Category Archives: Theology

Posted on

Jewish Lives Matter

A Letter to the Editor This Christmas 2018

by

I would like you to consider helping me get this inter-denominational Letter to the Editor of the Virginian-Pilot signed by Catholic priests in the Hampton Roads area. We have about 20 signatures from a wide variety of  protestant pastors so far. 
Here is an opportunity for protestant and catholic leaders to stand together on the right side of an issue: anti-semitism and the debt we Christians owe to Jewish people.
I have included a link to a form to help record the title and name of each signing leader: Click here to sign
Here is the proposed letter to the Editor of the Virginian-Pilot:
Jewish Lives Matter

This Christmas, Christians everywhere celebrate the birth of a Jewish man named Jesus born in Israel. Christians believe Jesus to be the Jewish Messiah, promised in the Old Testament.

While it is always appropriate to honor Jewish people for their many contributions to mankind,  it is even more important for Americans to honor them now, in the aftermath of the recent massacre at an American synagogue.

As Christian leaders in Hampton Roads, we wish to publicly express our gratitude, respect and love for our Jewish neighbors.  Christianity would not exist without the Jews.

The Old Testament—the Scriptures Jesus followed— was obviously written by Jews.   The New Testament was entirely written by Jews, with the possible exception of Luke’s Gospel.  Jesus was a Jew. All of his apostles were Jewish. Most of the early church were Jews.   Jesus said He came initially only to serve Jews.  Jesus said, “Salvation is from the Jews.”

This Christmas season we encourage the people of Hampton Roads to honor your Jewish neighbors. We encourage you to thank them for their courage, their incredible wisdom and for their generous forgiveness for all that non-Jews have done to them for over 2000 years.

Posted on

“Once Upon a Time” Christmas Story Contest

Win $100 for the best original story!

by

Why Christmas Fantasy Stories?: Artistic expressions of biblical truth can have a huge impact on readers!!  The new movie, The Star, is one such example: the birth of Jesus as told by animals.  Although, I think some of you could have written a better script for that movie–one that gave more prominence to Jesus!

Why should you enter this contest?

1. To make this very familiar Christmas story fresh to you and others again.

2. To encourage you to use your sanctified imagination to express timeless biblical truths. The second most read book in the world for hundreds of years was an allegory about Christian discipleship called Pilgrims Progress The Bible was and is the most read book in the world. Thank God!

How?  You could tell the story from the viewpoint of an animal, an angel, an insect, etc. Have the main characters be animals, insects, fantasy creatures, etc. Pray and us your imagination. Just try to describe the birth of Jesus: why He came to earth and how He came.

Rules:
Anyone of any age or any religion can enter. This is a global contest
Write 1000 words in English or less telling about the birth of Jesus in a way that has never been told. Original art can be included to illustrate the story.
A panel of three judges will pick the final winners.
The winner agrees to have his story published on my website, bobfox.org

Send story submissions to me at this email address.

The Deadline is Sunday, December 17 by 3 PM EST ( USA)
The winner will be announced by December 24 in my newsletter, Partners in all three editions: local, USA and International. The winning story and some runner-up stories will also be published on my website ( if the runner-up authors agrees)

I hope some of you will do this. Whatever you write, you will probably never forget it and Christmas will come alive for you in a new way and for all you share your story with.

Mary Christmas!—the kind Mary had—-all about Jesus!

Pastor Bob Fox

Posted on

Why All Protestants Need to Thank the Catholic Church

Especially on the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation this Year!

by

As Protestants celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, all Christians can remember with sadness the necessary split of Christendom by the Protestant Reformation to correct some very bad Catholic theology. Pope Francis, the current Pope, has even praised Luther as a great reformer.

What is missing in this 500th Anniversary–and what has been missing for at least 500 years–are public expressions of gratitude from Protestants to Catholics for giving Protestants the New Testament!

While there are 5800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament and another 10,000 in other languages, the main Greek manuscripts for our beloved Protestant New Testament were all copied by hand for centuries only by Roman Catholics–mostly by humble monks whose names are known only to God and others in heaven. I can’t wait to hug them and thank them in person! 

I propose that we send a Letter to the Editor of the Virginian-Pilot this month to publically thank and honor the Roman Catholic Church for giving us our priceless New Testament.

It is hard to imagine how we or the world could know about Jesus and the Gospel today without the Catholic manuscripts of the Greek New Testament from which most Bible today draw their source.

Posted on

Three Florida Churches Report on the Toronto Blessing in February, 1995

Lessons to Learn Before the Next Move of God!

by

These are extraordinary letters written by three church pastors in Florida that show even an anti-charismatic church responding well to this move of God that has been so controversial. The friendship of the pastors made this all possible. Their love for one another before this move allowed them to trust each other enough to test out this move together. Well worth the read!

I know a lot about all this. I was heavily involved in it for years. God changed my life in wonderful ways. I also learned some hard lessons about myself and about others.  I love the leaders of the Toronto Blessing–The Arnotts and Randy Clark. They are very dear to me.

Another wave of revival is coming. I can feel it in my spirit. Many people can worldwide.  We need to learn from this last move of God so we can coach others to live in revival times for the greatest glory of God and for the salvation of millions!

The letters can be found here.

Posted on

Does God Want His Children to Confess Their Sins to Him?

A new debate. Why?

by

Anyone who says they love someone and chooses not to apologize when they hurt them–deliberately or not–is very confused about how to have a close, loving relationship. If we love God and yet sin against him, we should apologize and ask forgiveness to repair the quality of the relationship. If we sin seriously and persistently, we can lose any relationship–even with God. ( viz. “Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. 13But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.” –Matt. 24:13

God’s People Have Always Confessed Sin

The Jews repented for their sins for 1500 years–at God’s command.

Jesus ( Who is THE TRUTH ( i.e. He cannot say anything that is not eternally true. He only said what the Father told Him to say) taught His disciples to confess sin for forgiveness ( Lord’s prayer), the early church confessed its sins ( 1 John 1:8-9 is written to Christians–as are all the books of the Bible. There is no real proof to the contrary).

God warned the Ephesian Church to repent or face severe discipline:
Rev. 2:5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place — unless you repent.”

Why would God suddenly not want His children to confess sins to repair the quality of the relationship? Heb 12 teaches that God disciplines us so we will become more righteous–because He loves us, like a good Father.

This new-fangled teaching ( 10 years old?) that we do not need to confess sin to repair the closeness of our relationship with God is pure nonsense. It does not work in any human relationship and humans were made in God’s image. That should tell you something.

We want apologies because God wants apologies –and He has always taught His children to confess and apologize. He wants us to confess and repent of sin so He can bless us more. Every command is meant to open new pathways to bless and protect us.

His discipline for unrepentant sin is to give us more motivation to repent so He can draw closer to us and bless us more. That’s what a good Father does!!