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General Discussion / Re: Word Of Life Church – wolc.com

« Last post by David on September 04, 2023, 09:14:34 AM »

"Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word Of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. As the lead pastor he is the primary preacher during our weekend services, and he oversees the direction of the church. Pastor Brian is a passionate reader of theology and philosophy, an avid hiker and mountain climber, and authority on all things Bob Dylan. He and his wife, Peri, have three adult sons and seven grandchildren. He is the author of several books, including Unconditional?, Beauty Will Save the World, A Farewell To Mars, Water To Wine, Sinners In The Hands Of A Loving God, and Postcards From Babylon.”

Sinners In The Hands Of A Loving God

Book description from Amazon:

Pastor Brian Zahnd began "to question the theology of a wrathful God who delights in punishing sinners, and has started to explore the real nature of Jesus and His Father. The book isn’t only an interesting look at the context of some modern theological ideas; it’s also offers some profound insight into God’s love and eternal plan." —Relevant Magazine (Named one of the Top 10 Books of 2017)

God is wrath? Or God is Love?

In his famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Puritan revivalist Jonathan Edwards shaped predominating American theology with a vision of God as angry, violent, and retributive. Three centuries later, Brian Zahnd was both mesmerized and terrified by Edwards’s wrathful God. Haunted by fear that crippled his relationship with God, Zahnd spent years praying for a divine experience of hell.

What Zahnd experienced instead was the Father’s love—revealed perfectly through Jesus Christ—for all prodigal sons and daughters.

In Sinners In The Hands Of A Loving God, Zahnd asks important questions like: Is seeing God primarily as wrathful towards sinners true or biblical? Is fearing God a normal expected behavior? And where might the natural implications of this theological framework lead us?

Thoughtfully wrestling with subjects like Old Testament genocide, the crucifixion of Jesus, eternal punishment in hell, and the final judgment in Revelation, Zanhd maintains that the summit of divine revelation for sinners is not God is wrath, but God is Love.

Read more here.
https://brianzahnd.com/2015/07/sinners-in-the-hands-of-a-loving-god/

Buy on Amazon here.
https://www.amazon.com/Sinners-Hands-Loving-God-Scandalous/dp/1601429517

Follow his blog at.
https://brianzahnd.com/

David

General Discussion / Word Of Life Church – wolc.com

« Last post by David on September 03, 2023, 09:38:18 AM »

Apokatastasis (alternately apocatastasis from Greek: ἀποκατάστασις; literally, "restoration"
or "return") is the teaching that everyone will, in the end, be saved. It looks toward the
ultimate reconciliation of good and evil; all creatures endowed with reason, angels
and humans, will eventually come to a harmony in God's kingdom. It is based on,
among other things, St. Peter's speech in Acts 3.21 ("Christ Jesus who must
remain in heaven until the time of the final restoration of all things
χρόνων ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων") and St. Paul's letter
to Timothy in which he says that it is God's will
for all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2.4).
Excerpted, Adapted and Abridged

"For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final
[restoration] of all things, as God promised long ago
through his holy prophets." Acts 3:21
New Living Translation

Word Of Life Church
3902 NE Riverside Road,
St. Joseph, Missouri 64505

https://wolc.com

“What we believe has been handed down to us from Christians
who lived long ago. We believe what the church has believed
from the beginning. The simplest summation of these beliefs
can be found in the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed.”

https://wolc.com/who-we-are/what-we-believe/

Way Maker
Passion 2020 Live
Click Here For The Video

David

General Discussion / Love Unrelenting (Full Documentary)

« Last post by David on September 02, 2023, 10:57:15 AM »

“Even in judgment, God is loving and merciful.
Hell fire is spiritual, not literal,
and NOT forever!”

Love Unrelenting
(Full Documentary)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-09mmIzgfA

24,365 views Mar 20, 2022
This documentary explores the three major views on hell and God’s judgements that have been held by Christians throughout history: eternal torment, annihilation, and universal salvation. The movie emphasizes the idea that universalism is taught in the Bible, was a popular view held by many Christians in the early church, and makes the most sense of the love and justice of God.

For helpful resources to learn more about Christian universalism, you can visit:
https://loveunrelenting.com/

The people appearing in this documentary are:
Paul Dirks, John G. Stackhouse Jr., Keith DeRose, David Bentley Hart, Kevin Miller, Kalen Fristad, George W. Sarris, Chris Date, Glenn Peoples, Robin Parry, Diane Perkins Castro, Thomas Talbott, Steve McVey, Rev. W. Scott Axford, Matthew Roark, Keith Giles, David Artman, Aree Spivey, Gerry Beauchemin, Enrique Ramos, Rev. Kenneth Tanner, Eric Reitan, Kokado Hiroshi, Lance Haverkamp, Rev. Scott Wells, Peter Hiett

Note: at 1:23:48 a mistake was made in the subtitles. George Perin, not "Josh Perrin," was the missionary to Japan with the Universalist denomination in the 1800s. Sorry about that mistake.

