Gospel and truth
The good news that God in Christ became man to make sinners sons of God to constitute the Body of Christ for God’s expression and representation.
Recovery Version CrossWire Version
The Recovery Version (text-only) is now available on the CrossWire SWORD Project! This means that the text is now available for a variety of computer and mobile platforms. For those familiar with the Recovery Version on iSilo, this CrossWire version has relative pros and cons: Pros: The software it runs on is dedicated Bible software, and so it is much faster to get to the verse you’re looking for and to search the full text. Some software even includes Boolean searching within verses (that is, using AND and OR within a verse). Cons:...
read moreRecovery Version Bible Review
The Recovery Version (RcV) is usually published as a composition of four distinct items: the RcV Bible translation; the RcV Bible footnotes; RcV Bible outlines; and RcV Bible cross-references. Different editions of the RcV include various combos of each of these items, sometimes New Testament only, and sometimes the whole Bible. I will comment separately on each of these components, referring mainly to the New Testament editions.
read moreGod’s Complete Salvation
I came across a chart that lays out God’s complete salvation. I believe it was composed by a number of different people over time, mainly from Texas. It is based on the following quotation from The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee (pages 19-20): Redemption is comparable to the valley between two peaks. As one descends from one peak and proceeds to ascend the other, he encounters redemption at the lowest part of the valley. To redeem simply means to prevent man from falling any further and to uplift him. On the one hand, God’s will...
read moreThe Ground of Oneness
The "ground of oneness" is a term that designates three key biblical truths: We receive all genuine believers whom Christ receives as members of the unique Body of Christ; we keep the oneness of the Body in reality as the oneness of the Spirit; and we practice the oneness (that is, we actually do it, not merely pay lip-service to it) by practicing one church in one city. Here are some brief details:
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God is Homeless
God is homeless–who will let Him in?
Who can let Him in?
Any fallen sinner, like you and me, may let God in (Acts 2:21). No matter what you have done or what material possessions you have, you were made in God’s image so that you can contain Him. By inviting Him in, you become a vessel containing God.
read morePeople are Thirsty
Everyone is thirsty. Everyone is on an endless search for something that satisfies. We seek for more knowledge; we dive into higher education, and then a professional career. We also strive to accumulate riches. We engage in sports, music, and leisure. We organize social gatherings, nurture friendships, and so on. Each of these things is a kind of “water” that cannot quench our thirst. Every human being tastes this “water”, but is never satisfied. In fact, the more we drink this water, the thirstier we become. The words that Jesus spoke to a thirsty woman, mentioned in the Gospel of John, explain this experience: “Whoever drinks of this water will still be thirsty” (4:13). These words are simple, but their meaning is very profound. The “water” here symbolizes the enjoyment of material things and the happiness that the pleasures of the world give. These things cannot quench the thirst that we feel deep within us. In fact, the more that we “drink these things”, the more our thirst grows. Thus, we need another kind of water.
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