Jesus chases out the gods (moneychangers) of my heart (temple)

NOTES TO LIVE BY

Paul Swearengin (11/2/08)-The River Church

-We’ve settled for the good (moral law in our country) and have forfeited the great (love others unconditionally and letting the love of Christ change their hearts-Matthew 22:17).
-We have given to Caesar what are God’s rather than humbling ourselves, praying, and letting the Holy Spirit do the work on hearts.
-Remember the example of the transvestite in San Francisco. Her purse was taken in front of a church and the people of that church showed the love of Jesus.

Gilbert Foster (11/9/08)-First Baptist Church, Reedley

-Kingdom values are the role of the church. The Kingdom of God has come. This is the good news!
-The good news is not a destination. It has substance for the here and now. We in the church are the primary agents for change.
-The kingdom of God is the range of God’s effective will where what God wants done is done – Dallas Willard.
-The Kingdom of God is an alternative that we live in. It is not a Christian version of Power for this world. Worldly systems are unified by their love of power. This Kingdom of God is unified by the power of love. The Kingdom of God is not a power movement but a love movement.
-“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
-Eric Fromm – “Being loved is not as great a need as loving.”

Ted Harder (11/9/08)-Church in the Basement (CITB), Reedley

-TIME TO VOTE WITH OUR LIVES 365 DAYS OF THE YEAR!
-The valley has a VICTIM SPIRIT that is, actually, the enemy of the HOLY SPIRIT. You know your believing a victim spirit when your crisis is bigger than your Christ.

-We need to become a habitation for His presence. The more I let God reside in my world, the more I understand His.

-When I learn to steward the presence, I get more done on accident than I do on purpose.
-Remember that every success and failure is qualified as steps closer to what God has for me. The only time I fail is when I don’t get up.

Hell

I've been grappling with this subject for some time now. I've received a comment from Nathaniel, Bruce, and Kevin regarding this issue and thought it would be nice to have an open dialogue in a forum like this. I hope we can all learn and grow through this space. I must say that I've been struggling with the whole concept of hell for the last year or so. I can't help but believe that hell is more a separation from God than an actual place. While I believe everything Christ did on the cross, i.e. atonement for sin, judgment, victory over Satan and death, I also believe that separation from God and His love is, basically, hell. I can't reasonably get my head around an actual place of fire and brimstone where unbelievers burn forever. How could such an eternity come close to actuating any sins a mortal could be guilty of during this lifetime. I can understand, however, that separation from God would mean separation from His favor, protection, order, love, and consistancy among other things. Not having these for all of eternity would be a hell. But can a believer reasonably believe that hell as a place can be justified for anyone other than Satan and his minions? I send this to all of you on my break because I'd like to hear the rebuttal. Additionally, I think it is sadly comical that many Christians get bent out of shape over peripheral concepts such as speaking in tongues, hell, bible translations, and others. The necessities of the faith are pretty basic when you come to think of it. I guess the main reason I am texting this to all of you is because Skyler is beginning to ask these questions and I want to be informed when it comes to answering these questions with my kids. Thanks