Conversations with Ray Martinez

One of our greatest needs is to know that we are loved. Each one of us has to feel certain, deep down in our hearts that someone loves us, cares for us and has our best interests at heart. Intimacy in a relationship is a feeling of being close, and emotionally connected and supported. It means being able to share a whole range of thoughts, feelings and experiences that we have as human beings. Tha...

Being alone and being lonely are two different things. One can be alone without being lonely, and one can be lonely in a crowded room. Loneliness is a state of mind, an emotion brought on by feelings of separation from other human beings. When we are lonely, we lose the sense of “will”.  We wonder what our purpose is in life. We can become bitter against the world. Lonely people tend to argue...

Twenty foolish advisors are no better than one, so the kind of counselors one seeks makes all the difference in the outcome. The bible gives many examples of people that received bad advice and reaped disastrous results. Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD.  He even consulted a medium instead of asking the LORD for guidance. Human beings are fallible. No one gets it right 100 perc...

Today, our discussion is about the five fold use of Scrpture. 1. Reproof, 2. Teaching (Eph 4:14), 3. Correction, 4. Training in righteousness (Col 3:16), 5. Consultation (Rom 15:4). Jesus used two teaching methods—storytelling and a teachable moment—to illustrate and summarize this truth into three words: The Good Samaritan. These three words bring to memory an example of what it takes to be a goo...

The power of the breath of God is divine inspiration that spreads throughout the Scripture. God breathed “the breath of life” into Adam (Genesis 2:7), and Jesus “breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22). As we all know, every breath that we take is a blessing from God, and when  we are speaking about our Savior, we are breathing the Word into people just as Jesus breathed...

The Muslim and Christian views of God have some similarities. Christians believe in one eternal God Who created the universe, and Muslims apply these attributes to Allah. Both view God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. Christians believe that Jesus was the incarnated Son of God, divine, and sinless.  Islam teaches that Jesus was one of the most important prophets of God, but not...

What is a sin of omission?   It is generally used in contrast with the corresponding phrase “the sin of commission,” or sins that a person actively commits. Paul contrasts the two concepts in Romans 7:14-20 . He decries his tendency toward both types of sin. He does what he doesn’t want to do and knows is wrong—the sin of commission—and he doesn’t do what he knows he should do and really...

Today is an everyday event. So we must treat it accordingly and try to do the things of God today and everyday.  Heb 3:13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. “Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” I love this quote from Benjamin Franklin, it encourages me to seize the day, life and o...

Stewardship defines our practical obedience in the administration of everything under our control, everything entrusted to us. It is the consecration of one’s self and possessions to God's service. Stewardship acknowledges in practice that we do not have the right of control over ourselves or our property—God has that control. It means as stewards of God we are managers of that which belongs to Go...

The belief that baptism is necessary for salvation is also known as "baptismal regeneration." Baptism is an important step of obedience for a Christian. I strongly believe that each and every Christian should be water baptized by immersion. Baptism illustrates a believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The action of being immersed in the water illustrates dying and...

How can I forgive those who sin against me? Everyone has been wronged, offended, and sinned against at some point. How are Christians to respond when such offenses occur? Why do we forgive? Because we have been forgiven! Those who are not Christians, however, have not been forgiven by God and have neither the power nor the desire to forgive others. Forgiveness would be simple if we only had to gra...

A couple of years ago we talked about this in another podcast about the power of fasting. Today, we will talk about the purpose of fasting. So you can consider this part two of the message on fasting. In the OT, fasting often accompanied prayer as a demonstration of need before God (1 Kgs 21:9; 2 Chr 20:3; Neh 1:4; Dan 9:3). Throughout the Bible we most often find God’s people turn to fasting as t...

The main question is, do things happen by chance? If they do, then one can speak of someone being lucky or unlucky. But if they do not happen by chance, then it is inappropriate to use those terms. Much of what Ecclesiastes shares is from the perspective of a person who looks at life on earth without God, or life “under the sun.” From such a perspective—leaving God out of the picture—there seems t...

