Can there be such a thing as true spirituality? If so, that implies a spirituality which is not true. So how is the Christian able to discern the signs of an authentic Christian spirituality? Many …
All About the New Testament #3
One day a man named John Mark sat down to write out his testimony. His writing materials were gathered around him: pen, ink, and sheets of papyrus—the writing paper of the time. The sheets would …
The Gospel of Matthew #12
Have you ever wondered why some people refuse to swear in court? So when swearing in witnesses and jurors, the court often asks someone to swear or affirm. Well, it grows out of this statement …
The Gospel of Matthew #11
When Jesus said, Don’t think I am come to destroy the law. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill it, I don’t really think Jesus’ disciples thought that was a strange thing to …
The Gospel of Matthew #10
You know, I think Christianity was a lot simpler before the first theologians came along. The early Christian evangelists, for example, going from town to town preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, did not …
The Gospel of Matthew #9
I believe that most people in the world want to be right. I certainly don’t know a soul who wants to be wrong, plans so that he is wrong, works so that he is wrong. …
Should a Christian Submit to the State?
In Romans, Paul speaks of our inexorable duty toward God, as well as duty toward the church. But he also develops a concept of duty towards civil government. The 13th chapter of Romans is fairly …
All About the New Testament #2
I know it will make some people uncomfortable for me to say this, but…Jesus was a Jew. He was born to a Jewish mother and raised in a Jewish household. He was circumcised on the …
The Gospel of Matthew #8
Imagine yourself walking down the aisle in your supermarket, filling up your basket with things from right and left, and spending all your hard-earned pay. A little further down the aisle from you is a …
The Gospel of Matthew #7
Do you believe that it was possible for Jesus to sin? Oh, I know that Jesus did not sin—that is not even a question—but was it possible for him to sin? The devil came to …
The Gospel of Matthew #6
John the Baptist was a very influential preacher. He was not a limousine evangelist; he did not fly into town on a jet and get picked up in a limo. He did not stay at …
The Gospel of Matthew #5
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a mere five miles from Jerusalem as the crow flies. It would have been very easy for the religious and political establishment of Jerusalem to have come down to Bethlehem, …
Romans: The Heart of the Gospel
Romans is easily the most important of all the New Testament epistles. I am sometimes hesitant to say the most or the greatest or the best, as superlatives are sometimes a little hard to support. …
All About the New Testament #1
It is not surprising that, when a person picks up the Bible and starts to read, they find themselves a little bit lost. After all, the Bible was written a long time ago—the last book …
The Gospel of Matthew #4
Welcome back, members of the jury. Today we are continuing with the testimony of one Matthew—also known as Levi—former tax collector and later disciple and apostle of Jesus of Nazareth. I intend to support his …
The Gospel of Matthew #3
It is staggering to consider the amount of work that has gone into the scholarly study and analysis of the Bible. I mean, men will write whole chapters on one Greek word, whole books on …
The Gospel of Matthew #2
I want to pose yet another mystery about the four Gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But before I can do that, we need to consider some things. We’re allowed, in studying the testimony …
The Gospel of Matthew #1
Today, I have a curious job. I want to take a book that is probably very familiar to you and make it unfamiliar. The book is the Gospel According to Matthew. It’s the first book …
The Epistle to the Romans #7
As we work our way through these last chapters of Romans, it’s a good thing to remember what a different world those disciples lived in compared to ours. The recipients of this letter lived and …
Winners After All?
In this country, we have a political class that are “in it for themselves”. If they weren’t, they would have a higher rate of attrition. They would go down with their cause rather than give …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Passover at Home
View PostThe 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 …
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. …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
True Spirituality
Can there be such a thing as true spirituality? If so, that implies a spirituality which is not true. So how is the Christian able to discern the signs of an authentic Christian spirituality? Many …
All About the New Testament #3
One day a man named John Mark sat down to write out his testimony. His writing materials were gathered around him: pen, ink, and sheets of papyrus—the writing paper of the time. The sheets would …
The Gospel of Matthew #12
Have you ever wondered why some people refuse to swear in court? So when swearing in witnesses and jurors, the court often asks someone to swear or affirm. Well, it grows out of this statement …
The Gospel of Matthew #11
When Jesus said, Don’t think I am come to destroy the law. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill it, I don’t really think Jesus’ disciples thought that was a strange thing to …
The Gospel of Matthew #10
You know, I think Christianity was a lot simpler before the first theologians came along. The early Christian evangelists, for example, going from town to town preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, did not …
The Gospel of Matthew #9
I believe that most people in the world want to be right. I certainly don’t know a soul who wants to be wrong, plans so that he is wrong, works so that he is wrong. …
Should a Christian Submit to the State?
In Romans, Paul speaks of our inexorable duty toward God, as well as duty toward the church. But he also develops a concept of duty towards civil government. The 13th chapter of Romans is fairly …
All About the New Testament #2
I know it will make some people uncomfortable for me to say this, but…Jesus was a Jew. He was born to a Jewish mother and raised in a Jewish household. He was circumcised on the …
The Gospel of Matthew #8
Imagine yourself walking down the aisle in your supermarket, filling up your basket with things from right and left, and spending all your hard-earned pay. A little further down the aisle from you is a …
The Gospel of Matthew #7
Do you believe that it was possible for Jesus to sin? Oh, I know that Jesus did not sin—that is not even a question—but was it possible for him to sin? The devil came to …
The Gospel of Matthew #6
John the Baptist was a very influential preacher. He was not a limousine evangelist; he did not fly into town on a jet and get picked up in a limo. He did not stay at …
The Gospel of Matthew #5
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a mere five miles from Jerusalem as the crow flies. It would have been very easy for the religious and political establishment of Jerusalem to have come down to Bethlehem, …
Romans: The Heart of the Gospel
Romans is easily the most important of all the New Testament epistles. I am sometimes hesitant to say the most or the greatest or the best, as superlatives are sometimes a little hard to support. …
All About the New Testament #1
It is not surprising that, when a person picks up the Bible and starts to read, they find themselves a little bit lost. After all, the Bible was written a long time ago—the last book …
The Gospel of Matthew #4
Welcome back, members of the jury. Today we are continuing with the testimony of one Matthew—also known as Levi—former tax collector and later disciple and apostle of Jesus of Nazareth. I intend to support his …
The Gospel of Matthew #3
It is staggering to consider the amount of work that has gone into the scholarly study and analysis of the Bible. I mean, men will write whole chapters on one Greek word, whole books on …
The Gospel of Matthew #2
I want to pose yet another mystery about the four Gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But before I can do that, we need to consider some things. We’re allowed, in studying the testimony …
The Gospel of Matthew #1
Today, I have a curious job. I want to take a book that is probably very familiar to you and make it unfamiliar. The book is the Gospel According to Matthew. It’s the first book …
The Epistle to the Romans #7
As we work our way through these last chapters of Romans, it’s a good thing to remember what a different world those disciples lived in compared to ours. The recipients of this letter lived and …
Winners After All?
In this country, we have a political class that are “in it for themselves”. If they weren’t, they would have a higher rate of attrition. They would go down with their cause rather than give …