If the word of God is water, the history of Man is like a vast desert, with a spring here and there. You would think, that being the case, that we would all find ourselves …
The Gospel of Mark #4
Listen; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some …
Interpreting the Bible
I had a friend some time ago who loved to argue the Bible, and whenever we got to a certain point, he would say Well, the Bible says what it means and it means what …
Introduction to the New Testament #12
The Book of Acts sits in a pivotal position in the New Testament. The early Church fathers tended to speak of the New Testament in terms of Gospels and Epistles, but Acts fits in a …
Introduction to the New Testament #11
The Gospel according to John is a very special book. If you ask me to explain why, I would have a hard time telling you. It is the fourth Gospel, but some scholars think it …
Introduction to the New Testament #10
We take the reading of histories for granted, and it is hard to realize that most people haven’t got a clue what it takes to actually write a history. People call Herodotus the Father of …
Introduction to the New Testament #9
Among the earliest Christians, Mark did not command the attention of the Fathers. According to Everett Harrison, they placed Matthew and Luke in the most prominent positions. But Harrison also notes that in modern times …
The Gospel of Mark #3
And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, …
Whatever Happened to the Bible?
When I was a lot younger, I was associated with a church that was, hands down, the most Bible-reading group of people I have ever known. With all of the faults of that generation and …
Introduction to the New Testament #8
When you pick up the Bible to begin reading the New Testament, you will commonly start with Matthew. It may come as a surprise to you to learn that the Gospel itself makes no claim …
Introduction to the New Testament #7
There is little to learn from the order in which the books of the New Testament are presented in the Bibles we have today. There is no evidence that there is an inspired order. And …
Introduction to the New Testament #6
The New Testament is really an amazing set of documents. It is only logical to ask how it got written in the first place. We have already talked about how it was transmitted to us, …
Introduction to the New Testament #5
The New Testament is really a miracle in every way. We now know that most of the books that form our New Testament were written in a short period between AD 50 and the destruction …
The Gospel of Mark #2
And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after …
About the Old Testament
What did the First Christians believe about the Old Testament? I might as well have asked what they believed about the Bible because, as the faith developed, the Old Testament was all the written word …
Introduction to the New Testament #4
When you think about it, it is a logical question. Why didn’t Jesus write his own book? For that matter, why didn’t an angel hand the prophets a golden plate with prophecies written by the …
Introduction to the New Testament #3
It is of some interest that the New Testament church soldiered on for some 20 years before anyone wrote down anything that has remained for us to look at. (The fact that transitory papyrus was …
Introduction to the New Testament #2
When you sit down to read the New Testament, you encounter a strange cast of characters. I say strange—but only strange to us. The New Testament writers didn’t bother to explain, because all these characters …
Introduction to the New Testament #1
Imagine that you are in a room, all by yourself. No one else is there. No one else is supposed to be there. You are in the process of carrying out a rather simple task, …
The Gospel of Mark #1
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. The …
If Not Christmas, What?
Jesus was not born on December 25. On the evening of Jesus’ birth, there were shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Shepherds, they tell us, would not have been …
The Resurrection
For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 Even if …
Church Music: Blessing or Burden?
Maybe I shouldn’t be so critical of contemporary church music. After all, even Johann Sebastian Bach was reprimanded by his pastor for his “modern music”. Bach was criticized, not because his music was bad, but …
Why Do You Believe What You Believe?
Where did you get your beliefs? Can you remember your first ideas about God, or how old you were when you first became aware of the existence of God? Maybe you remember praying as a …
An Uneasy Thanksgiving
As I sit down to my Thanksgiving dinner this year, one of the things I am thankful for is that we still have Thanksgiving Day. And I find myself mildly surprised that we still do. …
Saving the World
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has …
The Day of Atonement
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also …
Trumpets and the Resurrection
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, …
Is There Life After Divorce?
“Let none be faithless to the wife of his youth. For I hate divorce, says the Lord the God of Israel.” Divorce is painful. If you have been through a divorce, you need no one …
Baptized with Fire
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall …
The Body of Christ
The Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for …
Tracks of the Devil
If you were in the forest and were looking for evidence that a particular kind of animal lived in the area, you would look for the unique signs and tracks that would tell you the …
An Anxious Faith
And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Mark 9:24 Jennifer’s husband was going into the hospital on Monday for open heart surgery. …
Could Christ Return Tonight?
