God Stuff

What We Believe About Heaven and Hell Know What You Believe —12 — Heaven and Hell Today’s podcast episode is the completion of the series “Know What You Believe”, and here we talk about heaven and hell.At some point in our lives, I’m pretty sure we’ve come to ask ourselves what happens when Earth and history is complete? Is there life after death? Or do we go back to nothingness — oblivion? This is one of the hot topics that seems to come up all the time, hence the need to clarify according to what is really said in the Bible. What does the Bible tell us about heaven and hell? Why does it matter? Find out about it’s truth in this episode. Enjoy! We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven

Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy.  Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode! We believe in the personal, bodily and premillennial1 return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission. Jesus promised his followers “I will come again” (John 14:3). When he ascended to heaven, two angels said, “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).  Jesus is coming again.  We still await the fulfillment of that promise.  The Second Coming of Christ gives shape and definition to all of world history.  We can think of Christ’s return as a series of related events. Each event fulfills numerous prophecies of Scripture.

Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy.  Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode! We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless, spiritual beings, known as angels; that one, “Lucifer, son of the morning”—the highest in rank—sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed him in his moral fall, some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in the prosecution of his unholy purposes, while others who fell are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” ~Dallas Theological Seminary There is more to this world than we can see with our eyes, view through telescopes, or explain through science and math. We are living in a profoundly spiritual universe—something most of the world takes for granted, but the Western world has often forgotten.

Veritas Online Seminary Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy.  Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode! We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed. The Grace Pathway is God’s plan to lead you through all the stages of spiritual growth. The end result is that the incredible life of Christ would be reflected through you.  To achieve that end result, God brings you through a p

Veritas Online Seminary Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy.  Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode! We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation. Jesus came to save. That was his main thing. Nobody understands Christianity without not only understanding salvation, but receiving it too.  Any group or denomination or church or preacher that does not communicate and prioritize salvation is missing the main reason Jesus came.  “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) Salvation is non-negotiable. It is definitional of being a Christian. There is no such thing as a Christian who has not yet been saved! Salvation is a cl

Veritas Online Seminary Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy.  Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode! We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer. If Jesus is the hope of the world, then the Church is the dispenser of that hope. Since the church is made up of people, however, we dispense that hope imperfectly.  Many people criticize the

Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy.  Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode! We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed. The story the Bible tells of humankind rings true to experience. This story is the exact opposite of the story being told by the spirit of the age, by the philosophies of the world, and by the presuppositions of non-objective science.  One story says humans are evolving. We are improving physiologically, intellectually. We are even improving morally. The human race is ascending. This is the spirit of evolution.  But the Bible’s story smashes that story in the face. Not evolution, but

Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy.  Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode! We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. -The Nicene Creed As we study the basics of our faith along the Grace Pathway, it is important to make sure we are on solid footing. There can be no more solid footing than knowing that the universe and everything in it—including our lives—are the creation of God.  You can look at society as not only a clash of cultures, but also as clash of stories about who we are.  I grew up in two worlds—the world of church, and the world of the Chicago public school system.  In the world of church, I learned the story I was created in the image of God.  In the world of the public school system, I learned the story that I evolved from lower forms of life.  My church taught me

Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy.  Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode! We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service. As we have already seen, God is a Trinity. The third person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit. In some older Bibles, you may sometimes read Holy Ghost, though Spirit is the preferred translation of the underlying Hebrew and Greek words.  The Holy Spirit is God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son.  He is not simply an impersonal force. He is not some kind of energy pervading the cosmos. He is not an “it.” Nor is he s

Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy.  Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode! We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel’s promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate. Everything in your faith rises and falls on Jesus. Who is he? What do you make of him? What do you do with his claims?  You probably wouldn’t have made it this far into the Grace Pathway without having believed in him as your Savior. That moment is like stepping through a doorway into a breathtaking palace. Having Jesus as your Savior first makes it possible to begin experiencing Jesus in all hi

Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy.  Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode! We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory. If God were small enough to be understood, he wouldn’t be big enough to be God.  We believe there is one and only one God. We also believe that our God is united within himself, so that he isn’t at all like a bunch of parts rattling around in a box. He is perfectly united and singular and one.  I’m saying all this, because the Trinity is hard to think about. But to grow along the Grace Pathway means we have to stretch our mi

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) If you’ve ever had a sweater with a loose thread, you’ve probably noticed something. Some threads are no problem. You pull on them till they lock up, then you snip them off.  No big deal.  But other loose threads aren’t so easy. If you pull on them, the whole sweater comes unravelled.  It’s the same way with basic teachings in the Bible. Some of them won’t cause huge issues if we don’t get them right. But there are other teachings in the Bible that are so important, if we get them wrong, the whole message of Christ comes unravelled.  In this book, I want to introduce you to those most important teachings of the Bible. I want to help you know what you believe, and why you believe it.  To do that, let’s nail down some terms.  Doctrine The word doctrine simply means te

Links mentioned in this episode: Anxiety Detox Webinar West Coast Christian Writers Masterclass VeritasSchool.life (Free Trial Class: 115 PROVIDENCE) Chapter 12: It's the Devil, Stupid Pardon the play on a famous political line—“It’s the economy, stupid”—but it’s important to know that all of the disturbing trends we have seen are not disconnected bits floating on a sea of chaos. They are, rather, gnarly outgrowths from a single malignant root.  It’s the devil, stupid.  The fact that the body of Christ has forgotten this, and scarcely references it with any theological accuracy, is my final disturbing trend in today’s church. It is the ground and being of every other disturbing trend too.  Chaos is irrationality’s excrement. And irrationality is the devil’s calling card. Sin is irrational. A coup against heaven is irrational. A wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing is irrational.  I am coming to realize that every time I scratch my head over something in the church or in the world and say, “That mak

Links mentioned in this episode: Anxiety Detox Webinar West Coast Christian Writers Masterclass Reformation and Justification You could smell the sweat, the discomfort in the classroom. Pastors-in-training, some of them in the employ of my own church, sat in my classroom at a local Christian college. It was time for an exam. An oral exam. A bit of Socratic tough love for an easy A.  “Sam, tell me what justification means,” I said. My student blushed and looked around vainly for help. “Um… being made righteous?”  “Oh,” I said, “so after a person is justified, their lives are immediately righteous, and they start doing good things, right?”  “Um… no?”  “Tony, help Sam out,” I said, letting Sam off the hook. “After you’re saved you’re supposed to do good works,” he said.  “So, we teach salvation by works, is that what you mean?” I said.  “No, no. Um, it’s like, well, like…” These were Bible majors in a Christian college. Juniors and seniors. Most of this particular group had grown up in Christia

Links mentioned in this episode: Anxiety Detox Webinar West Coast Christian Writers Masterclass Reformation and Scripture When Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenburg Door, he threw the first punch in a doctrinal fight. It was not Luther’s objective to split the church. He only wanted to correct the ship’s doctrinal course, and to return the Church to her most fundamental truths such as justification by faith and the authority of Scripture.  This triggered an epic brawl scholars call the Protestant Reformation.  It is Protestant because it flowed out of Luther’s protest against the false teaching and excesses of the church.  It is a Reformation because it unburied important theological structures from an avalanche of ecclesiastical, political, and theological debris.  Reformation has to do mainly with theology and doctrine. The Protestant Reformation also happened to trigger a Revival, but let’s save that for the final chapters.  The first urgent requirement to deliver the church from her

