Kyle Rye (Page 9)
BEAR ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS
Throughout the New Testament, the phrase “one another” appears over ninety times and is associated with over thirty-five different verbs, which identify activities in which Christians are to be engaged as part of the body of believers. Implicit in these “one another” passages is the expectation of community. Last week, we began a series of articles intended to investigate some of these “one another” commands in an effort to identify our responsibilities to one another as brothers and sisters in…
Love One Another
One cold evening back in the 1800s, a preacher went to visit a member of his congregation who had stopped attending worship services. The man welcomed the preacher into his home and the two of them settled into chairs next to the fireplace. Wanting to convey the importance of congregational involvement, the preacher took a pair of tongs and carefully removed a burning ember from the fire, placing it on the edge of hearth by itself. Without saying a word,…
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
One cold evening back in the 1800s, a preacher went to visit a member of his congregation who had stopped attending worship services. The man welcomed the preacher into his home and the two of them settled into chairs next to the fireplace. Wanting to convey the importance of congregational involvement, the preacher took a pair of tongs and carefully removed a burning ember from the fire, placing it on the edge of hearth by itself. Without saying a word,…
CAN BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE SPIRIT BE COMMITTED TODAY?
In last week’s article, we sought to explain what constitutes “blasphemy against the Spirit” (Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-30), and concluded that it was a deliberate and continuous rejection and/or belittling of the Holy Spirit, specifically by attributing His works to Satan, despite exposure to and evidence of the truth. This week we will consider whether or not the “eternal sin,” as “blasphemy against the Spirit” is called in Mark 3:29, can still be committed today. Respected preachers, commentators, and scholars…
WHAT IS BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT?
On one occasion, Jesus cast out a demon then was accused by the Pharisees of being able to do so because He was empowered by Satan (Matthew 12:24). Jesus responded to their accusation by attributing His miraculous abilities to the “Spirit of God” (Matthew 12:28). What is interesting about this particular story is that it led to one of the most sobering statements that Jesus ever made. In Matthew 12:31, Jesus said, “every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people,…
WHAT IS THE KINGDOM?
The “kingdom of God” is an important topic in the New Testament. In fact, this specific phrase appears at least 69 times in the New Testament. Despite the prevalence of this phrase in Scripture, many people are still uncertain as to what it is referring. Therefore, this article will seek to clarify what the kingdom is by highlighting four big takeaways from Scripture on the subject. First, the Bible indicates that the “kingdom of God” is a reference to His…
DON’T BE UNPREPARED
On Wednesday, March 8, 2018 it was announced that Cape Town, South Africa may not face Day Zero this year. If you are unfamiliar with the crisis that the second largest city in South Africa has been facing, Day Zero is the designation given to an estimated day in the future when Cape Town will run out of water. The original Day Zero was April 22, 2018, but, thanks to significant conservation efforts, it appears that this day may be…
TRAINING FOR HEAVEN
Today, Friday, February 9, 2018 the 23rd modern Olympic Winter Games began in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Ninety-two nations sent their best athletes to compete for medals in events such as figure skating, alpine skiing, snowboarding, bobsledding, curling, and ice hockey. As you may already know, the modern Olympic Games began in 1896 but are based on the ancient Olympic games, which were conducted every four years from 776 B.C. to A.D. 393 in Olympia, Greece. While the Olympic Games are the basis…
OBLIVIOUS
On Monday of this week, I took my daughter and two of her friends to a local, indoor playground for a few hours. While there, a man, whose daughter started playing with my own, struck up a conversation with me. During the twenty or so minutes that we were engaged in conversation, I learned which church he attended, where his daughter goes to preschool, and where he lived. Eventually, I informed him that I was a preacher, and, so, I…
RESOLUTIONS AND RESOURCES
A common practice that coincides with the start of a new year is the making of new year’s resolutions. A New Year’s resolution is a personal declaration of what one intends to do at the start of a new year in order to alter an undesirable behavior or trait, to accomplish a personal goal, or to better some aspect of one’s life. One of the most popular resolutions every year centers around our finances. Financial resolutions may take the form…
PURSUING THE LOST BROTHER
In Luke 15 Jesus provided a trilogy of parables known as the “lost” parables. These parables are similar to one another because they each depict something valuable (i.e. sheep, coin, son) being separated from its guardian (i.e. shepherd, woman, father) before eventually being reunited, after which a celebration ensued because what was “lost” had been returned to the one who lost it (Luke 15:6, 9, 22-24). There is one distinct difference between the first two parables and the last one.…
WELCOME TO “THE KINGDOM”
On July 4, 1776 the thirteen American colonies formally announced their independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain when the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. That was the last day that the United States of America was under the rule of a king. As a result, the concept of a “kingdom” is lost on our society because most of us do not know what is like to serve a king or live under a monarchial reign. There…