Ben Gatrelle tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2011://1 2011-07-14T02:12:21Z Movable Type Pro 5.04 Giving with Wisdom and Love tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2011://1.415 2011-07-14T03:00:46Z 2011-07-14T02:12:21Z Most of us will never be called on to lay down our life. But we may be called on to be inconvenienced, to give more than we think we can, to be stretched beyond our boundaries, to forgive, to be taken advantage of, to bless and not curse. But what may be hardest thing of all is saying, "no" when someone in need calls on us to act. The Theology In Worship tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2011://1.408 2011-06-28T12:59:08Z 2011-06-29T03:38:43Z I've been thinking lately not so much about the theology of worship but about theology IN worship, specifically in worship through song. Everyone Loves Free Stuff! tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2011://1.407 2011-05-04T03:24:06Z 2011-05-04T04:41:15Z I have a confession to make. I like free stuff. I remember when I was a kid signing up at the Baskin Robbins ice cream shop to get a free scoop on my birthday. Boy, I couldn't wait for that postcard to come in the mail just before my birthday saying I could bring it in for a free cone. To this day I still like getting stuff for free. I mean, who doesn't right? It's All about Grace tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2011://1.406 2011-04-18T21:55:10Z 2011-05-07T02:22:45Z Can the church survive, can we as individuals survive, believing false teachings, untruth, near truth, almost truth? Of course. But God wants us to walk in spiritual health. He wants us to walk in truth because He is truth... When we tell people that God is Love, we are not saying that's all he is. He is also righteous, and holy, and just. Grow in the Knowledge of Christ tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2011://1.404 2011-04-12T03:34:56Z 2011-04-12T13:30:26Z We must come to God with a childlike faith. But we must grow in knowledge like an adult... So we become students of Jesus. We study the word of God so that we might know truth from error. You must know what is true, so that you can say: This is outside of the truth. This is counterfeit. The Hierarchy of Blessing tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2010://1.248 2010-07-27T17:23:36Z 2010-07-29T04:02:51Z God wants to bless his church and God wants to bless the marriages of his people. But our God is a god of order, and he has established a way in which his blessing will flow. God is the head over all. Christ is over the church and over man. Man is over the woman. Blessing and favor fall from God and flow down through his established order. Introduction to A Love God Rewards tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2010://1.247 2010-03-06T18:50:21Z 2010-03-08T23:29:21Z Many have asked, so just what's this book about anyway? The working title is "A Love God Rewards." Through it I want to encourage married couples in their relationships and for single people to know just how God loves them and why marriage is sacred. We will touch on the topics of divorce, sex, sacrificial love, and the longing God has for relationship with you. We will look at why we strive to do good on this earth and the nature of God's eternal rewards. So with that introduction welcome to the introduction to "A Love God Rewards." When He Cried Unto Him He Heard tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2010://1.243 2010-01-06T00:00:01Z 2011-06-28T22:28:02Z In this two part article, Why Have You Forsaken Me, we will take a look at the common belief of why Jesus in his last hours cried out to God saying, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" We will look at scriptures and logic to prove that God in fact did not forsake Christ. That Christ himself was once again being an example to us of how we should not let our emotions or feelings rule over us and lead us to places contrary to what God through the scriptures has told us. Let God's Truth Rule Your Heart tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2010://1.242 2010-01-06T00:00:00Z 2010-01-06T00:56:25Z In this two part article, Why Have You Forsaken Me, we will take a look at the common belief of why Jesus in his last hours cried out to God saying, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" We will look at scriptures and logic to prove that God in fact did not forsake Christ. That Christ himself was once again being an example to us of how we should not let our emotions or feelings rule over us and lead us to places contrary to what God through the scriptures has told us. The Last Trumpet Sounds the End tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2009://1.241 2009-12-04T22:04:35Z 2009-12-08T16:12:28Z A recent discussion prompted me to review the scriptures and the reasons why I believe Christ's return to establish his kingdom, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the "translation" of the living saints, commonly called "the rapture" all happen at the same time, at the blowing of the "Last Trumpet" of 1 Cor 15:52. I Will Not Let Go tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2009://1.240 2009-09-14T02:07:04Z 2009-09-29T23:01:49Z This essay is written for all those to whom God has made promises that have yet to be fulfilled. It is an encouraging word to you and in defense of Jacob who held on to the promises God made to him in spite of opposition and struggles. Jacob is a man whom God loved and promised to bless from before he was even born. God's Divorce Certificate tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2009://1.232 2009-08-07T22:00:00Z 2009-09-14T04:23:00Z Romans 9:6 "Not all of the people of Israel are the true people of God." (New Contemporary Version) "For it is not everybody who is a descendant of Jacob (Israel) who belongs to [the true] Israel." (Amplified version) "For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel." (New International Version) Laying A Fleece Before The Lord tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2009://1.230 2009-06-20T02:31:50Z 2010-02-08T23:07:46Z What it means to "Lay a fleece before the Lord." How do we test to make sure what we are hearing is indeed from God? on Eternal Life tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2009://1.231 2009-05-21T04:59:43Z 2009-05-21T21:54:10Z I have been saved. I am being saved. I will be saved. God inhabits eternity. He sees the end from the beginning. Revelation 13:8 states that Christ, the Lamb, was slain from the foundation of the world. And yet the Bible says, today is the day of salvation. Eternal life comes through belief in the son. 1 John 5:11-13 says that if you have the son you have life. If you don't have the son you don't have life... Eternal Rewards tag:www.bengatrelle.com,2009://1.223 2009-02-26T22:49:49Z 2009-02-27T22:03:29Z The problem I have with a quantitative rewards system is that it is based on a totally false type of relationship with God. The nature of our relationship with God is a love relationship. We love Him because he first loved us. We do things that are pleasing to God because we love him and want to please him. He in turn does things for us and gives us good gifts because he loves us.