I've questioned myself many times if my simple desire to please God was enough or satisfying to God. I think God wants me to obey because I want to please him. But he also wants me to obey because I agree with him about what is right and good. He wants my mind as well as my heart to be aligned with his.  People often say that the three words they most love to hear are  “I love you.” Runn...

Do we put our wait time to good use?  The LA Times says that we spend about five years waiting in lines. There are times in our lives when God calls us to wait so that he can help us work on our hearts, our minds, our attitudes, and even our health. Sometimes during these waiting experiences, God helps us to understand what’s been slowing us down. Once God gets us back to our “firm place,” we...

What does the Bible say about legalism? How can Christians avoid falling into the trap of legalism? The word "legalism" doesn’t occur in the Bible. It is a term Christians use to describe a doctrinal position emphasizing a system of rules and regulations for achieving both salvation and spiritual growth. Those who hold a legalistic position often fail to see the real purpose for law, especially th...

Christians attain self-worth and esteem by having a right relationship with God. We can know we are valuable because of the high price God paid for us through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. In one sense, low self-esteem is the opposite of pride.  In another sense, low-self-esteem is a form of pride. Some people have low self-esteem because they want people to feel sorry for them, to pay...

The Bible teaches that to be human is to image God and to image God is to be human. In this unique relationship with humanity, God is giving to humans a special moral status and vesting them with dignity and respect. The structural view of the image of God points to certain qualities or abilities that distinguish humans from animals – rational capacity, volition, moral awareness, and consciousness...

Paul is speaking in this passage of the fact that when Jesus died, he had Paul and Paul’s sin in his own body. Paul owed a great penalty for his own grievous sin, and Jesus paid it. Paul’s sin was imputed to Christ, and Christ’s righteousness was imputed to Paul. This, of course, was not just for Paul, but for everyone who believes in the name of Jesus and puts their faith in him to save them by h...

The English word "apology" comes from a Greek word which basically means "to give a defense." Christian apologetics, then, is the science of giving a defense of the Christian faith. There are many skeptics who doubt the existence of God and/or attack belief in the God of the Bible. There are many critics who attack the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. There are many false teachers who promo...

Several New Testament passages do give us important ingredients that should be part of a healthy local church. While some churches are labeled as "liturgical" because of their very formal and predetermined order and manner of worship, all churches to some degree have a format that they typically follow. What is the difference between worship and liturgy? According to Andrews University:  it i...

Our City Council wants Rank Choice Voting in the City of Fort Collins, CO.  Why?  What's the matter with the way they were voted into office?  This should be an initiative from the people, not the Council.  Almost 70% of Rank Choice Voting Elections did not produce a majority winner.  Many votes are tossed out because the voters chose not to rank any one in a specified ord...

The Bible gives the good news that Jesus paid the price for our sin (Ephesians 1:7), yet in many ways we still suffer the consequences of our sins. Coming to Christ does not erase the temporal effects of sin; rather, our salvation guarantees that we will not face the eternal consequences of sin. On the basis of Christ’s perfect sacrifice, those who believe are no longer under God’s condemnation (R...

Have you ever read a portion of the Bible and felt absolutely captivated by it to the point where you can’t get it out of your head? At times words we read enthrall our every waking moment. That's the power of the gospel that we are experiencing. Jesus taught the religious, preached the good news of the kingdom to all who would hear, and healed people who had sicknesses and diseases on a regular b...

Some propose that Jesus is speaking of financial poverty, that He is advocating being poor so that riches and possession don’t come between us and God. While it is true that Jesus elsewhere warned against seeking riches (Matthew 6:24), that wasn’t Jesus’ point in Matthew 5:3. Jesus is speaking of being “poor in spirit”; i.e., being “spiritually poor.”  In the beatitudes, Jesus is concerned wi...