Bad public leadership requires public correction and rebuke. I hope this post is redemptive, not condemning. It’s a call to repentance. After you read it, check back every two or three months. I will probably update it, as issues come up.
Only one is the right source.
Many Renewalists believe apostles do exist. But should there be restrictions? An old-fashioned Bible study to answer the question. (I have updated this post once again, answering the question as to why Paul did not apparently appoint elders to the church at Corinth.)
Apostles are appearing everywhere in modern American churches and around the globe, particularly in Africa and Latin America. What are apostles? What are they supposed to do? Do churches today misapply the title, or are they correct?
Not every corner of the American church, but large sections are unhealthy, particularly in the Renewal Movements.
What are they? What are their motives and purposes? How do we discern the differences, when they seem so similar?
This post covers questions like, who were the OT prophets, contrasted with the prophets of today? Does America have a special covenant with God, as ancient Israel did? How did the NT writers handle prophets and their prophecies? What about inaccurate prophecies? Is decreeing the same as prophesying? Can we decree Scriptures at will? (I updated this post.)
Many Renewalists say yes for prophecy. The biblical evidence favors them. Now what about prophets? (I have recently updated this post yet again.)
Renewalists believe these gifts are for today. This is an old-fashioned Bible study, word by word. line upon line. I thoroughly revised this post.
These are the written testimony of the church fathers before or a little after the council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. They teach that the gifts were for their days, after the apostles died.
These are the written testimony of the church fathers before or a little after the council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. They teach that the healings and deliverances (exorcisms) were for their days, after the apostles died.
These church fathers flourished before or a little after the Nicaean Council in AD 325. They believed in prophecies, dreams and vision. Some even got them, after the apostles died.
Renewalists use the term all the time, but do we know what it means? What does the Bible say?
The Scripture is Matthew 23:8-12. Some translations make it seem as if Jesus forbids calling men ‘teachers’ in his kingdom community. But what did he really say?
This post is a biblical theology discussion. If you are fighting for your or someone else’s healing, I advise you to skip this post. Read it later when the outcome of your fight is final, and you need to understand what the Bible really teaches about healing. (I updated this post yet again. In this post, I also answer whether healing is in the atonement.)
This is a biblical theology discussion. If you are fighting for your or someone else’s healing, I advise you to skip this post. Read it only when the outcome is final, and you have unanswered questions about what the Bible really teaches.
An odd teaching has been circulating around the church for a long time.
The context says that “things” means “works.” Here are commentaries and my take on this issue.
Youtube critics daily, it seems, call for the blood of Christian prophets who are mistaken about some of their prophecies. The critics read Deuteronomy 13 and 18 and sarcastically demand the death penalty for their ministries. But what did Paul say about their mistakes? Let’s do a side-by-side comparison of the OT and the NT.
There is a teaching circulating through the American church, particularly in the prophetic community, that prophets (and others) can “exercise” the “seven spirits of God.” What about this?
A teaching on Acts 2 has been circulating among certain (restrictive) Bible interpreters, which says that only the twelve apostles received the fullness or the baptism with the Spirit at Pentecost with the gift of speaking in Spirit-inspired languages (commonly called ‘tongues’). True?
What are the Scriptures that reveal them? How are they relevant to my life today? Or have they ceased?
These are more commonly known as ‘tongues.’ Here some of the biblical basics.
An old-fashioned Bible study here. There is a lot of confusion in certain quarters of the global Renewal Movement about what revivals involve. How can we clear up the confusion? What did Paul really teach in 1 Corinthians 14? Are we willing to obey his teaching or just run roughshod over it?
What is it? Do they happen today? Can you experience one?
Renewalists have a robust and biblical pneumatology (doctrine of the Spirit). The church is a living organism, and the Spirit is guiding it. But the church is made up of individual believers. The Spirit works in them too.
The title could also be “Is God Bound to Obey Our Decrees and Declarations?” That’s what certain teachers seem to say. Let’s look into this subject.
