman Law, however, a runaway slave was still a slave. Running away did not set him free. Not legally. In fact, he had to keep on running to avoid capture by his master and it was only a matter of time until he was captured. Under Roman law, a slave had to meet one out of three conditions in order to receive his freedom.
A young man announces to his wife and four children, “I’m leaving.” Then goes outside, sits down by a tree, puts the barrel to his temple, and pulls the trigger. Why? Because he was driven by worry. Worry over his unemployment, his crumbling marriage, and the apparent hopelessness of his situation. [A sermon by Dr. Arnold Lastinger. Used with permission]
According to psychology, rational fear and irrational fear are the most basic forms of fear. We know, however, fear is always counterproductive, whether rational or irrational. For example, the author of 1 Samuel describes Goliath and his weapons in great detail not only to highlight God’s power over the enemies of his people but also to imply Saul’s men feared him for a valid reason. However, it was counterproductive, and God raised David to deal with Goliath.
Most of the modern games we see today are essentially feeding programs, for occult, witchcraft, and violence. There is hardly a game in which the players do not indulge in murder, arson, torture, rape, sorcery, witchcraft, or highway robbery. I felt compelled to write this article to create a state of awareness in the Church after realizing the degree of risk caused by these supposedly harmless software programs.
Divine healing is one of the four cardinal doctrines of the Assemblies of God. It means that we believe divine healing of the sick is a privilege for Christians Today and is provided for in Christ’s atonement (His sacrificial death on the cross for our sins).
This crucial doctrine is subject to many false teachings today. In my sermon tonight I want to refute the three most common false teachings about this important doctrine. These are: (A) Sin prevents us from being healed (B) Divine healing was limited to the NT era. (C) Christ alone could heal the sick.
Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén © 2024 The Virtual Preacher. All Rights Reserved.