This is inspired by an exchange with @Van and I am curious to his, and others, position on this. Where does faith come from? Does it come from God? Or does it come from us? Where does it originate?

so what’s the difference? Is conversion the first step to following Christ or is it the full enchilada?

Then what about being born from above. Is it connected to conversation (part of the package) or is it something else and is it a requirement of joking a Baptist Church?

Luke 23:43 NLT
[43] And Jesus replied, "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise."

I was introduced to this possibility last week by a family member.

This is a different translation problem than most of you are use to. This is not about advanced Greek grammar or the arguing over which word to use or what a word actually means. For this translation, one really has to ask what was intended.

Personally, I would like it to be “before” because it feels nicer to jump straight to...

There are lots of scriptures ABOUT Faith, and people like to argue about where Faith comes from, but WHAT IS Faith?
Is faith the same as belief, or is it something more?

Why Is It Your Business How Other People Worship?
What business is it of yours how other people worship? What gives you the right to force your way on me? We all have different personalities, learning modalities, and preferences.
But worship in the church is not some lifestyle decision to be made. It is not a place to mind ones own business. Especially not now, not here.
For most of church history, this idea of individual worship preferences would have been nonsense. Even as schism and...

‘Slide Into Apostasy’: Top Southern Baptist Leaders Sing Lynyrd Skynyrd Before Thousands of Pastors at ‘Send Luncheon’

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Top leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention took to the stage on Monday during the North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) “Send Luncheon,” and donning wigs, hats and electric guitars, sang karaoke to the Lynyrd Skynyrd hit “Sweet Home Alabama” for the thousands of pastors who had gathered for the event. Video footage of the performance, which is a part...

I’ve noticed a trend to speak about other people rather than doctrines that those people may advocate. Sometimes this is due to false assumptions of other people, sometimes it is due to doctrinal disagreements, and sometimes simple miscommunication.

When I consider the topic there are passages that come to mind (James 3:2 teaches us to control our speech; Titus 3: 2-2 tells us that Christians are to “speak evil of no one”, and 1 Peter 2:1 has Christians laying aside all evil speaking).

We...

Ｍａｔｔ Ｅｓｔｅｓ on Twitter

Dr. Flowers man-centered theology coming out.

". . . the dead were judged . . . according to their works. . . ." -- Revelation 20:12.

Matthew 7:22, etc.

Did Jesus Christ die for everyone without exception, that is, the entire human race, from the time of Adam, to the last person on earth? Or, did Jesus Christ die for only a certain few, that is, the "elect"?

I believe that one text from the New Testament, among many others, is very clear to the fact, that Jesus Christ not only died for a limited number of sinners, those He chose before the foundation of this world, His "elect", as some Reformed and Calvinists put it.

The text is from The...