By -

Greetings,
 
The arrival of June means that it is officially Summer. For some of us that means summer school has started, for others it is vacation time or time with family. Hopefully it includes a change of pace for ministry and a chance to work on some special projects.

 FGA has been busy this spring. We have had three very successful Regional Conferences. In March we had one in Phoenix. In April we held a conference in Salem, Oregon. In May we had our first Regional Conference in Tampa, Florida and we're looking forward to one more Regional Conference this month in Charlotte, North Carolina with Dr. Norm Geisler and Dr. Charlie Bing speaking. If you are close to the area I encourage you to attend. I invite you to look at some of the write ups and the photos of these conferences that we have posted on our website.

I also want to encourage you to save the date for the National FGA Conference in Irving, Texas October 14-16. Our theme this year is Grace for Saints and Sinners: 1 Corinthians and our speakers will include Dr. Ron Allen, Professor of Old Testament from Dallas Seminary, Dr. Charlie Bing, Dr Roger Fankhauser, Dr. Jody Dillow, Dr. Ken Wilson, Dr. Sukhwant Bhatia and me. We also will have a full slate of workshop speakers, including a special workshop for the women taught by Linda Dillow; along with ministry booths, and of course plenty of books to peruse and purchase.


One of the ministries of FGA is providing resources that help in theological education and ministry opportunities. I would like to point you toward a new research paper that will be helpful regarding the interpretation of James 2:14-26. Much has been written on this key text regarding Free Grace Theology; but not much has been done on James 2:1-13 and the context. I encourage you to read a paper on our website titled: JAMES 2:1-QUESTION or COMMAND? An Examination of the Grammatical Ambiguity in Translating James 2:1, the Exegetical Significance of Each Translation Option, and the Context of the Passage as the Determining Factor in Translation by J.L. Phillips. Now that is a mouthful, but it is a great description. And what is more important is the significance this has for a Free Grace interpretation to James 2:14-26. I encourage you to take a look at this new article. Jeff is a new member to FGA, a superb exegete, and will be able to contribute at many levels in the Free Grace movement.


The strength of FGA is you! As pastors, teachers, writers, speakers, evangelists and leaders, you influence our country and our world in a variety of ways with the message of the grace of God. FGA is simply all of us, as we use our gifts and opportunities to serve the Lord Jesus and tell a lost and dying world about His free gift of the glorious grace of God.


Serving Him with you
Until He comes for us,
 
Dr. Fred Chay
President, FGA

 

 

Popular posts from this blog

A Change of Mind about Repentance: Do you Dare?

By -
By Dr. Fred Lybrand   Repentance has been a sticky issue and has been around as a major conversation piece since the Reformation. I know, because ‘my view’ (which I found out I share with Dr. Elliot Johnson of Dallas Theological Seminary) has been labeled an error by those involved in the Marrow of Divinity Controversy way back in the 1600s! Of course, no need to get excited, every view on the planet and throughout history is an error to someone or some group.   So, the issue of concern here --- is repentance necessary to get saved (as in from-hell-to-heaven)? If it is necessary, then is it a part of saving faith? These are the essential questions. There are many views, often being represented as repentance meaning the necessary turning from all known sin (and interest in future sin, usually) to ‘believe’ in Christ. In this regard, some purveyors of salvation make repentance as much of a part of faith as they do works (see http://www.backtofaith.com ).   I have a b...
Read more

Antinomianism and Free Grace Theology

By -
By Dr. Roger Fankhauser, FGA Executive Council member and the pastor of Burleson Bible Church in Burleson, Texas.  Dr. Fankhauser can be reached at rsfankhauser at bellsouth dot net.   Antinomianism.   A fancy word meaning “lawless”.   Many who don’t get the free grace message accuse us of practicing and teaching antinomianism. They think – wrongly – that the free grace message is light on sin and light on obedience. The author of a recent best-selling book describes the message that he alleges some present this way: “We have been told all that is required is a one-time decision, maybe even mere intellectual assent to Jesus, but after that we need not worry about his commands, his standards, or his glory. We have a ticket to heaven, and we can live however we want on earth. Our sin will be tolerated along the way….” Another well-known author put it this way: “What is no-Lordship theology (the author’s name for free grace theology) but the teaching that those w...
Read more

Understanding Hebrews 10:26: Is Christ’s Sacrifice Sufficient for Me?

By -
Image
(Originally posted at thegracelings.org) Bible wasn’t given to us as a bunch of unconnected verses that all make perfect sense on their own. Sometimes, without the context, verses can sound like they mean the opposite of what the authors meant by what they wrote. It’s a terrible thing, but many times people take advantage of this fact and use isolated verses in a way that hurts people and devastates their walk with Christ. (Sometimes it’s out of ignorance. Sometimes it’s malicious. It’s always tragic.) It’s especially common for people to cite Scripture out of context in order to cause believers to doubt Christ’s love for them or the security of their salvation. This article is about one verse that is often used this way. It’s Hebrews 10:26, which reads, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (NKJV, same throughout the article). Often, people throw this verse out there on social media like a grenade wi...
Read more