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De-Greecing the Church
By David PawsonFrom modern day politics, sports, and culture to the mindset of the church towards "heaven", the resurrection, and the Kingdom of God, the Greeks have had a significant effect on the way that we perceive the world.
The Bible was written by Hebrews, but we tend to view it through Greek glasses and come away with wrong understanding as a result. In this teaching, English author and teacher David Pawson speaks on the influence that Greek philosophy and culture has on the church beginning early after Jesus' ascension all the way up through modern day. His simple and easy to...
Deception and the Preeminence of Jesus
By Josh HawkinsThe same question Jesus asked His disciples 2,000 years ago is the same one He is posing to us today. "Who do you say that I am?" Answering this question correctly is essential for the believer, especially because of the hour that we live in.
In this teaching, Josh highlights the identity of Jesus and His equality with God as the primary issue of deception at the end of the age. Currently we are witnessing four general negative trends today that must be viewed as nothing short of a full-blown crisis in light of the coming delusion spoken about in the Scriptures.
Our only...
Episode 35 - John the Baptist and the Maccabean Revolt
By Josh HawkinsIn 166BC, the Jews revolted against their Greek oppressors in a time historians call the Maccabean Revolt. After the Jews violently fought and regained control of Jerusalem, leaders would be set in place over the next century that would cause Israel to stray from the Lord, setting the stage for a Roman takeover in 63BC. Learn more in this episode about what happened and why it's significant to the life and message of John the Baptist and the broader story of the Gospels.
Biblical Foundations of "Messiah" and "Christ"
In today's culture, "Christ" is often a synonym for "Jesus" or perhaps His last name. "Messiah" is a synonym for "Savior" and often just means "the one who died on the cross for us". While there is some measure of truth to those things, "Christ" and "Messiah" have largely been misunderstood. You may be surprised when you find out what the Bible is really saying when the scriptures use those words!
This video is a supplement to Episode 21 of Opening Up the Gospels. Watch the original episode...
Episode 52 - The Woman at the Well
By Josh HawkinsJesus heads north to Galilee after John the Baptist was imprisoned, but first passes through Samaria. Unlike His reception in Jerusalem, Jesus was joyfully received by the Samaritan people. This episode discusses the significance of Jesus' exchange with the woman near Jacob's well.
Episode 1 - Christianity and True Friendship
In this premiere episode of my weekly video series, Opening Up the Gospels, I talk about the first of four reasons why I'm doing a series on the life of Jesus as seen in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John instead of other hot topics like grace, prayer, or hell. I discuss what it means to actually have a relationship with Jesus and how it must be based on real, substantial knowledge of His life and words. As Christians, we ought to treasure the details of His life simply because we confess that we love Him.
Episode 49 - The Cleansing of the Temple
By Josh HawkinsThe very first, overtly public act of Jesus' ministry was the cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus drove out money changers and those selling animals, indicting the Jewish authorities and asserting His authority over the temple. Learn why this event is so important to the story of the Gospels in this episode.
IHOP-KC Prayer Room Funny - Lasers
January 6, 2010, 6am set, Justin Rizzo leading, I'm playing keys. We're praying for California's college campuses, and we get into a cool groove with the horns. Earlier in the cycle, Justin gets on the talkback mic and asks me to try to come up with a sound he first described like "lasers", but then said "well, not lasers, but you know what I mean". I found a sound that worked, but I also found a laser sound.
There was a particularly light mood in the prayer room that morning.
The funny moment is where the laser sound blares at 0:41. The remainder of the video is the rest of...
The Priesthood of Humanity
By Josh HawkinsGenesis 2 says that God set Adam in the Garden in Eden to "tend and keep" it. Contrary to our modern assumption, God created Adam with much more than farming in mind. Adam's primary created purpose was that of a priest - ministering to God in a sanctuary.
Rightly understanding Adam as the model for all of humanity's created purpose as priests brings clarity to the reason for the increase of night and day prayer across the globe today.
From the assimilation of God into our worldview to the purpose of our worship, Josh develops and traces this biblical foundation established...
Episode 37 - The Message of John the Baptist, part 2
By Josh HawkinsThe significance of John's message to the nation of Israel is only heightened when we see that he is baptizing. Yet it is important to remember the audience of his proclamation was not Gentiles, but the Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham. This episode examines the importance of baptism and how offensive it would have been for John to call the Jews to be baptized.
Resources sorted by total number of views today.