View PostThe Design
I have to see my eye doctor three times a year, and I am always left waiting in his examination room. The walls there are covered with pictures and diagrams of the human eye. I …
Governing Sheep
What is the shape of a flock of sheep? This probably belongs on a list of the world’s most meaningless questions, for a flock of sheep has no shape. It is a collection of living …
Basic Christianity: The Opening Gambit
The Christian faith must seem downright confusing to an onlooker. Even the largest, seemingly the most monolithic Christian denominations are, in reality, composed of many factions. Unless you are an insider, you can remain unaware …
Second and Third Tithes
View PostA Funeral Service for Anyone
When we are young, we are a little unsure about funerals. We don’t like to think about death and we are uncomfortable being around people who are grieving. We don’t know how to feel, and …
A Second Chance?
“There are two kinds of people in the world,” intoned the preacher, “the saved and the lost. There is no middle ground with God.” Now there is a sobering thought. If indeed there are only …
The Word Was Precious
If the word of God is water, the history of Man is like a vast desert, with a spring here and there. You would think, that being the case, that we would all find ourselves …
The Gospel of Mark #4
Listen; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some …
Interpreting the Bible
I had a friend some time ago who loved to argue the Bible, and whenever we got to a certain point, he would say Well, the Bible says what it means and it means what …
Introduction to the New Testament #12
The Book of Acts sits in a pivotal position in the New Testament. The early Church fathers tended to speak of the New Testament in terms of Gospels and Epistles, but Acts fits in a …
Introduction to the New Testament #11
The Gospel according to John is a very special book. If you ask me to explain why, I would have a hard time telling you. It is the fourth Gospel, but some scholars think it …
Introduction to the New Testament #10
We take the reading of histories for granted, and it is hard to realize that most people haven’t got a clue what it takes to actually write a history. People call Herodotus the Father of …
Introduction to the New Testament #9
Among the earliest Christians, Mark did not command the attention of the Fathers. According to Everett Harrison, they placed Matthew and Luke in the most prominent positions. But Harrison also notes that in modern times …
The Gospel of Mark #3
And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, …
Whatever Happened to the Bible?
When I was a lot younger, I was associated with a church that was, hands down, the most Bible-reading group of people I have ever known. With all of the faults of that generation and …
Introduction to the New Testament #8
When you pick up the Bible to begin reading the New Testament, you will commonly start with Matthew. It may come as a surprise to you to learn that the Gospel itself makes no claim …
Introduction to the New Testament #7
There is little to learn from the order in which the books of the New Testament are presented in the Bibles we have today. There is no evidence that there is an inspired order. And …
Introduction to the New Testament #6
The New Testament is really an amazing set of documents. It is only logical to ask how it got written in the first place. We have already talked about how it was transmitted to us, …
Introduction to the New Testament #5
The New Testament is really a miracle in every way. We now know that most of the books that form our New Testament were written in a short period between AD 50 and the destruction …
The Gospel of Mark #2
And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after …
About the Old Testament
What did the First Christians believe about the Old Testament? I might as well have asked what they believed about the Bible because, as the faith developed, the Old Testament was all the written word …
Introduction to the New Testament #4
When you think about it, it is a logical question. Why didn’t Jesus write his own book? For that matter, why didn’t an angel hand the prophets a golden plate with prophecies written by the …
Introduction to the New Testament #3
It is of some interest that the New Testament church soldiered on for some 20 years before anyone wrote down anything that has remained for us to look at. (The fact that transitory papyrus was …
Introduction to the New Testament #2
When you sit down to read the New Testament, you encounter a strange cast of characters. I say strange—but only strange to us. The New Testament writers didn’t bother to explain, because all these characters …
Introduction to the New Testament #1
Imagine that you are in a room, all by yourself. No one else is there. No one else is supposed to be there. You are in the process of carrying out a rather simple task, …
The Gospel of Mark #1
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. The …