Paul and Olena Miles with Grace Abroad Ministries
People often wonder if they have lost their salvation or whether or not they even were saved in the first place. When we boil it down, they may not really be doubting their eternal destiny, but rather the source of their salvation, that is to say, they may be doubting their savior.
And that can actually be a good thing.[Read More]
My two favorite tracts in the universe are “You can be eternally secure” and “The best news you’ll ever hear” by Bob Bryant. I don’t often distribute tracts to the masses as I’m more of a “Let’s grab some coffee and talk about what the Bible says” kind of guy (which, is another thing that I’ve picked up from Bob Bryant), but I do like tracts and have used them to facilitate further biblical discussion.1[Read More]
In Matt 24:13, Jesus says the famous words:
But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (ESV)
Perhaps the most common understanding of this passage is that we must endure in good works to the end of our physical lives to be saved from hell. This understanding contradicts Paul’s words in Eph 2:8a:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. (ESV)
Lev Tolstoy is regarded as one of the best novelists ever. He was born in 1828, raised in the Russian Orthodox Church, and excommunicated in 1901. Surely there have been others who abandoned Orthodox thinking to a degree much worse than Tolstoy, but usually such people disappear into ambiguity without their thoughts being recorded. Tolstoy, on the other hand, left behind some of the world’s most epic works along with diaries and even posthumous publications that tell us where things went wrong.
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Hanukkah had begun in Jerusalem. It was winter and Jesus was walking around in the temple at Solomon’s Porch, so the Jews surrounded Him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us bluntly.”
Jesus answered them, “I told you and you don’t believe. The work that I do in the name of My Father testifies on my behalf, but you don’t believe, since you are not from My sheep, as I’ve told you. My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me and I give them everlasting life and they will never ever perish and nobody will pry them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all and nobody can pry them from the hand of My Father; My Father and I are one.” (John 10:22-30)
They hold an annual book festival here in Lviv, so I went out there with a camera to see what I could see. It was a lot of fun, but I couldn’t help but be grieved by something. I believe that everyone struggles with questions like, “Who am I?” “Where did I come from?” “Where am I going?” “What should I be doing in the meantime?” These questions are just too big to ignore. At the book forum, I met some people who are looking for the answers to these questions in all the wrong places. It really puts into perspective how important it is that we are here doing what we do: translation, teaching, and outreach. Here are some pictures:[Read More]
