Failure
“…God calls us in unanticipated ways to cooperate with His gracious purposes for bringing salvation to the world… God uses our cooperation to accomplish His gracious purposes in the world. That was certainly the case in the Old Testament: Abraham, Moses, David, and countless others responded to God’s initiative, and He worked through them, despite their many failings. And through the free response of a teenaged Palestinian Jewish girl came the Messiah in Whom the ancient prom
Church
“The Church is not merely a refuge from the troubles and sorrow of the world, though it can be that. Its real purpose is to equip us to go out of the church and into the world to be witnesses to the Gospel (Luke 24:48), to be a light to the world (Matthew 5:14), and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). We don’t go to church to escape the world or to withdraw from it. When Jesus prayed for us to His Father, he petitioned: I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but
False Teaching
“False teachers are always charmed by their own ideas about truth. Worse, because they willfully attract others to adopt their ideas, they become further deluded by the admiration of their followers.” (Dynamis 1/30/2018) “False teaching has an intoxicating effect that dulls the mind to God’s truth.” (Foundation Study Bible, 2 Timothy 2:26) “When false teaching goes unchallenged, it breeds more confusion and draws still more shallow and insincere people into the fold.” (John M
Sin
“...sin is committed in three stages, namely, the suggestion of it, the pleasure experienced, and the consent…Our captivity to sin begins with this interior progression from the reception of information (through the eyes, ears, or touch) to the awakening of a concrete desire.” (Pope St. Gregory the Great, Dynamis 12/16/2013) “Sin is first a simple suggestion, then a strong imagination, then delight, then assent.” (Thomas à Kempis) “When we decide to do what we know is wrong,
Heaven, Hell, and Eternity
“...there is no place where God is not, and God’s love is for all human beings, including sinners. Hell is presented as the state of self-exclusion from communion with that Universal Love.” (Father John Zeyack) “Heaven and hell are a condition of relationship with God...Heaven and hell are in the same realm, and that hell is not separation from God symbolically or physically; hell is a place chosen. For one who hates God, being in the presence of God will be eternal suffering