In August 1936, the East Oklahoma Pentecostal camp meetings were being held in Sulphur, Oklahoma. Oral was to be licensed as a minister in the Pentecostal Holiness church at one of the last meetings. When he arrived, though, his mind was set on far more than that ordination. He was determined he would not leave those campgrounds without personally experiencing the fire of Pentecost. Oral began to seek God with all his heart for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
A collection of interesting Christian stories, and Biblical doctrine. This blog has been BANNED by Facebook for unknown reasons.
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Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Oral Roberts
In August 1936, the East Oklahoma Pentecostal camp meetings were being held in Sulphur, Oklahoma. Oral was to be licensed as a minister in the Pentecostal Holiness church at one of the last meetings. When he arrived, though, his mind was set on far more than that ordination. He was determined he would not leave those campgrounds without personally experiencing the fire of Pentecost. Oral began to seek God with all his heart for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Thursday, June 6, 2024
George Jeffreys
George Jeffreys began his Spirit-filled ministry in the first half of the twentieth century as a healing evangelist. Thousands came to Christ as a result of the four-part gospel he preached: Jesus as Savior, Healer, Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and coming King.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Self-Help Christians?
Friday, December 22, 2023
The Real Great Commission
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Look carefully at the structure of this verse… this is the Great Commission as recorded by the disciple Mark. This is what Jesus said…
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It’s also essential that we regularly repent and confess our sins (1 John 1:9), live holy unto the Lord as He transforms us (Hebrews 12:14, Roman’s 12:1-2), and continue in the faith (John 9:62).
Monday, November 6, 2023
Holy Ghost Fire
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Dimensions of the Holy Spirit
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Unity With Jesus Christ
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On the coming of the Holy Ghost, everyone was sitting down and they were all in one accord.
Saturday, February 12, 2022
Holy Spirit Fire
Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
How is the Holy Spirit like fire?
The Bible describes God as a "burning fire" (Hebrews 12:29), so it is not surprising that fire is often presented as a symbol of God's presence. Examples include the burning bush (Exodus 3: 2), the pillars of the cloud (Exodus 14: 19), the clouds over the tabernacle of martyrdom (Numbers 9: 15-16) and the attitude of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1: 4). Often fire is the instrument of God's judgment (Numbers 11: 1 and 3; 2 Kings 1: 10 and 12) and is a sign of His power (Judges 13:20; 1 Kings 18:38).
For these obvious reasons fire was very important for Old Testament sacrifices. The fire on the altar of burnt offering was a divine gift that was primarily illuminated by God Himself (Leviticus 9:24). God commanded the priests to keep the fire which God had kindled always burning (Leviticus 6:13) and made it clear to them that fire taken by any other means would be unacceptable (Leviticus 10: 1-2 verses).
The altar can illustrate our commitment to the Lord Jesus in the New Testament. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are required to offer our bodies as "living and pure" (Romans 12: 1) sacrifices that are entirely dedicated to the divine gift, the unquenchable fire of the Holy Spirit. ۔ At the very beginning of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit was attached to the fire. John the Baptist prophesies that Jesus Himself will "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 3:11). When the Holy Spirit began His ministry in the early church, He chose to dwell on every believer in the form of tongues "bursting like a flame of fire." And on this occasion "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with tongues, as the Spirit gave them power to speak" (Acts 2: 3-4).
Fire is an amazing picture of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like fire in at least three ways; It brings God's presence, God's passion and God's holiness. The Holy Spirit is an expression of God's presence because it resides in the heart of the believer (Romans 8: 9). In the Old Testament, God revealed His presence to the Israelites through the appearance of the cloud at the tabernacle. The presence of fire provided light and guidance (Numbers 9: 17-23). In the New Testament, God guides and comforts His people through the Holy Spirit, who dwells in our bodies - in the "tabernacle" and in the "Holy of Holies" (2 Corinthians 5: 1; 6:16).
The Holy Spirit creates God's passion in our hearts. Two disciples who traveled on the road to Emmaus after Jesus' resurrection talk to Jesus and later say, Weren't you? " (Luke 24:32). After receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the apostles developed a zeal that lasted a lifetime and gave them the strength to speak God's word with boldness (Acts 4:31).
