House2HouseMD

Enticing Words of Man Hello Corinthians. I am Apostle Paul. As I look around and have observed, you serve so many gods and you are confused about which is true and most powerful. I have come to bring you a better gospel that will meet all your needs and make you happy always. You only need to serve one God through Jesus Christ who died and rose again to insure that you are always happy and prosperous. With Jesus on your side and as you work very hard, you will always realize the Corinthian dream of pleasure, happiness and prosperity. Don’t you see that of all the people on earth, those who believe in this our God should always be happy and God can do anything for you if you just ask because Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive”. Now what are you waiting for. Give your lives to God through Jesus and all your misery will go away. God wants you to be happy always and wants you to be rich and prosper because he owns the whole world and all of God’s is yours. All you need to do throug...

Contentions and Divisions One of the most difficult times in my life was during a period of Church split many years ago. You know the situation where literally, the church, the body of Christ is torn into two. One part of your body is on one side and the other was on the other side. I felt that way. In this situation, some of my dear friends and brothers and sisters sided with one pastor and took off while the rest of us remained within the initial congregation with the other one pastor. In fact I do not remember even the main issues that were at stake then. All I can remember is how I felt divided within me. Contentions and divisions are real and do happen in the body of Christ, in families and other relationships. Apostle James takes it for granted in acknowledging this fact when in James the question is asked, 1 “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet ...

Grace is the Solution This Memorial Day weekend, we went shopping for Jonathan’s bike. On the way to pick his bike in ToysRus, his eyes lands on the well positioned Lego box titled “Alien Conquest”. Of course we had to buy it. The Lego had 42 tiny pieces to be put together to form the aliens and their space craft. By themselves, the tiny pieces mean nothing. In fact without seeing the pictures in the brochure, there is no way of imagining what it could look like. In addition, without the step by step instructions that were included in the box, no child or even an adult can put it together. We humans come into the world like the Lego pieces. We need to be put together and that is the only time we have meaning. Someone else needs to put us together because we cannot put ourselves together. We have a problem of meaningful existence as intended by our maker. All of our other problems stem from the primary problem of sin. Sin separates us from God and has shattered us into pieces. The ...

Saints in a Sin City Introduction to the Letter to the Corinthians There is this saying that “What goes on in Las Vegas stays in Vegas”. Even if you have not been to Vegas like me, it is not hard to understand the saying. In fact you do not want to know what goes on in Vegas. There is a scripture that says “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret (Ephesians 5:11-12). In the American context, Vegas has the characteristic honor of being known as the “sin city”. I guess that was true before the sixties. Lately, many cities in America and around the world would or have earned such names as the sin city. In the New Testament Bible times, Corinth was known as the sin city among other things. At the time Apostle Paul was in Corinth, about A.D. 55, the city of Corinth had a population of about 650000. It was the chief city of Greece in commerce, culture, religi...

Gospel to the Corinthians How did the Church in Corinth come about? Who preached to the Corinthians? These questions are necessary to be answered before we begin our study of Paul’s Letters to the Corinthians. After a rough time in Athens where he encountered the philosophers and some mean people, Paul came to preach to the people of Corinth. Paul often went where no one had been in preaching the Gospel. Apostle Paul was determined to preaching the Gospel because he took the command of Jesus very seriously but more so because of his love for God who saved him, the worst of sinners. Having an understanding of Paul’s ministry in Corinth will help us appreciate his Letters to the Corinthians. He did not do the preaching alone. God provided help and God will give us help when He sees our heart to preach the Good News of Salvation to those yet to believe. Next week, we will learn more about Corinth, a coastal major city of it’s time. It was a tough place to preach the Gospel just as we ha...

Now Go and Make Disciples There is this joke that many Christians believe that upon resurrection Jesus spoke just to one Chinese guy Mr. “Ye” (he could have been from another human tribe). In the old King James Bible version it says, “19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” Matthew 28:19. Well, actually and sadly, it is no longer a joke but reality. Many of us think that the great commission and I will say “commandment” was given only to Mr. “Ye” or some other person out there. Is it possible that you and I have reduced the “Great Commission” to a “great suggestion” by Christ? The dust has settled and all the pomp and hype of Easter is over. Now what? Is it going to be business as usual for us? Jesus has risen and that is it? What did he really say upon resurrection and are we obeying his commands? Matthew 28:1-20 1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and ...

Jesus is Alive Christianity is a historical religion. By that I mean that history has documented the events of the bible and that there was a person who lived named Jesus Christ. If you notice in the debates around Jesus Christ, few question the history of his existence. After all it is only 2000 years ago. Other world events that date beyond 2000 years are well documented what more the events of Jesus Christ. The real issue is what to do with Jesus. You either believe in Him or you don’t. Did Jesus die? Yes he did. Was Jesus buried? Yes, he was buried. Did Jesus rise from the dead? Yes, He did. Yes Jesus was crucified, he died, he was buried and he rose again. But what does that mean to me? First let’s read the account of Jesus death, burial and resurrection to confirm history. May be I may rise from death like Jesus did some day? Is it really possible or is that a fig of my imagination? Ok I get it. You and I may not be looking forward to rising from death because in order to r...

The Greatest Exchange – Barabbas for Jesus In our study for today we come across what I consider the greatest exchange the world has ever made. In fact the world is still making this similar exchange as we speak. The greatest exchange is the exchange and trading of Barabbas, a murderer for Jesus, the innocent. Pilate, the governor asked the people whom he should release or free from execution and the people overwhelmingly chose Barabbas over Jesus Christ. Who is Barabbas and what did he do to deserve this honor? You would say that Barabbas was the luckiest person on that very day. It is very easy to quickly see the wrong choice by the people and the injustice heaped on Jesus. But for a moment, I would like us to see ourselves in Barabbas. We have so much in common with Barabbas. Do you think you are more righteous than Barabbas? Let’s read on and make more observation from Scripture. Matthew 27:1-46 1 When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against...

Why was Jesus condemned to death? As we enter the Easter season, let us meditate on the sufferings of Christ, his trial, death, burial and resurrection. There is no greater interpretation or explanation of these events of Christ’s life than to read the actual account. We will therefore just read and ask the Holy Spirit to minister to our hearts. We will pick up the narrative right after the last supper of Jesus with his disciples. I will also encourage you to read the accounts in the other gospels as recorded by Mark 14-16; Luke 21-24 and John 18-21. They are all saying the same thing but from different angles and with some details that the other may not have recorded. Why did the high priest condemn Jesus to death? You will be surprised by the high priest’s assessment and the implications. Please read on. Matthew 27:36 36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and t...