Love Unrelenting (Full Documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-09mmIzgfA

What is Love Unrelenting?
This is a short behind-the-scenes look at a documentary exploring Christian understandings of hell that was released on March 20th, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/@LoveUnrelenting

David

Evangelism / Forum Updates

« Last post by David on August 28, 2023, 11:26:55 AM »

Acts2020Nomads.com

David

Bible Basics / Forum Updates

« Last post by David on August 28, 2023, 11:24:56 AM »

Acts2020Nomads.com

David

New Members / Forum Updates

« Last post by David on August 28, 2023, 11:07:40 AM »

Acts2020Nomads.com

David

Daily Bread / Psalm 23

« Last post by David on February 03, 2022, 11:47:36 AM »

Psalm 23 - Amplified Bible

The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.

A Psalm of David.

1
The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want.
2
He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.
3
He refreshes and restores my soul (life); He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
4
Even though I walk through the [sunless] (a)valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me.
5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed and refreshed my head with (b)oil; My cup overflows.
6
Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.

Footnotes

a. Psalm 23:4 Or valley of deep darkness.

b. Psalm 23:5 In ancient times it was customary in hot climates for a host to provide his guest with olive oil to put on his head. The Lord blesses and anoints His believers with the Holy Spirit, whom oil symbolizes, to prepare them for His service.

This link Is for you!
https://acts2020nomads.com/index.php?topic=59.0

Your Story / Happy New Year

« Last post by David on January 01, 2020, 09:19:47 AM »

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
— C.S. Lewis

“Cheers to a gracious New Year. May we uphold the fullness of
God’s grace, goodness and goodwill.” ―Lailah Gifty Akita

Acts2020nomads.com

Dave

Daily Bread / Flawed by Design

« Last post by David on December 10, 2019, 09:52:50 AM »

Flawed by Design - Think your sins are ruining God's plans for your life?
Think again! © 2004 by Martin Zender. I enjoyed reading this book.
I do not agree with all of Martin Zender’s beliefs, but I do
agree that we are all “Flawed by Design”. Dave

Frustrated with your failures? Feeling condemned? Can’t overcome a bad habit?

I’ve got great news for you:

"Now we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the transcendence of the power may be of God and not of us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Your humble little vessel of sin is made that way on purpose. We are clay pots by design, not because we have gone afoul of God’s intention for us. Let this revelation soothe the exhausted self-improver. Retire, Christian soldier. You fail by design, not because you are a failure. God wants you cognizant of the source of your power, and He has many creative ways of driving this home. One of these is sin.

Wouldn’t some of us love to shed our earthenware now and still walk among mortals? Our sins keep us from producing a perfect walk, and we mourn this. What we do not understand is that an imperfect walk is the main idea of this life. God puts the treasure of His spirit in earthen vessels now to keep the vessels from situating themselves upon high places.

Thank God for the comfort of mistakes. Mistakes remind us of our clay-hood and drive us toward Christ. When we finally quit chasing perfection and accept these vessels of clay, we will become happier. When we forget about ourselves, peace will ensue. The happy acceptance of imperfection is the beginning of easy breathing. Because, really, how can you be peaceful and kicking yourself at the same time?

Deliverance ministries think they’re doing you a favor by trying to pray, pray, pray you out of your trials. These ministries thrive on you wanting a problem-free life. "I want the answer to my problem," is the pitch today that keeps these ministries at bat. I thank God for their track record of failure. What the poor seeker does not realize is that the problem is the answer, and that shedding the problem before its time would be disastrous.

God is always making matters humanly impossible first, so He can set up what He is going to do later. It’s the same reason you’re a sinner now. Why not just make you perfect and skip this humiliating sin part? It’s simple, really. It’s because you won’t be able to enjoy perfection later unless you’ve been a sinner now. Everyone wants to be happy in heaven. That’s normal. But then everyone wants to curse sin down here. What these folks don’t realize is that their happiness there depends on their misery here. The joy of perfection rests on the misery of missing the earthly mark. So really, God isn’t doing this sin thing to you, He’s doing it for you. This imperfect life of yours is a backhanded favor.

Think of scriptural exhortation as a matting inside of which God intends to paint a masterpiece. These exhortations are God giving Himself an opportunity to show the world what He can do through you. What a difference between that and you getting an opportunity to show to the world what you can do for God. If you’ve still got religious bones in your body, what I just said will deflate you. But when the spirit touches this thing, you’ll become thrilled. Because how good will it feel to finally realize that you’re not supposed to live like Jesus, but rather, that Jesus is supposed to live His life through you? What a difference. © copyright 2004 by Martin Zender. All rights reserved. Buy on Amazon or here:

https://www.martinzender.com/books/flawed_excerpts.htm

Dave