Christianity’s Hidden Apostasy. Speaking In Tongues. Update.

 

For Scripture Sunday:

Christianity’s Hidden Apostasy

"Do today’s prominent Christian doctrines and practices have biblical roots? Did the New Testament writers warn of false doctrine entering Christianity?

Several of the foundational apostles of the Church warned of non-biblical beliefs creeping into the Church.

Thousands of Christian denominations around the world are convinced that their belief system is based on the Bible—and the New Testament in particular. Are they right to believe that?

Do they have the same beliefs and practices as Jesus Christ, His apostles and His New Testament Church? Does it matter?

Many are unaware that just a few hundred years after the New Testament was completed, non-biblical doctrines moved stealthily into Christianity. At the same time many of the God-ordained biblical doctrines were belittled and abandoned. For example, religious leaders thought they could take the place of God and make certain days holy.

The great Christian apostasy had begun, and it has continued down through the ages.

The right source for doctrine

In the New Testament we find doctrines of the early Church that are utterly different from present-day mainstream beliefs.

Why do so few Christians today really look to the Bible for God-given doctrine? Why, instead, do humanly devised beliefs prevail?

Instead of teaching obedience to the Bible—as Christ and His apostles did—the later system of doctrines and beliefs abandoned biblical teachings. Thankfully, the true Church has survived the centuries and today still practices the true religion—biblical Christianity. But it is small and widely unknown."

Complete article at: http://lifehopeandtruth.com/god/blog/christianitys-hidden-apostasy/

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 Speaking in Tongues.

"Is it unintelligible babbling no one can understand or talking in known languages for the purpose of edifying and educating?

Do you have to speak in tongues to prove you have the Holy Spirit of God?

The word for language or tongue here is the word, “glossa.” It’s in Greek and it means a known language. They were speaking in the “known languages” of the day, not mysterious babbling that no one could comprehend.

The disciples had moved from their original location to another public area where they encountered pilgrims who had come from the far reaches of the Roman Empire to be in Jerusalem during this festival season. There, there were Jews and others who were interested in the faith of Abraham. And among those nations that were gathered there, people from Parthia, Media, Mesopotamia, Libya and Rome—there were Jews and others who were called God-fearers—people who would be the seedbed for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.

God, in this dramatic moment and this miracle, was showing that the message of salvation was going to go to all nations in the world, not just to Israel—the descendants of Abraham.

Now let’s go back to what was happening.

Acts 2:8 tells us everyone heard in their own dialect or language.

So again, it was a clearly understood language. There was no “new tongue” or unknown tongue here. They were new to those who spoke them—the disciples—because they had never spoken those languages before.

Their ability to speak the language of another nation had nothing to do with human training or learning—it was a miracle from God. It says, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:4, NRSV).

Complete article at: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-television-program/speaking-in-tongues

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Update:

We got a bit more work done on the floor in the guest house.  We replaced five more rotten floor joists. The new plywood is still just laying on the top of the joists as there is still a lot to do before it can be screwed down. 

Today we started installing the new front door.  Mostly because a weed-whacked rock hit one of the panels of the patio door and shattered it.  This happened back in June, but the little tiny pieces have been clinging together all this time.  It stayed together until we took out the door, and now there is a pile of little diamonds.  I had bought a regular front door with a leaded light panel in it and two long windows to go on each side. It should be a lot more practical than the patio door.

Jay was sick and didn't go to church with me.  I took a tomato, onion, new potato, apple, ground buffalo and quinoa casserole which was the first thing to disappear. 

The Bible readings were Psa. 103, 104, Deut. 21:10-25:19, Isa. 54:1-10, Mat 22"1-23:33. The teaching was about Christ being called the Cornerstone. 

There were a couple of new young ladies there, they had seen Perry Stone's Teaching at a local church and became interested in the 7th. day Sabbath.  We all had good food and fellowship in the dining hall. 

I left the dining hall earlier than usual as I have been wanting to go to Huntsville (TX) Church of God for quite a while now.  It is about 20 miles north of here on the freeway, and I arrived in time for the 2.30 service. 

After a couple of hymns, the short talk was about "What is Concupiscence" and about the times that it is mentioned in the Bible and how it applies to us.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concupiscence 

After three more hymns, the main teaching was "Rules for Bible Study Plus".  It was good to see old friends again.  I haven't been there for a couple of years, and some remembered me.  We had a good chat afterwards, and I finally headed back down the freeway to Willis.  It was a busy day.