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By Al Felder Called to Live Differently When Paul turns to the practical section of Ephesians, he makes it plain that the blessings of salvation are meant to change the way God’s people live. The church is not only called to believe certain truths. It is called to walk in a way that reflects those truths. That is why one of the great obligations laid upon the church is righteousness. This obligation is rooted in the character of God Himself. God is holy, and the people who be

By Al Felder Called to Walk Worthy Ephesians 4 begins with a call for God’s people to live in a way that matches the grace they have received. Paul had already explained what God had done through Christ. Now he turns to what God expects from His people in response. One of the clearest obligations placed upon the church is the obligation of unity. This is not a minor issue. Unity is not an optional extra for especially peaceful Christians. It is part of walking worthy of the c

By Al Felder Brought to Life by the Mercy of God Ephesians 2 begins with a hard truth about the condition of man apart from Christ. Paul does not describe sinners as merely wounded or struggling. He says they were dead in trespasses and sins. That is the real condition of every person outside of Christ. Sin separates man from God, leaves him under condemnation, and places him in a condition he cannot fix by his own power. Paul describes that old life in unmistakable terms. It

The Five Biblical Ministries By Al Felder “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:47) Most congregations talk about growth. Fewer congregations build the kind of ministry system  that can actually sustain growth. But the New Testament makes the relationship simple: The church grows in proportion to its ability to carry out biblical ministry effectively and simultaneously. That last word matters: simultaneously.  Many churches can get one “pla

A Biblical Plan for Growth By Al Felder “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” (Acts 8:4) No one has ever prayed this prayer: “Dear Lord, Please shrink our church because we are too large a congregation. Amen.” Every congregation wants to grow. The questions are more serious than the desire: How does a local church grow? What must be done to sustain growth? And how do we pursue growth without compromising Scripture or losing the spirit

A Faithful New Testament Church By Al Felder “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). Every congregation wants to grow—spiritually, numerically, and in influence for good. But growth cannot be separated from faithfulness. We cannot preserve something unless we know what it is. And we cannot build something lasting unless we are building the thing Christ actually established. So before we talk about “unlimited growth,” we have to d

By Al Felder “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12) God never designed the church to be carried by a handful of people while everyone else watches. He designed it as a body—many members, one life, one purpose, one Lord. In that body, no member is unnecessary, no faithful work is wasted, and no Christian can thrive in isolation. The question is not whether the chu

By Al Felder “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ… to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God” (Ephesians 3:8–10). The church is not an afterthought in God's mind. Before the world was made, God had already purposed redemption in Christ, and the church stands at the center of tha

By Al Felder “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28) Some questions reveal where people truly stand. One of those questions is this: Is church membership required? Scripture answers with clarity: yes . There is no biblical category for a saved person who is disconnected from Christ’s body. If a person is in Christ, the

By Al Felder “Upon this rock I will build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) Jesus said He would build His  church—singular, not plural. That one detail is foundational. If Christ promised one church, why do we see so many different churches today, with different names, doctrines, structures, and practices? That question matters because it goes to the heart of authority: Are we following God’s original design, or are we following

By Al Felder “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord… For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8–9) Creation itself teaches us that God’s wisdom is higher than man’s. The order of the world, the precision of life, and the power of divine design all point to one conclusion: God knows what He is doing. That same truth appears in His design for

By Al Felder “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world : if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight… but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36). When Jesus stood before Pilate, the issue at hand was political. The Jews could not prove any legitimate wrongdoing, so they pressed an accusation that would interest Rome: He claims to be a king.  Pilate’s question—“Art thou the King of the Jews?”—was really a question about threat. Was Jesus leadi

By Al Felder “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed… it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44). History is full of kingdoms that rose with power and fell into dust. Empires have boasted, threatened, conquered, and demanded worship—only to be swallowed by time. But Daniel 2 shows us something different: God’s kingdom is not temporary.  It is not built by human hands. It does not depend on armies, borders, or politics.

By Al Felder “ And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established… and all nations shall flow unto it… for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem ” (Isaiah 2:2–3). People have many ideas about what the church is, when it began, and where it came from. But God did not leave those questions unanswered. Long before the church existed in visible reality, the Lord spoke of it in promise  and p

Part 2 — New Testament Consistency, Word Studies, and Biblical Modesty By Al Felder If the distinction between male and female clothing is rooted in creation and role—rather than in temporary cultural fashion—then we should expect the same principles to remain consistent throughout Scripture. That is exactly what we find. This is not merely an Old Testament concern. The New Testament reinforces distinction, modesty, and purity—often with language that becomes clearer when we

Part 1 — Why God Cares About Distinction By Al Felder From the beginning, God made His design clear: humanity was created “male and female,” with purpose and order woven into creation itself (Genesis 1:26–27). Those differences are not accidents of biology or leftover cultural habits. They are part of God’s wisdom as Creator, and they connect directly to the roles He has given men and women. Our culture often treats gender roles as outdated, but Scripture treats them as meani

By Al Felder “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing: and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17). God has always called His people to be different—not different for attention, but different because we belong to Him. That difference reaches into every part of life: what we value, what we pursue, and how we make decisions. And it absolutely includes the way young people approach relationships. If Christians foll

By Al Felder   “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her” (Genesis 29:20). Our society is built around convenience—getting what we want when we want it. Patience is treated like a weakness, and determination is often replaced with shortcuts. But Genesis reminds us that Jacob’s willingness to work and wait was not meaningless; it showed the kind of seriousness marriage deserves. Marriage is not a casual arrang

By Al Felder “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22). Our world knows the value of preparation. If a man wants to enter a trade, profession, or even a hobby seriously, he is expected to learn, train, and prepare. Yet one of the most important commitments a man can ever make—marriage—is often entered with little thought beyond feelings, attraction, and convenience. That is backwards. Marriage is not something a man should “

By Al Felder   “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Picture the man you want your son to become. You can imagine the externals—his job, the home he lives in, the hobbies he enjoys, the accomplishments he achieves. Then strip all that away. Remove the career, possessions, titles, and status symbols. What do you hope remains? What you find underneath is what matters most: character . When hard pressure comes