In John 15 Jesus uses the relationship of branches to the vine to illustrate our relationship to Him, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it
Continue readingGrowing up as a fervent Jewish nationalist and Pharisee, Paul’s early life was marked by an extraordinary religious zeal. Already as a child, Paul was sent to Palestine to learn from the famous rabbi Gamaliel. He learned to master Jewish history and how to dissect Scripture. Later in his life,
Continue readingCultural opposition, insult and disrespect against the Christian God and His people are nothing new under the sun. It is depicted in the New Testament and it has prevailed until today. During the Reason Rally, Oxford professor Richard Dawkins encouraged atheists to mock and ridicule the religious in public, actor
Continue readingWe live in a dominantly man-centered world today. Electronic devices and social media indicate it like never before that man has become the center of everything: I-Pod, I-Phone, and YouTube are only a few to mention… and hand in hand with that goes the rise of materialism. By that we
Continue readingLast week we studied the different ways in which God uses our suffering for our good. We have learned that our universe is dominated by natural and moral evil and that suffering is a common experience for the unbeliever as well as the believer. Furthermore, we have heard how Christ
Continue readingWhereas the sceptics say suffering is the greatest thread to the Christian faith, some of the Christians think God only wants us to experience the abundance of life. And by that they understand health, wealth, prestige and emotional highs – “we have the favor of God”, they say, and if
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