Your conscience is the part of you that judges your own actions and makes you feel guilty about the bad things you have done. It is the police officer of your own heart. All our consciences are similar in that they are born knowing the difference between right and wrong, however, factors such as culture, parental upbringing, or religious exposure can shape our consciences differently. Which means what your heart condemns as wrong may be just fine with me. Scripture says we can also quieten or suppress our consciences so that it is not able to alarm us when we do wrong. Just like a man who shot his dog for barking noise because it disturbed his sleep. That is what is called a “dead conscience.” Scripture defines the state of unbelievers as such: suppressing the truth because they have pleasure in righteousness ( Rom 1:18 ).  That means, their hearts are no longer bothered by any thought of God; his holiness, and His coming judgment. To them, life is all about “doing what is right in...

Dear Naomi, I hope you’re doing well. I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately and felt I needed to reach out. This letter comes from a place of deep concern and love for you. I want to share something important that’s been on my mind, especially as I see you getting involved with the Word-Faith movement and the prosperity gospel. I get why these teachings are so appealing. I’ve been there too. The promises of health, wealth, and a trouble-free life sound amazing. The idea that Jesus didn’t just die for our spiritual salvation but also for our material prosperity seemed like such a great deal. Believing that if I just had enough faith, I could speak my desires into existence, was incredibly tempting. It felt powerful to think my words could shape my reality and that God wanted me to live abundantly in every way. But Naomi, my journey through this movement led me to some tough realizations. The initial excitement of those promises faded. Instead, I found myself constantly questioning m...

Christian joy is one of the greatest gifts that have been bestowed upon us. It is the very thing that keeps our faith going. However, I believe this is one of the missions of the enemy; to rob us of our well-deserved joy and peace in Him. This was Paul's number one concern when He came to the Church in Colosse. His warning was “ Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men , according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ (Col 2:6-10).” It means, dear beloved, your faith is always in danger from people who want to cheat you through empty deceit, traditions of men, and the basic principles of the world. Because of certain limitations, I am only going to zone in on what Paul describes as the “traditions of men.”  Traditions of men are those religious beliefs that pretend to be the law of God, while in reality are just that: human traditions. These traditions end up being believed, and embraced as trut...

My dictionary taught me that controversy is anything that produces disagreements, debates, opposition, division, and even quarreling. Controversial doctrines, therefore, are those kinds of Bible teachings that some believers don’t subscribe to, if not disagree to the point of separation. There is a difference between heretical teachings and controversial ones. A heretical teaching is that which is outright unbiblical and anti-Gospel and would be condemned by both sides of the Christian debate. Controversial doctrines, however, though often labeled as such, are not heretical. But are simply born out of a different viewpoint or understanding of certain Bible verses, in light of the whole Biblical truth. All this does not mean that God is the author of confusion. He is indeed infallible in His declared truth, yet our understanding is not. We are finite creatures that are still on the long road towards wisdom and maturity. Most of the divisions and denominations found in the Christian Chur...

If you were to talk to a bunch of ministers today and ask them how they knew that they were called to ministry? Most often resort to personal “encounters” as the confirmation of their call. For example, we have all heard something like, “I was sitting at home and an angel appeared and told me that I must preach this Gospel” Such individuals, as you might expect, cannot be persuaded or advised otherwise, because apparently these “personal encounters with God” override everything, even the authority of Scripture. Biblically, however, that is not the way to know that you are called to ministry. When I talk of the call to “ministry”, I am at this point flexible enough to accommodate all the gifts that are given to the Church, however, if I were to narrow it down, I would point straight at the preaching ministry. Because there is no more critical work to the advancement of the Gospel than being a preacher. So the big question is: what if I am called to this department, how then would I know...