The Holy Spirit creates God's holiness in our lives. God's original purpose is to cleanse us (Titus 2:14) and in this regard the Holy Spirit serves to sanctify us (1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:12). In the same way our God uses the Holy Spirit to take away our sins (Psalm 10:10; Proverbs 17: 3). His fire cleanses and purifies us.
I received this story from a friend, and the original author is unknown. If you have and comments or any additional information, you can tell me in the comments section. If you enjoyed this story you can click on the follow button to catch them all.
Saturday, January 15, 2022
Soteriology
Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
Here is a subject often taught in Bible colleges around the world. Since most people cannot go to Bible college, I am sharing this teaching to everyone.
What Is Soteriology, and Why Should Every Christian Know This Term?
“Soteriology” isn’t the kind of word you see in a sermon title. It’s definitely not a word directly from Bible. But without the concepts this term describes, the Bible would be a far shorter book—and a far sadder story.
What Is the meaning of Soteriology? Soteriology is the doctrine of salvation. In short, it describes why we need saving, who saves us, how he saves us, and the purpose we’ve been saved for.
Topics such as redemption, propitiation, justification, and sanctification all fall under the umbrella of soteriology. Many heresies, such as the debate about the Trinity is soteriological.
That all sounds important, but it also sounds like a dictionary of theology definitions. Would the average Christian really benefit from studying soteriology? After all, everything comes down to Acts 2:38. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, NIV). Some would say that this is the plan of salvation. The real plan of Salvation is actually found in Acts 2:38, so yes we do need to learn about Soteriology!
If we know Christ, and we know about his sacrifice, do we really need to know why it works?
What Is the Difference between Christology and Soteriology?
Soteriology is about salvation. Christology is about the Savior. Each subject informs the other—but there is a reason they each have their own field of study.
Acts 2:38 is a powerful summary of Christ’s work on the cross, and it gets to the heart of God’s plan for salvation: the Savior. But what did the Savior save us from? Why couldn’t we save ourselves? What are we being saved for?
Salvation is the story of how God restored us to a right relationship with him. And that story isn’t limited to Acts 2:38, or even the New Testament—it fills the Bible cover to cover.
What Does the Bible Say about Soteriology?
Soteriology’s premise is that humanity needs salvation from sin. If we don’t understand what we’ve lost through sin, how can we understand what we gain through salvation?
Genesis 1-2 describes God’s perfect creation and humanity’s perfect relationship with God, creation, and each other. But in Genesis 3, humanity broke each of those relationships with sin. Instead of trusting God, we hid from him (Genesis 3:8). Our relationships with each other devolved into selfishness and conflict (Genesis 3:12, 16). Even creation itself groaned from the burdens of sin, suffering, and death our actions caused (Genesis 3:17-19, Romans 8:19-22). The rest of Scripture describes humanity’s attempts to restore these relationships—and God’s grand plan for a solution.
In the Old Testament, that solution appears to be the nation of Israel. Humanity had a terrible track record (Genesis 4-11), but there was still hope. After all, individual humans such as Abel, Enoch, Job, and Noah had lived righteous lives. Perhaps a select group of people could learn to follow God and set an example for the world. Perhaps someday, the world could be saved through them (Genesis 12:1-3).
In Exodus and Leviticus, God gave Israel detailed instructions on how to avoid sin and pursue righteousness—and even how to atone for sin through animal sacrifice. For centuries, God guided Israel through this Law and through sending leaders and prophets to hold them accountable. But time and again, Israel failed.
YHWH warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.” But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in YHWH their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although YHWH had ordered them, “Do not do as they do” (2 Kings 17:13-15, NIV).
“Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:30-32, NIV),
I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—to slaughter you with my words, with judgments as inescapable as light. I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. But like Adam, you broke my covenant and betrayed my trust (Hosea 6:5-7, NLT).
Even with clear instructions on how to live holy lives and a clear system to atone for sin, God’s chosen people followed Adam’s sinful footsteps. God pleaded with them and shouted at them through the prophets. He punished them (drought, plague, exile, etc.) to lead them to repentance. But even with prophets’ guidance, a beautiful temple, and sacrifice after sacrifice, something still wasn’t working.
Had God’s plan of salvation failed?
The truth was the Old Testament sacrificial system was never meant to be the solution. Instead, it was meant to prepare the way for something better. The sacrificial system reminded humanity of the gravity of sin. It helped humanity understand the need for propitiation, a payment for sin.
