There is nothing new about surrogate motherhood, you know. In fact, there is an example of it in the Bible—and it carried with it then the same pitfalls and potential for discord as it does …
What Is God Doing? #10
Everyone loves a mystery, so I have a good one for you. There is this shadowy Old Testament character who appears only once in the historical accounts of the Bible. His name is Melchizedek, and …
What Is God Doing? #9
What in the world is God doing? And what does religion have to do with it? I know it may sound a little strange to ask, but asking strange questions is sometimes what teachers do. …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #6
The Temple was a stage upon which the plan of God was played out and, metaphorically, the ministry of Jesus played for all to learn of and look forward to complete forgiveness in Christ. Then …
The Predestined Life
Are all the events of your life already written down somewhere? Does an inexorable fate drive you onwards to some destiny that you can’t foresee or know? If something really terrible happens to you, was …
What Is God Doing? #8
It must have been terrifying being on Noah’s ark for all those days—closed up inside, unable to see the sky, hearing a pouring torrent beat the roof, and feeling the whole shop rock to and …
What Is God Doing? #7
Sometimes the Bible can be very disturbing. One reason is because the Bible presents ideas that upset us when they are not what we want to hear. Most of us have a personal theology and …
What Is God Doing? #6
People get some really strange ideas about the Bible. There are those who believe, for example, that the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden was sex or that Cain was the result of some …
What Is God Doing? #5
If there’s one story in the Bible that is familiar to everyone, it’s the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. For one thing, people who start out to read the Bible …
The Lord, My Father
View PostThe Epistle to the Hebrews #5
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum… That’s the way Paul begins chapter eight. And I thought, how kind of Paul to give us a summary. This is a complicated …
A Father in the House
Several years ago I knew a young woman who was frustrated in her marriage and wanted a divorce. Her family pleaded with her not to do it, to seek counseling, and to try to work …
What Is God Doing? #4
You aren’t under any stress, are you? The funny thing about that question is that most people will answer that question with something like, No. Not really. But, in reality, far too many people are …
What Is God Doing? #3
Most people believe that there is a God. Strangely, many people have not considered the consequences of that belief. If God exists, and if he created the world and everything in it, then that raises …
What Is God Doing? #2
There’s a theory that in the original creation the world was not without form and void (the Hebrew suggests chaotic and in confusion) and, according to this theory, since God is not …
What Is God Doing? #1
What in the world is God doing? I don’t think any religious system on Earth has even scratched the surface. Now, we owe a staggering debt to those who have gone before and received and …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #4
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. And so, after …
The God of Time
As I understand my basic science, time can speed up or slow down depending on the speed at which an object travels. That is a little hard to grasp, but they say it has been …
The Tree #2
The apostle John is in vision, and he’s nearing the end of an incredible experience. Step by step, he has seen the sequence of visions that make up what we call the Book of Revelation. …
The Tree #1
There’s an odd thing about the Bible that’s easy to overlook: It begins and it ends with a tree. Everybody knows that in the Garden of Eden there was the Tree of Life. What’s easy …
The First of Weeks
We have long taken special interest in those eight scriptures that speak of the “first day of the week”. We have made the point that if authority for Sunday observance is to be found anywhere …
Passover at Home
View PostWhy 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
What Is God Doing? #11
There is nothing new about surrogate motherhood, you know. In fact, there is an example of it in the Bible—and it carried with it then the same pitfalls and potential for discord as it does …
What Is God Doing? #10
Everyone loves a mystery, so I have a good one for you. There is this shadowy Old Testament character who appears only once in the historical accounts of the Bible. His name is Melchizedek, and …
What Is God Doing? #9
What in the world is God doing? And what does religion have to do with it? I know it may sound a little strange to ask, but asking strange questions is sometimes what teachers do. …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #6
The Temple was a stage upon which the plan of God was played out and, metaphorically, the ministry of Jesus played for all to learn of and look forward to complete forgiveness in Christ. Then …
The Predestined Life
Are all the events of your life already written down somewhere? Does an inexorable fate drive you onwards to some destiny that you can’t foresee or know? If something really terrible happens to you, was …
What Is God Doing? #8
It must have been terrifying being on Noah’s ark for all those days—closed up inside, unable to see the sky, hearing a pouring torrent beat the roof, and feeling the whole shop rock to and …
What Is God Doing? #7
Sometimes the Bible can be very disturbing. One reason is because the Bible presents ideas that upset us when they are not what we want to hear. Most of us have a personal theology and …
What Is God Doing? #6
People get some really strange ideas about the Bible. There are those who believe, for example, that the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden was sex or that Cain was the result of some …
What Is God Doing? #5
If there’s one story in the Bible that is familiar to everyone, it’s the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. For one thing, people who start out to read the Bible …
The Lord, My Father
View PostThe Epistle to the Hebrews #5
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum… That’s the way Paul begins chapter eight. And I thought, how kind of Paul to give us a summary. This is a complicated …
A Father in the House
Several years ago I knew a young woman who was frustrated in her marriage and wanted a divorce. Her family pleaded with her not to do it, to seek counseling, and to try to work …
What Is God Doing? #4
You aren’t under any stress, are you? The funny thing about that question is that most people will answer that question with something like, No. Not really. But, in reality, far too many people are …
What Is God Doing? #3
Most people believe that there is a God. Strangely, many people have not considered the consequences of that belief. If God exists, and if he created the world and everything in it, then that raises …
What Is God Doing? #2
There’s a theory that in the original creation the world was not without form and void (the Hebrew suggests chaotic and in confusion) and, according to this theory, since God is not …
What Is God Doing? #1
What in the world is God doing? I don’t think any religious system on Earth has even scratched the surface. Now, we owe a staggering debt to those who have gone before and received and …
The Epistle to the Hebrews #4
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. And so, after …
The God of Time
As I understand my basic science, time can speed up or slow down depending on the speed at which an object travels. That is a little hard to grasp, but they say it has been …
The Tree #2
The apostle John is in vision, and he’s nearing the end of an incredible experience. Step by step, he has seen the sequence of visions that make up what we call the Book of Revelation. …
The Tree #1
There’s an odd thing about the Bible that’s easy to overlook: It begins and it ends with a tree. Everybody knows that in the Garden of Eden there was the Tree of Life. What’s easy …