The humility of God in the Incarnation
By Josh HawkinsPerhaps the humility of God in the incarnation is one of the most considered aspects of Advent and Christmas. How could One surrounded by perfection and beauty descend to the lowest place and be born in a filthy animal feeding trough? How could one so highly exalted stoop so low to be the Servant of all?
To rightly understand His humility in becoming a human, we must be informed biblically on where He dwelt and how He was worshipped before He took on flesh. Only with this backdrop are we rightly prepared to experience the potency of His emotions and desires that flooded His...
Episode 1 - Christianity and True Friendship
In this premiere episode of my weekly video series, Opening Up the Gospels, I talk about the first of four reasons why I'm doing a series on the life of Jesus as seen in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John instead of other hot topics like grace, prayer, or hell. I discuss what it means to actually have a relationship with Jesus and how it must be based on real, substantial knowledge of His life and words. As Christians, we ought to treasure the details of His life simply because we confess that we love Him.
The 30 silent years of Jesus
By Josh HawkinsIt’s Passion Week and I haven’t written here in a while, so I figured I’d give you a little bit of what the Lord has been speaking to me. Since the beginning of this year I’ve been intensely focused in studying the gospels and the life of Jesus. Through my study, I’ve realized that the gospels cannot simply be another item on my Christian checklist. If Christianity is biblically defined as conformity of my life to Jesus' life, than the story of His life can never be exhausted of its relevance for growing in intimacy with Him and becoming like Him. The story of His life is important to...
Episode 9 - Introduction to Luke's Gospel
Luke's Gospel is unique in so many ways - from the way he narrates Jesus' birth to the way he exclusively covers Jesus' ministry in Judea and Perea 6-8 months before the cross. In this episode, I cover Luke's author, the date it was written, and some of the major themes and literary style of the book. The most important point we should understand for the purpose of this series is that Luke is chronologically arranged and includes a large portion of Jesus' ministry not mentioned by the other Gospels.
Persecution, prayer, and the Apostle Paul
By Josh HawkinsThe blogosphere and social media world have recently been filled with news of atrocities taking place all over the Middle East (some of which are just rumors spread by social media). One of the affected cities is Mosul, Iraq where a Muslim group, ISIS, has taken control. Christians have been driven from their homes and forced to renounce Christ at the penalty of death. Syrian Christians have recently also been heavily oppressed by Muslims.
If we were Christians living in the Roman...
The Patriarchs and the Covenants
By Josh HawkinsAfter the dreadful moment in Eden's garden when man rebelled against the LORD's command, a plan was set in motion to restore what was lost through a seed of Eve. The story of the seed continues through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through covenants that God makes with each of them. This session looks at the Abrahamic covenant and the promise of blessing that would come through Abraham's line.
This is Session 4 of the class Faith...
The passion of Jesus the Messiah - finding nearness
By Josh HawkinsIn the last post in this short series, I spoke about knowing the details of the story of the cross of Jesus, and how the first barrier in growing in intimacy with Him related to the cross is simply our ignorance. Most Christians know the details of their favorite movie more than they know the details of Christ’s most precious memories as He walked the earth. This very fact is provoking if we truly believe that Christ is our life, our all, and our exceedingly great reward...
Episode 94 - Teaching in Judea Between the Feasts
By Josh HawkinsAfter the Feast of Tabernacles in October, Jesus gives an extended teaching to the crowds in Judea in Luke 12-13. Unlike the Pharisees who were leading the people of Israel astray, the good shepherd Jesus instructs the people in righteousness and encourages them to seek first His coming kingdom instead of possessions and wealth in this age.
The Passover Feast
By Josh HawkinsIn Exodus 12, God commands the people of Israel to hold a yearly feast remembering their slavery in Egypt and God's miraculous deliverance of the entire nation after the death of all of the firstborn of Egypt. This short teaching on the significance and simplicity of the "mechanism" of the Passover meal was given to a group of students at Texas A&M University in April 2019.
Hope in the midst of great shaking
By Josh HawkinsI've been pondering Ephesians 1:17-19 lately, more specifically one phrase that Paul prays. He desires that we would know the "hope of His calling", or as the NIV puts it, "the hope to which we have been called". I've been making a little handout on it, so I figured I would share with you some of my thoughts from it!
Hope is an emotion deeply rooted inside of every human. Hope is simply the expectation and desire for something better than what currently exists. For example, the small child hopes to be a teenager, the teen hopes to be an adult, and the adult hopes he or she will...