Blog – Page 177 – Grace Evangelical Society

Justification and Identity Politics

January 8, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Justification

Although we’re told that belief in God is on the wane in Western society, I think one of the oldest forms of religion is on the rise, i.e., State worship. The ancients worshipped the Pharaohs, Caesars, chieftains, and emperors as divine. Isn’t that how most young people see the State? Instead of looking to God

The Judgment Seat of Christ and Early Childhood Trauma

January 7, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, Faithfulness, Hebrews 13:7, Luke 12:48, The Judgment Seat of Christ

I wrote a blog on 1 Cor 4:1-5 and praise at the Bema for the faithful (see here). I was moved by this question in response to my blog: Bob, I have a question related to faithfulness. I have quite a bit of resentment toward God due to my childhood environment and the actions of

Gracious Listening

January 4, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Grace, Paul Zahl

Are you a good listener? Are you a loving listener or a selfish one? When you’re having a conversation, does your flesh show through? I was convicted by this passage from Paul Zahl: A prime example of original sin is the way people listen, or rather do not listen, to each other. When you are

Help From Unexpected Sources (Mark 6:3)

January 3, 2019 by Ken Yates in Blog - family, Jesus, Nazareth

Have you ever been helped in your spiritual walk from an unexpected source? Maybe the person who explained the gospel of eternal life to you was an “ordinary” person. Maybe someone like that has helped you understand a certain passage in the Bible, and maybe that has happened on more than one occasion. Probably most

Why I Believe the Sign Gifts Are Not Operative Today

January 2, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 Corinthians 13:8-10, 2 Timothy 4:20, Cessationism, Glossolalia, Sign gifts

The great questions keep on coming. Check out this question: Hello, my friend Bob. I just read this blog, and I was wondering about the last part where you say that you don’t believe the prophetic gift is in operation today. So does that go for speaking in tongues too? I would like to know

The Rose Bowl Queens of Ephesus?

January 1, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Ephesians

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 1:1-2). Ephesus was a city of idolatry and filth. Or was it? Our 2019 National

In the Midst of Trials

December 31, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, Cancer, Grief, Suffering, Surgery

My wife of 42 years, Sharon Dallas Wilkin, went in on Dec 19 to have a large ovarian cyst removed. All the tests indicated that it was benign. Here is a short catalog of some of the trials since then. We had to wait four extra hours (6 total) before the surgery started. The three-hour

Waiting for the Christmas Star — Rev 22:16-17

December 27, 2018 by Ken Yates in Blog - Christmas, David, Kingdom, star

We just celebrated Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ. When we remember His birth, part of the story involves a star that the wise men from the east saw (Matt 2:2). They followed it to Judea and came to Jerusalem to meet the King. We don’t know how they knew that that star would

Did Paul Contradict Himself? — 1 Corinthians 11:5 and 14:34

December 26, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 Corinthians 11:5, 1 Corinthians 14:34, Headcoverings, Role of women in the church

Some authors point out that Paul’s prohibition against women speaking in church (1 Cor 14:34) must not mean exactly that, because earlier in 1 Corinthians (11:5) Paul had said that when women pray or prophesy, they should have their heads covered. Obviously, women can’t be silent if they are praying or prophesying. Ben Witherington wrote

The Beauty of Peace (Mark 5:34)

December 25, 2018 by Ken Yates in Blog - Faith, peace, wrath

In our church, we are going thru the Gospel of Mark. In Mark 5 there is the wonderful account of a woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years. According to Lev 15, this meant that this woman had spent those 12 years in an experience of walking death. Everyone she touched became