Romans 2:1-2:16
Jul 1st, 2022 | By Dr. Jim Eckman
Paul reviews the witness of God’s law on our hearts and the witness of human conscience.
Paul reviews the witness of God’s law on our hearts and the witness of human conscience.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has never hidden his faith in Jesus Christ or his values and standards as a Christian. In terms of loyalty to the president over his four years of service (2017-2021), Pence was exemplary. But, when faced with the brutal realties of the insurrection on 6 January 2021 and the pressure he was feeling from the president, his faith gave him the stability and forthrightness to do the right thing—to stand for truth and to defend the Constitution. Let’s think together about the heroic courage of Mike Pence on that fateful day in January 2021.
Paul details the three consequences of rejecting God’s revelation–perverse human sexuality, a depraved mind and the downward spiral of evil.
Samuel Goh, lecturer of Old Testament at Brisbane Theological Seminary in Australia, has recently written of the “social reality” of American evangelicalism: A polarization that is paralyzing the evangelical church. Consider some of his observations
Paul explains the three reasons for his letter and proposes the thesis of his book: justification by faith.
In 1988, Mother Teresa and James Lovelock, advocate of the Gaia hypothesis, got into an argument at Oxford University’s Global Forum for Survival. [The doctrine of Gaia, most famously represented in Rosemary Ruether’s book Gaia and God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing, argues that male domination of women and male domination of nature are interconnected. She defines “sin” as wrong relationships among human beings and between them and the rest of nature that foster not just economic and political injustice and racism and sexism, but also the destruction of the entire created order. The Gaia hypothesis centers on the thesis that the earth is a living creature. The theory, in fact, imputes a kind of divine power to the Earth.
Romans 1:1-8 – Paul introduces himself as a servant and Apostle of Jesus, who is the Messiah and Son of God, vindicated by HIs resurrection as the Lord.
Historically, America has been known as a nation of committed workers: Phrases such as “rugged individualism,” “pulling oneself up by one’s boot straps,” and the much maligned “Protestant work ethic” are rarely used today. One obvious reason is that America has moved from being an industrial economy to a more service-based economy. Besides, with the COVID pandemic, more people are working from their homes than ever. But the pandemic has also produced what has become known as the “Great Resignation.” Apparently, millions of people have quit working completely.
As Joseph administers relief from the famine, Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons, and then his others sons, securing the promise from Joseph to be buried in the Promised Land.
Having children through surrogacy is increasingly common in the United States, especially the practice of paying women to carry a baby for you. But, other than the United States, only a few countries (e.g., India, Thailand, Ukraine, Mexico) permit paid surrogacy, but even these countries are rethinking the procedure. Thus, there is a significant and growing number of people—generally affluent people—who are coming to the US from Europe, Asia and Australia to have a child via surrogacy. But there are legal and ethical messes that arise in a surrogacy market that is largely unregulated.