Food, Spiritual

Martin Collins reflects that those who depict religion as a life of gloom and deprivation, full of do's and don'ts, are too short-sighted to realize that the empty husks of the world's entertainment do not satisfy the deepest need. In contrast, spiritual f. . .

One of the most widely occurring metaphors in the Bible involves eating. We must develop the ability to feed ourselves properly, discerning the good and bad.

John Ritenbaugh, admonishing that we learn righteous judgment, reiterates that not everything in God's purpose (regarding law, sin, or holiness) has the same value or level of priority. Christ repeatedly emphasizes that those internal weightier matters of . . .

A number of recent articles have brought to light a disturbing new facet of schoolwork at both the high school and college levels. ...

Our physical bodies have a defense system to keep out invaders. Spiritually, how well do we maintain our defenses against error and contamination?

God gave Israel manna to eat every day for forty years. Today, we have God's Word as our daily bread. Are we taking advantage of it, or are we allowing it to spoil?

In Part Two, we began to consider the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree: "He also spoke this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none...."

John Ritenbaugh, focusing on John 17:3, maintains that to have eternal life we have to know God. Eternal life is to live a quality life as God lives, having developed an intimate relationship with God, living by ever-increasing faith. In order to develop t. . .

We are what we eat. The same can apply spiritually to what we put into our minds. John Ritenbaugh shows that God wants us to desire His Word with the eagerness of a baby craving milk.

Amos 8:11 speaks of "a famine . . . of hearing the words of the LORD." Such a spiritual famine is occurring today: The words of God are readily available, but few are hearing them. David Grabbe explains this prophecy and its connection to the Feast of Unle. . .

John 6 has always been a difficult chapter to explain. However, within his series on the physical/spiritual parallels in the Bible on eating, John Ritenbaugh shows how clear Jesus' teaching is and what it means to us.

God has often used micro metaphors to illustrate macro events. For example, in Isaiah 1:4-6, God compares the whole nation of Israel to a sick patient with an incurable disease, signalling impending captivity. The church has been alternately compared to a . . .

We all know about the church grapevine. It's very good in spreading news, but it can be equally as evil when it spreads gossip and rumor. David Maas reveals how gossip harms the gossip himself.

If a foundation is flawed, the building cannot stand. God built His spiritual temple on the prophets and the apostles, and Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone.

David Grabbe, focusing on Christ's warning about false prophets in His Sermon on the Mount, cautions us that every belief will produce something, either pointing us toward or away from God. The false prophet conceals something deadly, which will eventually. . .

Last week, we considered the period of the count to Pentecost as representing the years of our conversion as Christians, and we focused on the work that was required of the Israelites to grow and harvest the grain used in the offering of the wave loaves. .. . .

Martin Collins, continuing the series on effective prayer, examines some of the reasons God apparently does not answer certain prayers in the affirmative. Sometimes people "pray" as a substitute for thinking. We are to become skilled at using bib. . .

Indeed, many heresies crept into the church over the past several years. John Ritenbaugh explains the difference between heresy and apostasy, how Satan works to introduce heresy into the church, and most importantly, what we can do about it!

Christ says His words are Spirit and Life; they have a quality above human words because their source is divine. If ingested, these words lead to eternal life.

Part One showed that Jesus Christ's iron-clad rule for recognizing false prophets and teachers was to evaluate their fruit (Matthew 7:15-20)—what is produced not only in their lives but especially by their messages. ...

We become what we think about all day long, so ruminating on carnal thoughts brings death. Conversely, meditating on the right things leads to eternal life.

Grace places limits on our freedom, training us for the Kingdom of God. Our behavior must be clearly distinguishable from the non-believers in society.

Throughout the generations, war has been mankind's solution to problems. Is there hope for the future? John Ritenbaugh gives the comforting answer: at-one-ment is possible with God!

John Ritenbaugh describes the prevailing mindset in human society as one of contention, division and disagreement. The source of division and separation from the source of life is sin that has become practiced as a way of life. Throughout the course of Bib. . .

Repentance is something we must do with our God-given free moral agency. Reconciliation is an ongoing process that enables us to draw closer to what God is.

John Ritenbaugh, maintaining that our responsibility is to yield to God's sovereignty, nevertheless suggests that God has, by giving us free will, enabled us to freely sin, but holds us responsible for governing ourselves. The word govern, derived from the. . .

John Ritenbaugh warns that Satan, through subtle doctrinal changes, has attempted to obliterate one major step in the conversion process, namely the sanctification step. Sanctification is the only step which shows (witnesses) on the outside; its effects ca. . .

After warning against literary junk food, John Ritenbaugh focuses upon the dominant emphasis of Matthew, an ex-government official, who concentrated upon the kingly qualities of Jesus as a descendant of the royal house of David, representing the Lion of Ju. . .

Sheep are the most dependent on their owner for their well-being. From the viewpoint of the sheep, the quality of care of the shepherd is of utmost importance.