In this episode of the podcast. Bill Giovannetti continues sharing new book, CHAOS:As Goes the Church, So Goes the World. Below you have a short snippet of each chapter... The Whole Bible for the Whole Church Andy Stanley is one of the most influential evangelical preachers in America today. In fact, a 2010 survey found him to be one of America’s top ten most influential preachers. I imagine he’s only grown in popularity since then. The son of Charles Stanley, his roots sink deeply into fundamentalist soil. So it created quite a stir when he told us all it was time to “unhitch our faith from the Old Testament” in his now infamous sermon, timed to coincide with the release of his 2019 book, Irresistible.  Think of what it means for a major evangelical leader to jettison three-quarters of the Bible.  The Bible! Michael J. Kruger’s analysis is exactly right: “According to Stanley, virtually everyone in the history of the church has been wrong about the role of the Old Testament—until now. It’s truly a jaw

In this episode of the podcast. Bill Giovannetti continues sharing new book, CHAOS:As Goes the Church, So Goes the World. Below you have a short snippet of each chapter... Chapter 11 - How the Church Murdered Grace I come from a theological perspective some have labeled the Free Grace Movement. I am happy with that label, because what’s not to like? It’s free. It’s grace. No, I don’t endorse everything the Free Grace Movement stands for, but I’m sure the feeling is mutual. That’s where charity comes in.  I also feel certain affinities toward what is called Sovereign Grace, a euphemism for Calvinism, though my theological disagreements there are more pronounced. As a guy who’s known for a grace-oriented theology, I am routinely greeted with enthusiastic statements such as, “My pastor preaches grace too!” Or, “We have a new song about grace.” Or, “I’m glad God is gracious, because I’m such a wreck.” The people I meet in my travels are generally eager to show  that their church/ministry/book/etc. proclaims

In this episode of the podcast. Bill Giovannetti continues sharing new book, CHAOS:As Goes the Church, So Goes the World. Below you have a short snippet of each chapter... Chapter 6 - The Pharisees are Back Nobody riled up Jesus like legalists. But the problem then, as it is today, is that legalists don’t know they’re legalists. And even when Jesus told them so, they had the temerity to argue back. It’s not that we are legalists, they argued. It’s that you, Jesus, are a bottom-feeding antinomian. There never was a legalist that ‘fessed up without a major whack upside the head. Witness Paul on the road to Damascus. Or Peter after the vision of the sheets. The human heart is hopelessly addicted to impressing God in its own strength. But this is impossible. Jesus said so: “With humans it is impossible” (Mark 10:27). I won’t go into the whole case for grace, as I have written a trilogy of books on this most glorious theme. It will be more helpful to explore some subtle ways the evangelical church has con

In this episode of the podcast. Bill Giovannetti continues sharing new book, CHAOS:As Goes the Church, So Goes the World. This episode also includes the Afterword: What Is an Evangelical? Chapter 4 - Whatever Happened to Hell? Some things are true. Some things are false. You might get an argument about that. Some people go to heaven. Some people go to hell. Jesus is the only way to heaven. You will definitely get an argument about that, tragically, even from those who call themselves evangelicals. The Church can either warn people to flee from the wrath to come, or, in the name of so-called tolerance, spit on substitutionary atonement and define into meaninglessness the Cross of Christ. There is no middle ground. Such “Particularism,” as it is called, though eminently biblical, is enormously unpopular in our age of secular intolerance. It also turns out to be unpopular to many good, church-going people too. Whatever became of hell? The simple fact of it will never change. To extinguish the fires of he

In this episode of the podcast. Bill Giovannetti continues sharing new book, CHAOS:As Goes the Church, So Goes the World. Chapter 3 - The Song That Never Ends If you wish to rant about the state of affairs in the contemporary church, worship music is low-hanging fruit, I know. God help us.  The burden of this book is that God’s people have welcomed chaos into the church and our lives. Sometimes, our worship music is both a symptom and a contributing factor.  And let me say right away it’s not just the repetition that’s to blame.  In the worship song commonly called “Psalm 136,” you will find the words “his mercy endures forever” 26 times in 26 verses. I’d call that repetitious. Repetition per se is not the problem.  Arguably the greatest extra-biblical worship song of all time – one that the church has stood up for ever since King George II launched the tradition at its 1742 debut – is Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. This chorus repeats the word Hallelujah at least 36 times, King of kings 8 times, Lord of