Clearly, prayer is an area where believers experience spiritual warfare. Our spiritual enemy is fully aware of the power and promises available to us in prayer. He knows that every major spiritual revival began with prayer. He knows we are all called to be “praying menaces” to his cause. Therefore, he fights us from every angle to keep us from praying effectively. The devil launches his weapons of mass distraction to keep us too preoccupied with other things to take time to really connect with God. He bombards us with fiery darts of doubt to keep us from praying in faith to the One who is “a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Our enemy seeks to discourage us at every turn because he is threatened by believers and congregations that take prayer seriously and pursue Christ passionately.

As far as my understanding, the science on the homosexual gene Xq28 is still debateable. However, even if it is determined that there is such a gene (though I still have my doubts), it would not destroy the Christian faith. The source of evil in the world is the sin gene. We are sinners not because we sin but we sin because we are sinners. We have a sin nature handed down to us from the sin of Adam. We are however responsible for our own sin. If a person had the murder gene or gossip gene, they would still be responsible to control their actions. A tendency toward a certain behavior because of nurture or nature still demands that the person be responsibe for their behavior. Jesus Christ came to take the penalty for all of our sinful behavior as well as set us free from the power that sin has over us.

Here is a good start:

John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 1:14 – “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 5:18 – “For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”
John 8:24 - “I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins.”
Note: In the Greek, “He” is not there.
John 8:58 – “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’”
Exodus 3:14 – “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
John 10:30-33 – “I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
John 20:28 – “Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Col. 2:9 – “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”
Phil. 2:5-8 - “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Heb. 1:8 – “But of the Son He says, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.”
Quoted from Psalm 45:6, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom.”

Full Question: When the Apostles were in the boat and Jesus was walking on water they got scared it says because they thought he was a ghost? Are there ghosts then? I know there are Demons/Evil Spirits, which I have always assumed where the Angels that fell with Lucifer. Now, it couldn’t be that the Apostles mistook Jesus for them, could it? If not, then what are ghosts?

Answer: Interesting question. It is not the normal word for ghost or spirit in the Greek–pneuma. It is the word phantasma, which refers to an apparition, a creature of the imagination, and is the word from which we get the English word phantom. Since the Scripture does not speak of ghosts as some fiction writers, I would say that they just frightfully screamed out a word to describe an experience they could not explain. The only spirits I am aware of are angelic spirits (good or evil) or as in the transfiguration (manifestations of redeemed people by the will of God).

THE RESURRECTION of CHRIST- Introduction
It’s often said that the validity of Christianity rests upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But how do we know Jesus rose from the dead?

THE RESURRECTION of CHRIST- A Historical Event
As Paul noted in 1 Corinthians 15:14, if Christ did not rise from the dead then our preaching and our faith are useless. We must therefore be prepared to demonstrate that Christ’s resurrection was an event that occurred in space and time — that it was in fact historical, and not mythological (cf. 2 Pet. 1:16). The importance of this event cannot be minimized as Jesus Himself proclaimed that His resurrection would prove His power over death, and thus His deity (John 2:18-22).

THE RESURRECTION of CHRIST- Appearances and Appeals
Of the variety of evidence for the resurrection of Christ we have available, none is more compelling than the fact that over five hundred individuals saw Jesus (1 Cor. 15:6) during a 40-day period following His death and burial (Acts 1:3). In fact, the Apostles appealed to Christ’s resurrection and the evidence of the resurrection of Christ as proof for the truth of the gospel (Acts 17:18, 31). The historical evidence for the resurrection is so compelling that the famed Harvard law professor, Simon Greenleaf, concluded that any cross-examination of the eyewitness testimonies recorded in Scripture will result in “an undoubting conviction of their integrity, ability, and truth.”

THE RESURRECTION of CHRIST- Alternative Explanations?
And even as we consider alternative explanations, reason drives us back to the conclusion that Christ rose from the dead and the resurrection of Christ was true. We know that the Romans had no intentions of stealing Christ’s body because the last thing they wanted was any turmoil that was sure to follow such an event. The Jewish religious leaders would also have no motive in stealing the body since that would only stir up the very movement they tried to crush. And certainly, the disciples could not have stolen the body; after all, would anyone really suffer and die for a cause that they knew to be a lie? It is conceivable that someone may die for the truth, but inconceivable that hundred’s of his follower’s would, in fact, be willing to die for what they knew to be a lie.

All this leads us to only one possibility — that Jesus indeed rose from the dead, and lives to be our Lord and our Savior (cf. Rev. 1:18)!

John being the forerunner of the Messiah and a prophet similar to Samuel; was given a special position while being called to live a life of discipline. Asceticism in the life and office of a prophet sees parallels in someone like Samuel from the Old Testament. John’s calling to refrain from “strong drink”, an intoxicating drink not made from grapes (similar to beer) could also speak to the Nazirite vow from Numbers 6:2-6 and Judges 13:4-5. The Nazirite vow for the Israelite was a special time of consecration to God; although the vow could be temporary, in the cases of Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist the commitment was to be life-long.

A passage sometimes called the “Protoevangelium” – Genesis 3:15

“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

When the rapture takes place and the Lord calls His Church to meet Him in the clouds, our bodies will be part of this momentous event in salvation history. – Good References: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53

One view about the destination of OT saints after death uses Luke 16:19-31 as an important reference, it answers the question by pointing to Hades (Sheol in Hebrew) as the locale of persons who died prior to the work of Christ through His death and resurrection. Hades was the resting place of the dead and seemingly had two compartments to it; one for the wicked unto torment with the other being for the righteous onto blessing waiting for the Messiah.

The first question that needs to be addressed is what exactly makes someone a Christian? It is more than just saying a two minute prayer, showing up to church sometimes or even reading a sacred book during the week; being a Christian means becoming a new creation in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:17) Romans makes it clear of the believer’s justification through faith in Christ; to be justified means to be “declared righteous” (Romans 5) and speaks to the reality of God’s complete work in forgiving someone from their sins. Scripture also makes it clear you will know true believers by their works (James 2) and love for one another (John 13:35); in other words, there is a genuine/real change that has taken place in the hearts of those who have truly accepted Christ. Being a Christian is believing in the person and work of Jesus Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit who regenerates (Titus 3:4-7 and John 3:5) the dead soul from death unto life, it is a reality lived out through faith and not just religious activity. The person who decides to change religions or reject Christ is not a real Christian getting “unsaved”; instead its a man or woman who never truly encountered the grace of God to begin with.