What do five key passages in Acts say about prayer languages, commonly called ‘tongues,’ being the sign of the empowerment of the Spirit?
This gift is given in order to proclaim the wisdom about Christ and for any particular or special need through the empowerment of the Spirit.
This manifestation of the Spirit can reveal who Christ is more fully and give you information that you could not have without the Spirit revealing it. It does not come by study and research. It is a gift of the Spirit, not of your own mental faculties.
This is a surge of trust that God will give anyone who needs it and in accordance with his will.
Healings come in all shapes and sizes, so expect God to work in a variety of ways.
This gift is available to all, today, not just a special few. God will give it to you when you need it most.
This gift can be very edifying for you and the church. It is not a preacher’s inspired sermon. And don’t despise it, either, says the Scripture.
It is a broad enough to help you distinguish between the false and the true, the Holy Spirit and evil spirits, deceived and true humans.
It is important to study this gift.
This gift depends on Spirit-inspired languages (‘tongues’). Without them, interpretation would not be needed. This post gives a basic teaching of this gift.
Paul prays for the Philippians that they would be filled with the fruit of righteousness (Phil. 1:11). Therefore righteousness is a fruit, every bit as much as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are. What does this aspect of the term mean?
Renewalists (Pentecostals, Charismatics and Neo-Charismatics) believe that all the gifts of God mentioned in the New Testament are for today. They flow from God and are exercised through the Spirit and grace and a yielded, eager heart when the need arises. Let’s study the ones in Rom. 12:6-8.
This word begins the list in Gal. 5:22-23. From it flows all the other virtues. Here is a basic word study of the noun, with application to your life.
Gal. 5:22-23 lists nine fruit of the Spirit. The second one is joy. What is it? Giddiness, or does it go deeper? Also discussed here is the differences between happiness and joy.
It is clear from the news headlines that we need peace in the world. But that can happen only when we have the peace that flows from the Spirit. Everyone on the planet needs to be born again, be filled with the Spirit, and let the peace flow outwardly.
It is also translated as “patience.” Do we have enough of it? Do you dare pray for it?
This attribute should grow in us by the Spirit of God. Will we let him produce it in us?
Have you heard this meme circulating around the American church? “The gospel does not make bad people good, but dead people alive”? Yes, it makes dead people alive, but it also makes now-living persons better.
“Faith” and “faithfulness” come from the same Greek word. They need to be sorted out by context.
It’s the opposite of being harsh and overbearing.
Without this fruit, our lives would be chaotic.
All the key words are here, spelled out in simple English.
Have you ever received a dream, possibly from God, while you were sleeping or a vision before your eyes or mind’s eyes? How would you know it came from God? How do we evaluate them?
The Greek texts actually call it ‘languages.’ What should we call it today?
The Bible is clear that this wonderful gift has divine purposes. What are they?
The New Covenant Scriptures take over these Scriptures in the Old Covenant. But we have a better covenant and we have more anointing and power and abiding presence than the Old Covenant believers did.
Renewalists believe that the Spirit has the divine nature and attributes of God. This post summarizes Scripture references and has a summary table of the attributes that the Father, Son, and Spirit share.
He is a person, and not a “force” or an “influence.” The Spirit is a “he,” not an “it.” But what is a person, anyway? Update: This post now has a long list of facets of his person and his ministry.
They can also be considered the names of the Spirit. It is great for Renewalists and everyone else to experience him. But do they really know him?
These images appear in Scripture, and they reveal the Spirit’s personhood. Images help us understand him better.
The Spirit was given to Jesus without limit. We too can share in this anointing, but we have to follow Jesus, or else we might run out ahead of him and minister on our own.
An attribute is also called a perfection. in some contexts. It is amazing. God can never improve or get worse. He is who he is, period.
Here is a list of the principal works referenced or used at this site. More will be added as time goes on, so please check back.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 