On Tuesday, Feb 11th author and former senior pastor of Saddleback Church Rick Warren deleted a tweet that used the Crucifixion to suggest that Jesus Christ would be a political centrist. The viral post received more than 3 million views after several Christian leaders and influencers criticized him and accusing him of misinterpreting the Bible.
On Feb. 11, Warren posted an image of Jesus hanging on the cross in between the two thieves with the caption: “John 19:18 ‘They crucified Jesus with two others—one on each side & Jesus in the middle.’ The guys on both sides were thieves. If you’re looking for the #realJesus, not a caricature disfigured by partisan motivations, you’ll find him in the middle, not on either side.”
Pope Francis continues to wade into American politics in a way he doesn’t do for other countries, sending a letter to US bishops decrying mass deportation and rejecting “any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.”
While there is no such thing as a ‘good’ pope, since they are the head of an evil and wicked heterodox church, Francis has been particularly noxious and vexatious, doing things like affirming the faith of Joe Biden and saying he would never refuse him communion because the President’s love for abortion is between him and God, endorsing civil unions for gay couples, appointing multiple pro-choice people to his pro-life organization, saying that all religions lead to God, and are merely “different paths,” appointing a notorious pro-LGBTQ priest to a major post, releasing an outrageously blasphemous statement, saying that sermons should be no more than 8 minutes, and insisting that “people are fundamentally good” and that “the heart itself is good.”
The ESV Translation Oversight Committee (TOC) is a standing committee of the Crossway Board of Directors. The purpose of the TOC is to preserve and carry forward the publication of the English Standard Version Bible translation and to ensure the ongoing accuracy of the ESV for this generation and generations to come.
With this purpose in mind, the TOC met over the summer of 2024 to consider a limited number of minor changes to the ESV text. Briefly summarized, the committee made changes to 36 Scripture passages involving 42 verses, resulting in a total of 68 word changes. Given that there are nearly 757,400 words in the ESV, this represents a change of about one word per 11,000 words in the ESV text. In addition to the above text changes, a limited number of changes were made to 57 footnotes, and a few additional changes were also made to punctuation in 14 verses.
Given that there are more than 540 editions of the ESV currently being published worldwide, the rollout of the text update will take nearly two years to complete, with the first copies of the new ESV text editions being released in the spring of 2025 and, Lord willing, with almost all of the new ESV text editions being published by the fall of 2026.
Many teach an easy believism so they focus only on John 3:16 and they don’t bother to read and include the rest of the passages . This idea of easy believism excludes God doing anything in the sinner to change their nature by the washing in regeneration by the Holy Spirit ( Titus 3:5 ). This is so wrong on so many levels, the end result is a false conversion, for only God can save the sinner by His Grace . Then they say everyone goes to Heaven and there is no such thing as hell and that God is all love and would never send anyone to hell. Then you ask yourself , why would they teach salvation this way , well we have false Gospels out there, say this prayer and you are in, walk the isle and you are saved , ask Jesus into your heart and you are good to go.
This brings in more questions, why are they propagating a false gospel ? Dishonest gain and control over the people. Is this to make certain people rich ? We have to be in the scriptures everyday and in prayer , we need to learn discernment, to know the truth as God has reveled to us in scripture from error . Jesus gave a good explanation to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 , about being born again and this is done by the Holy spirit and describes this using an analogy of the wind, the wind blows where it wills, you can see the effects of the wind, you don’t know where it is coming from or where it is going and you cannot control the wind, so is everyone who is born of the Spirit , for it is all of God and you have no part in it .
A Transformed life by God will be evident , they will not be who they used to be, they will hate their once cherished sins, they will see clearly what sin is before a Holy God . They have newness of life and desire to live a Holy life and to live Righteously and they love the Lord Jesus Christ and they love the Word of God and they desire to grow and mature to be more like Christ . They will deny themselves , take up their cross and follow Christ , even if it will cost them their life. For they know that they belong to Christ . You will know them by the fruit they bear and how they live .
John 3 : 16 – 21
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.”
Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the door of the Catholic Church on October 31, 1517, which became the foundation for The Reformation. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, not by works! (Ephesians 2:8-9)
All Saints’ Church, also known as Schlosskirche (Castle Church), is a significant Lutheran church in Wittenberg, Germany, where Martin Luther is believed to have posted his Ninety-five Theses in 1517, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. The church is a UNESCO World Heritage site and houses the tombs of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. It serves as both a place of worship and a historical site, featuring the original Latin text of the 95 Theses on its door.
In order to get “right” with God, we must first understand what is “wrong.” The answer is sin. “There is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:3). We have rebelled against God’s commands; we “like sheep, have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6).
The bad news is that the penalty for sin is death. “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). The good news is that a loving God has pursued us in order to bring us salvation. Jesus declared His purpose was “to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10), and He pronounced His purpose accomplished when He died on the cross with the words, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Having a right relationship with God begins with acknowledging your sin. Next comes a humble confession of your sin to God (Isaiah 57:15). “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:10). This repentance must be accompanied by faith – specifically, faith that Jesus’ sacrificial death and miraculous resurrection qualify Him to be your Savior. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Many other passages speak of the necessity of faith, such as John 20:27; Acts 16:31; Galatians 2:16; 3:11, 26; and Ephesians 2:8.
Being right with God is a matter of your response to what God has done on your behalf. He sent the Savior, He provided the sacrifice to take away your sin (John 1:29), and He offers you the promise: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21).
A beautiful illustration of repentance and forgiveness is the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). The younger son wasted his father’s gift in shameful sin (verse 13). When he acknowledged his wrongdoing, he decided to return home (verse 18). He assumed he would no longer be considered a son (verse 19), but he was wrong. The father loved the returned rebel as much as ever (verse 20). All was forgiven, and a celebration ensued (verse 24). God is good to keep His promises, including the promise to forgive. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