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Hebrews 10:1-4, ESV).
After hundreds of years of trying and failing to overcome sin through human struggle and imperfect animal sacrifice, humanity was shown how much they needed God’s help. And in their desperation, God pointed to the solution he’d planned all along—the Messiah.
Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and YHWH has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth (Isaiah 53:4-7).
Jesus came as a perfect sacrifice—the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29)! And it’s because of the Old Testament that we can understand what “Lamb of God” means and why a lamb was necessary. We needed someone who could carry “the punishment that brought us peace.”
Adam and Eve failed. The people before the flood failed. Israel failed. Their sacrifices failed. But by showing us time and again that humanity couldn’t overcome sin on our own, God prepared us to accept salvation as his free gift.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23, ESV).
That’s a glorious, life-changing truth! But soteriology doesn’t stop with the moment of salvation. After all, the Bible doesn’t stop with Resurrection Sunday. There’s still an important question soteriology seeks to answer: what have we been saved for?
Why Is the Doctrine of Salvation so Crucial to Christianity? The purpose of soteriology is to help us understand just how much God has done for us. And perhaps the most forgotten part about salvation is that God’s work in us doesn’t end at the cross.
Our guilt ends at the cross. Our sin’s condemnation ends at the cross. Our separation from God ends at the cross. But our journey with God has only begun.
After freeing us from sin’s punishment, God begins to free us from sin’s control. The Holy Spirit becomes our guide, leading us in the process of sanctification: becoming more like Christ. This is what we have been saved for. To live joyful lives of freedom, pursuing righteousness not out of fear, but out of a love for God and others (Mark 12:30-31; Galatians 5:13).
This is what God meant when his prophets said lavish sacrifice paled in comparison to love, justice, and humility (Hosea 6:6, Micah 6:6-8). God isn’t content to simply free us from punishment through sacrifice. He wants us free from sin itself. He wants to give us a new life full of love and purpose.
That’s why soteriology is so important. If we start and stop with Acts 2:38, we miss the beauty and purpose of God’s greater plan—or worse, we fail to live it to its fullest.
Not every Christian needs to have a firm stance on the Oneness of God. Not every Christian needs to know the official names of every heresy. But every Christian should know why we need saving, who saves us, how he saves us, and the purpose we’ve been saved for .I found this article on the internet and thought I should share it. It was originally written by Tim Pietz, but I had to heavily edit it, to clean up the false doctrine, and poorly selected Scripture verses.
William James Roop, M.A.B.S.
Roop-Crappell Ministries
Hospice Volunteer Stories
The Trucking Tango
Apostolic Theological Seminary
Monday, December 7, 2020
Baptized With The Holy Spirit
Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
by F. E. Hill
The Apostolic Faith Paper, December 1906.
Do you long to be filled of joy and free,
To be strong in God and his glory see,
Then obey His word and you shall be,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
"Ye shall be baptized," Jesus said,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tarry then until with the power and endued,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Yes I'll be baptized with His power,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tis the gift I see, Father's promise to me,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Will you consecrate to Him now you're all,
Let Him have his way while to him you call,
As in faith you wait the power will fall,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
"Ye Shall be baptized," Jesus said,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tarry then until with the power and endued,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Yes I'll be baptized with His power,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tis the gift I see, Father's promise to me,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
"This is that" which fell at Pentecost,
To prepare the church to redeem the lost,
We must then be filled at any cost,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
"Ye Shall be baptized," Jesus said,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tarry then until with the power endued,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Yes I'll be baptized with His power,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tis the gift I see, Father's promise to me,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tis the gift of God to the sanctified,
He will comfort, lead and will be our guide,
And will dwell in us, coming to abide,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
"Ye Shall be baptized," Jesus said,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tarry then until with the power endued,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Yes I'll be baptized with His power,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tis the gift I see, Father's promise to me,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Will you gladly fall at the Saviour's feet,
Give your doubtings over, and be made complete,
There to dwell in peace, and communion sweet,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
"Ye Shall be baptized," Jesus said,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tarry then until with the power endued,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Yes I'll be baptized with His power,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Tis the gift I see, Father's promise to me,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
You can sing God's praise now, and by and by,
Ye shall speak with tongues, and shall prophesy,
In the power of God you shall testify,
Baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Brother Roop