Our Resolute Hope Podcast

Opinions about antichrist abound, and they vary greatly.  Yet Apostle John describes antichrist not as a world ruler but as a spiritual mindset or attitude in false teachers.  This spirit of antichrist was present in his day … and in ours..

Apostle Paul calls singleness a gift from God, which allows unmarried believers to focus their ministry efforts without the distractions of spouses and children.

Many believe that people are incomplete without spouses, deficient in some way and less able to bear fruit in God’s kingdom.  But God honors both conditions and equips both to bear fruit abundantly in their unique ways.

When we trust the Savior, God Himself makes His home in us.  And to bear fruit for His kingdom, we must continually choose to make our home in Him, remaining in intimate dependence.

Must Christians forgive every offense and confess every sin to receive God’s forgiveness?  No, our forgiveness is once for all, because it’s based on the death of our Savior.

The Bible tells us that, as Christians, we have become the righteousness of God.  And How is that righteousness displayed?  In our behavior and how we treat others, because righteousness is a word of personal interaction.

When we don’t experience God’s promises in our daily lives, we can think His truths are positional – that they’ll be true about me someday, just not today.  But the Scriptures say otherwise.

Emotions mustn’t be obeyed, but they must be acknowledged.  Neither should they be indulged because expressing emotion doesn’t deplete or lessen it.  And indulging emotion can lead to addictions.

Emotions serve an important role:  they tell us what’s going on deep inside us, and they never lie.  Even negative, painful emotions can be good.  We shouldn’t repress or ignore them, or try to hide them away.

Scripture describes our Lord as intimately familiar with grief, pain, and sorrow (Isaiah 53:3).  He experiences every emotion fully, but there’s a critical difference between him and us:  Our God never lets them control His decisions or actions.

Gifts from God, emotions can be powerful forces in our lives.  And Christians exhibit the full gamut of reactions to them, from being totally governed by them to stuffing them completely.

Grace does the most loving, constructive, redemptive, and honoring thing possible for someone.  That’s how the Person of Grace, Jesus Christ, treats us.  But when we live licentiously, we show that we really know little about His grace.

In Christ, we’re free to do anything we want … but we’re not free from the consequences.  Some choices can wound us, wound others, and place us in bondage.

If Christians no longer have a sinful nature, why are we tempted to sin?  Apostle Paul tells us that sin, a personified governing power, dwells in the members of our body, enticing us to walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit.

Do Christians retain their sinful nature after salvation?  The clear answer from Scripture is no.  Romans 6:6 explains that the old man was crucified with Christ the moment we were saved.

As believers mature in their faith, they become more alike in character but more diverse in personality.  That’s a benefit of being partakers of His divine nature.

Working and bearing fruit in the Kingdom:  Is it I or is it Christ in me?  Yes!

Pastor Frank and Dr. John continue their conversation with Mike Q. Daniel about misconceptions in the modern church regarding the gospel of Grace and Christ as our very life (MikeQDaniel.com).

Guest Mike Q. Daniel discusses Christ as our life and some of the confusion and pushback against the truth that he’s experienced over the years.  Learn more about him at MikeQDaniel.com.

Luke 15 presents what we’ve come to call the parable of the prodigal son.  But in truth, it’s a sober reminder of how greatly God’s children can struggle when their beliefs about their Father are wrong.

Our Abba’s perfect love works constantly to give us what we need most – to be conformed to the image of Christ.  Yes, suffering is crucial, but after that?  Glory!

The intimate name Abba goes hand in hand with suffering.  When we’re in great distress, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, we should follow the example of Jesus in Gethsemane … and cry out to our Abba for help.

As His sons and heirs, knowing our God as Abba comes with responsibility.  Like Jesus, we must respect and trust Him, following where He leads, even if it’s through the valley of the shadow of death, and even if we’re crawling instead of walking.

The most personal name for our God is Abba.  It’s intimate, one of deep feelings, a cry of the heart.  Abba reflects our deep respect, trust, and obedience to our Father, knowing confidently that He’ll do what’s best for us … even when we don’t understand.

Christ came to demonstrate Who God is, what He’s really like when you take a close look.  Jesus is the perfect imprint of our Father God, and He invites us to investigate Him and discover for ourselves His incredible love for us.