“The word … is at work in you believers” As we started reading Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians we cannot help but be arrested in mind – and feel challenged by Paul’s perception of the spirit among the believers there. Paul had “charged (them) to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you… Read More Today’ Thought “The word … is at work in you believers” (May 17)
In this world there are lots of people who call themselves Christian but do not follow the teachings of Christ Jesus nor do they worship the same God as Jesus worshipped. Jesus worshipped the Only One true God, who is an eternal Spirit. We can wonder if those name christians (or false christians) seriously believe… Read More Living as a believer in Christ
In Manifests for believers #3 Catholic versus Protestant we saw that what was meant as signal, a call to seek together how our church also today could bring over credibly the ‘good news’ of and over Jesus, has now grown out to a severe debate over how the Catholic Church can, may or must be… Read More Manifests for believers #5 Christian Union
In the previous article Manifests for believers #3 Catholic versus Protestant we pointed already at the idea of the opponents of the Manifest for believers Manifest Gelovigen nemen het woord (Religiuously or Believers take the word)who do find that a lay men can not bring a sermon and also should not be allowed to say the sacred… Read More Manifests for believers #4 Eucharist
In 2007 there appeared already a Manifest for the believers in the Low Countries. It was started by people from the Protestant church of the Netherlands (PKN = Protestantse Kerk Nederland) and at the turn of the year the Flemish Catholic priests launched a Manifest for believers Manifest “Gelovigen nemen het woord”, “Believers take the… Read More Manifests for believers #3 Catholic versus Protestant
In the previous article Manifests for believers #1 Sex abuse setting fire to the powder we saw that the role of the priest in the child and adult abuse has included cover-ups, neglect, and arrogance. In documents of the church, letters between victims and church, and in the media we could find enough proof the… Read More Manifests for believers #2 Changing celibacy requirement
In the 50s and 60s of the previous century many acolytes and young boys became confronted with not such a nice site of human nature and his urge to have physical contact. Growing older and not having been able to cope with the old trauma some got up from their quit seat and started to… Read More Manifests for believers #1 Sex abuse setting fire to the powder
You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence? An autobiography for a church sounds weird. Though, certain churches can use some history exposure. Throughout history, there have been many groups of people who tried to form a community or religious group where they wanted to worship the Divine Creator of heaven and earth. Like there… Read More How the autobiography of the Belgian Christadelphian community would look like
Mark 8 During his public life, Jesus played it clear to get whole crowds behind him. Many of them came to see his miracle works but also to hear him tell, for them he seemed like a master. Today’s lecture tells us that those listeners sometimes forgot to bring food and drink, so they looked… Read More Denying yourself and doing God’s Will while following Jesus
Outstretched arm Written By Paul Zilmer One of those terms we encounter over and over in scripture is “the arm of the Lord”. Usually it is said to be “outstretched”—active in doing something, not passive. Sometimes we find the Lord’s “right hand” referred to; often enough, in context it’s equivalent to the arm. Here’s a… Read More Today’s thought “outstretched arm of Jehovah” (February 01)
Good Written By Paul Zilmer “No one does good. Not even one!” In Romans 3:10-18 the apostle Paul quotes from a series of six Psalms, a Proverb, and Isaiah, all making this same point. There is no one who is righteous. All turn aside. Why say it so many times? Maybe so it will… Read More Today’s thought “No one does good” (January 28)
The seven letters to the seven different assemblies of believers that we read in Revelation 2 and 3 always challenge our thinking. They are representative of all the different types of congregations that have existed over time and each of us should be able to see in one or more of them, a “picture” of… Read More Today’s thought “Those whom I love I reprove and discipline” (December 22)
The three “friends” of Job have given up reasoning with him, their minds were locked into thinking that everything ‘bad’ that happens is always a form of punishment by God – but this is only sometimes. We are now reading some very interesting chapters that contain Job’s meditations about God and his way – and… Read More Today’s thought “Where shall wisdom be found?” (December 21)
It is God’s inspired scriptures that are the only source in our Godless world for “building (y)ourselves up in (y)our most holy faith”, as Jude wrote so long ago. But first let us see how our chapters today in Job are very special. Job was inspired to write of God’s creation and describe how the… Read More Today’s thought “Building yourselves up in your most holy faith” (December 20)
Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God and can not be a Child of God.… Read More Today’s thought “Those who can be a Child of God” (December 17)
History illustrates the awesome outworking of initial events from when the LORD has declared. “I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD … their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the… Read More Today’s thought “I will bring distress …” (December 15)
Did you notice that James 3 begins with a pretty serious warning, telling that teachers will incur a stricter judgment. The writer of the letter tells us that with that tiny thing in our head, our tongue, do we bless our Lord and our Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made… Read More Today’s thought “A serious warning for teachers” (December 09)
One of the most uplifting chapters in God’s word is surely Hebrews 11. It provides the evidence of what real belief in God causes us to do (or not do); the factor that should be the spiritual mainspring of our lives. The danger is, we might become too familiar with the lessons in this chapter… Read More Today’s thought “Made strong out of weakness” (December 4)
The three chapters in 2 Corinthians today total 55 verses and are quite a challenge to grasp all the points Paul is making. He is concerned about “those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart” (5:12). He tells them, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation… Read More Today’s thought (September 05): “Bringing holiness to completion”
In 2 Corinthians Paul writes of his experiences of afflictions and the comfort God gives him to cope with them. Paul’s comfort is also founded on the comfort believers give to each other. “The father of mercies”, writes Paul, “comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who… Read More Today’s thought (September 03): “That was to make us rely … on God”
Belgian Ecclesia Brussel - Leuven 