View Full Content Source:
Bryan Johnson has one chief purpose in life: not dying.
The 47-year-old tech entrepreneur notes that immortality is “the most fundamental of all human desires” and that most world religions focus on some version of it. But now, he believes, something like immortality is “technically, potentially possible.”
Johnson explains: “What I’ve done as a project is I’ve said: Can I slow down my speed of aging to the greatest extent of any human on the planet? And can I then eliminate all the sources of death? Can I become…
“Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!” we often sing. But what does it mean to be redeemed? Think about two New Testament words that our English versions usually translate “redeem.”
One word means “to buy out” (Gr. exagorazō, from agorazō, to buy). It was used, for instance, when someone purchased a slave in order to set him free. It is this word that Paul uses when he says, “You have been bought with a price” (6:20; 7:23). Having been redeemed from slavery to sin, we must not allow ourselves to become…
CAN THIS BE THE CHRIST?
(Jim McDonald)
The Samaritan woman, leaving her waterpot by the well, rushed to her village, urging the people, “Come, see a man who told me all things that ever I did. Can this be the Christ?” (Jn. 4:25).
The invitation of this woman, with perhaps Jesus’ supernatural revelation of the woman’s past life, coupled also with the question, “Can this be the Christ?” aroused the interest of the villagers and Jesus did not disappoint them. The Holy Spirit’s comment of these was, “And from that…
A Lonely Ember
A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services
regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, one of the elders decided to visit
him. It was a chilly evening. The elder found the man at home alone, sitting
before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for the elder’s visit, the man welcomed
him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited.
The elder made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he
contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs. After some
minutes, the elder took the fire…
GIVE A DEFENSE OF YOUR HOPE
The ability to “give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” is not inborn (1 Pet. 3:15). “Defense” is translated from apologia which is a “speech in defense” (Thayer, 65). Such a defense of one's hope is to be “a reasoned statement or argument” (Online Bible Greek Lexicon). It requires deliberate faith and diligent study to learn the word of God… |
LET'S NOT BE NARROW
One of the most dreadful things many people can imagine is that they will be accused of "narrow mindedness" in religion. That literally scares them to death; the very thought that they might be considered narrow drives them completely away from the truth. Yet it should not. Truth is narrow. There is nothing liberal or generous about truth; it all narrows down to just one fact. The proper answer to the mathematical… |
“It’s Just Singing”
Years ago the church we were a part of would occasionally devote a service to
hymn singing. One good, knowledgeable brother who was usually faithful to
attend the assemblies, would choose not to come then, because, as he put it, “It’s
just singing.” I have also heard people say, “Some people like to sing, but that’s
just not my personality.”
How would you answer this question: “Why should we sing in worship to God?”
A quick answer could be, “Because He has commanded it.” However there is
much more involved than that.
God created us with the capacity…
WEAK BUT STRONG
This paradox looks to Hebrews 11:34 where the “weak” were made “strong”. These were people of faith in God many years before New Testament times. They were able to prevail against overwhelming forces and extreme challenges because of their faith. They would appear to be weak and small in the eyes of the world. But they were examples of spiritual strength because of God's grace and mighty hand. Through the trying and testing of their faith, they became strong… |