Author Archives: ehurst

Reality is Racist

Posted on February 24, 2019 by ehurst

A genuine biblical mystical outlook yields some treasures most people miss. It is a unique approach to understanding reality, and it points to a whole range of intellectual vigor that seems to have sat quietly in the shadows. This is … Continue reading →

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Understanding Spiritual Gifts 05

Posted on February 24, 2019 by ehurst

4. For Building Up the Body Several times in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul stresses that the purpose of spiritual gifts is to bless the whole community of faith as a single body. In Ephesians 4, the chapter begins with an … Continue reading →

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Teachings of Jesus — Luke 19:11-27

Posted on February 23, 2019 by ehurst

It seems a significant number of folks don’t notice how the parable connects to the preface. Jesus was trying to help His disciples see that the He was not planning on instigating a regime change any time soon. In this … Continue reading →

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Understanding Spiritual Gifts 04

Posted on February 23, 2019 by ehurst

3. Manifestations These gifts are: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, word of faith, healing, miracles, word of prophecy, word of discernment, glossolalia, and interpretation of tongues. These are ecstatic utterances of the mouth accompanying various miraculous effects in others. … Continue reading →

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The Necessity of Trust

Posted on February 22, 2019 by ehurst

Maybe it’s my age, and it surely includes other factors in my life, but the only thing approaching an aphrodisiac for me is trust. It’s always been the paramount hunger in my world. I’ve become very wary of cuties because … Continue reading →

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Understanding Spiritual Gifts 03

Posted on February 22, 2019 by ehurst

2. Motivations (Romans 12:3-17) This is another open list, but we can’t discern any additions until we understand well enough what Paul delineates here. The list of temperaments could be translated as prophetic, servant, teacher, encourager, giver, elder, and caregiver. … Continue reading →

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Understanding Spiritual Gifts 02

Posted on February 21, 2019 by ehurst

Ministries (1 Corinthians 12:27-31) Paul lists them as apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, support, management and communicators. While Paul enumerates them, it’s unlikely this list is closed. Rather, it likely reflects the way things were done in Paul’s experience. … Continue reading →

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Understanding Spiritual Gifts 01

Posted on February 20, 2019 by ehurst

I’m not sure where this teaching arose, but I first encountered it in the mid-1980s while testing the waters with a charismatic church. The experimental church fell apart, but I learned an awful lot about the mythology of neo-pentecostalism. If … Continue reading →

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No Going Back

Posted on February 19, 2019 by ehurst

We infiltrate; we refuse to assimilate. The call to a covenant community of faith is a calling to come out of the fallen world. We leave it behind and embrace something from another realm of existence, something eternal. It’s a … Continue reading →

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A Community of Penitents

Posted on February 18, 2019 by ehurst

If we aim to build a covenant community of faith, how can we not be friends with people who hold perverse sexual appetites? I reiterate that the question is not, “Who is perverted?” Who isn’t perverted? We are fallen creatures, … Continue reading →

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