Spiritual Maturity Development Network

  Sin can be defined as anything that is responsible for offence to the most holy and sovereign ruler in all of creation. I believe it is fair to say that there is only one original sin. Every other offence to God stems from this one original sin. It is of course idolatry. Without getting too technical and perhaps oversimplifying it one can refine idolatry as the absence of God worship. We were created by God for his purposes and to live in his service fulfilling his purpose for our life. When we chase after anything other than His plan for us we find ourselves in that dangerous place of falling into that idolatry category. It is no secret that every person young and old thrive on validation from significant persons in our life. In some cases it’s our parents in other instances our peers and so on. As a matter of fact, millions of people have reverted to seeking personal validation in an online persona on social media. We were all made to be validated and that is why we crave it. S...

Through the Bible, there are dozens of doctrines that form the foundation of our entire belief systems as Christians. There are many irrefutable doctrines in the Bible. The most important one must be that Jesus died for the sins of mankind. Another one has to be that Jesus is the Son of God. Through the Bible, there are dozens of doctrines that form the foundation of our entire belief systems as Christians. On the flip side of things are those non-specific matters. This will be something that the Bible is not very clear on. One of my favorite chapters along this theme must be Romans fourteen. It’s a classic example of the Bible clearing up confusion on an ambiguous issue. Paul takes some time to discuss the eating of different food types. At the time that the book of Romans was written, there were some debates about certain foods, and their relation to spiritual purity. Some groups claimed that some foods where unclean. Other believers felt that all foodstuffs were acceptable to eat. ...

It really bothered me that so many people across the world were working incredibly hard to connect recent historical events in some way or form to the timeline of end-time prophecy. During some time of fellowship that I was privileged to have with some mates, it happened as it occasionally does that we ended up in the gauntlet of a debate. The conversation followed the watching of a YouTube clip that touched on some apparently relevant issues surrounding the global COVID 19 pandemic and how it relates to the end-times prophecy mentioned in the Bible. This was the latest in a stream of clips that have been coming my way that was focused on discussing, not just covid 19, but also how a number of global events over the last seventy years could be related back to end-time prophecy. It really bothered me that so many people across the world were working incredibly hard to connect recent historical events in some way or form to the timeline of end-time prophecy. Although not one of these spe...

For those alive today the pinnacle of our global experience must be the international spreading and subsequent human response to the Covid-19 pandemic has seen the release of so many schools of thought. During our lives the average person will face dozens of life-changing moments I would go as far as to speculate that at least once in a generation there are external challenges that become the insignia for that generation. For those alive today the pinnacle of our global experience must be the international spreading and subsequent human response to the Covid-19 pandemic has seen the release of so many schools of thought. From these challenges has come a very interesting perspective on human nature. On the one side there is the official World Health Organisation action and on the other side we could see conspiracy theorists. A variety of different schools of thought becomes apparent when one sees how a particular idea is spread and then also how that particular idea flows through the pe...

  In the Book of Matthew 22v37-40 we see that Jesus replied to a trick questions by some Pharisees where they were clearly attempting to lure him into saying some thing that they were able to use against him. His reply of course was inspired and set the new standard for obedience in the Kingdom of heaven. Paraphrased Jesus said we should love the Lord our God above all else and our neighbour’s as ourselves. One can, of course, expound on this passage to no end but I personally like to make things as simple and easy to understand as possible. Comprehension of a concept in my mind requires no real effort to memorize it because I understand it. My thinking may be very simplified but on a layman’s basis, I find that it really gets the message across. Let me begin by saying my love of God is best expressed by obeying his commands. Note that I said commands – plural. This has something to do with the fact that this one commandment has two parts that are applied in substantially different...

 

  In the neighborhood where I live there are just about more churches per square kilometer than there are shops.  When one takes the time to think about why there are so many denominations or individual churches with essentially the same vision of preaching the gospel of Jesus as part of promoting the return of our gracious lord it is a rather puzzling thing to realize that there is such a variety of churches available in so close proximity to one another. In my mind there are only a few reasons why denominational churches have become a real thing in society over the last few hundred years.  On top of the list, at least in my mind, will be a failure to see eye to eye on topics that are considered non-negotiable.    Any member of a church that has adequate social support in a large portion of a particular church may be tempted to part ways with their leaders and in many cases, this results in the division of that particular church.  There are, of course...

  The debate about pro-live VS pro-choice has been raging for a really long time. Strangely though there is very little solid reasoning that I have seen that supports any one of these conceptual ideas, so I decided to look into the topic of abortion for myself. On the face of it, almost everyone has an opinion on whether abortion, although legal in many places all over the world is something we should endorse, allow, appose or outright condemn. Let me start by saying that every person will need to make that choice for themself if or when they face that crossroad in their life. No one is able to make a choice for you and ultimately no none should be allowed to expect you to live your life by their standards. For the average person the choice between Pro-life or pro-choice is deeply seated in the foundations of their personal belief system. If they have a liberal mindset the choice may be an easy pro-choice one. In contrast a person with a substantially more conservative mindset the ...

  Destiny is a word full of promised potential.  Predestination is one that testifies about God’s omnipresent and omniscience.  The challenge with the concept is that it creates room for a debate. a debate that challenges the idea that a person can be destined to end up in a certain place or position and that he or she has no real say in the matter. The way to place predestination in the proper context is to explore the application of the word in the life of an individual.  I am not the most skilled D. I. Y. person I know, and it’s happened on some occasions where the outcome of a personal project does not match the vision that I started out with.  This I attribute partially to my limited abilities, but feel the need to leave room for unexpected obstetrical or challenges along the way. When we say that a person is predestined to achieve certain things in their lives it does not mean that they will automatically reach their predestined position or purpose. Outcom...

  Who has not been in a different region of their country only to notice that the people there sound different from the people in our home town? This same nominally is present in the translations of the Bible.  To complicate matters, even more, the translations of the bibles used in the mainstream of westernized countries have been translated into their local dialect of mostly English.  To add insult to injury there are some substantial shortfalls for younger languages in relation to older languages.    Adding to the complexities of the language they seem to evolve with time and the introduction of new concepts and technologies.  For the most part, ancient languages like Hebrew and Greek were created and used in a cultural setting that most westernized communities have limited or no understanding.  Let’s look for example to the word hell. In the English language, hell is simply hell, but in ancient languages, the words Gehenna, Hades, Death, Sheol, Tar...