There is one simple principle in the Bible that explains nearly everything. It crops up in various places and is usually ignored because it seems so unreasonable and runs counter to what we would expect. …
Christian Origins #85 - 2 Timothy
I suppose when a man knows he is going to die, a lot of things come into focus. Things start taking on more realistic value. Money, possessions, and property all diminish sharply when you know …
Christian Origins #84 - Hebrews
When you get on an airplane to go somewhere, do you have faith that you are going to get where you are going? Sure you do. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t get on the airplane. …
Christian Origins #83 - Hebrews
One of the most puzzling things about the Bible, at least to the modern mind, is animal sacrifice. Why kill an animal because you have done something wrong? I used to wonder why God couldn’t …
The Epistle to the Romans #3
All of us go through stages of learning in our Bible study. Each time we read something like Paul’s letter to the Romans, we see it with new eyes. Unless, of course, we feel as …
A Day of Thanksgiving
As we approach Thanksgiving Day this year, and we look forward to being with family and friends, to good food and good football, it might be a good time ask, not why we do this, …
Without Thanksgiving
View PostHow Did the First Christians Assemble?
View PostChristian Origins #82 - Hebrews
One of the strangest revelations in the Book of Hebrews is that the Tabernacle that Israel carried around the wilderness was a model of something that existed in Heaven. And not only that, but that …
Christian Origins #81 - Hebrews
It is tempting to think of religious ritual and ceremony as so much mumbo-jumbo that means next to nothing. Especially if it was done in a language you didn’t even understand. As a stranger who …
The Epistle to the Romans #2
The second chapter of Romans begins with a Therefore. Any time you see that in Paul’s letters, you need to pay attention, because it means what follows depends on what has just been said. Paul …
On Prayer and Fellowship
What did the First Christians believe about prayer? Did they believe that it really mattered; that it changed outcomes? Or did they believe that God carried out his will regardless of how they prayed? Sometimes …
Christian Origins #80 - Hebrews
I know this is going to sound crazy. And it is going to be hard to explain why it should be so. But the entire structure of the worship of God in the Old Testament …
Christian Origins #79 - Hebrews
Is it possible that sometime in your life you have encountered God and didn’t even know it? The writer of Hebrews tells us to [b]e not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained …
Christian Origins #78 - Hebrews
Of all the things we know about God, one of the most disconcerting is that there is no place to hide from him. But let me put your mind at rest on something. God is …
Christian Origins #77 - Hebrews
One of the greatest pieces of symbolism in all the Bible is the Jordan River. It has captured the imagination of hymn-writers and theologians, generation after generation. When I was growing up, my father sang …
The Epistle to the Romans #1
Back in the good, old days in the heyday of Biblical scholarship (especially those German schools of scholarship) lots and lots of people were doing computer analyses on Paul’s epistles and said, Well, we don’t …
On Death and Resurrection #2
Many pastors and preachers see nothing wrong with the fact that today’s church doesn’t believe exactly the same thing as the primitive Christian church believed and taught. They place no small amount of weight upon …
Christian Origins #76 - Hebrews
Who was Jesus, anyway? Was he really God? Or was he just an angel in the flesh? Or was he even flesh? We know he was the son of God, but is that literal, or …
Christian Origins #75 - Titus
No matter how you slice it, a church is, always has been, and always will be a political institution. And let me be sure you understand what I mean by political. The word has to …
Feast of Trumpets: Judgment Day
As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:11–12 KJV …
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 …
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 …
Christian Origins #86 - James
There is one simple principle in the Bible that explains nearly everything. It crops up in various places and is usually ignored because it seems so unreasonable and runs counter to what we would expect. …
Christian Origins #85 - 2 Timothy
I suppose when a man knows he is going to die, a lot of things come into focus. Things start taking on more realistic value. Money, possessions, and property all diminish sharply when you know …
Christian Origins #84 - Hebrews
When you get on an airplane to go somewhere, do you have faith that you are going to get where you are going? Sure you do. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t get on the airplane. …
Christian Origins #83 - Hebrews
One of the most puzzling things about the Bible, at least to the modern mind, is animal sacrifice. Why kill an animal because you have done something wrong? I used to wonder why God couldn’t …
The Epistle to the Romans #3
All of us go through stages of learning in our Bible study. Each time we read something like Paul’s letter to the Romans, we see it with new eyes. Unless, of course, we feel as …
A Day of Thanksgiving
As we approach Thanksgiving Day this year, and we look forward to being with family and friends, to good food and good football, it might be a good time ask, not why we do this, …
Without Thanksgiving
View PostHow Did the First Christians Assemble?
View PostChristian Origins #82 - Hebrews
One of the strangest revelations in the Book of Hebrews is that the Tabernacle that Israel carried around the wilderness was a model of something that existed in Heaven. And not only that, but that …
Christian Origins #81 - Hebrews
It is tempting to think of religious ritual and ceremony as so much mumbo-jumbo that means next to nothing. Especially if it was done in a language you didn’t even understand. As a stranger who …
The Epistle to the Romans #2
The second chapter of Romans begins with a Therefore. Any time you see that in Paul’s letters, you need to pay attention, because it means what follows depends on what has just been said. Paul …
On Prayer and Fellowship
What did the First Christians believe about prayer? Did they believe that it really mattered; that it changed outcomes? Or did they believe that God carried out his will regardless of how they prayed? Sometimes …
Christian Origins #80 - Hebrews
I know this is going to sound crazy. And it is going to be hard to explain why it should be so. But the entire structure of the worship of God in the Old Testament …
Christian Origins #79 - Hebrews
Is it possible that sometime in your life you have encountered God and didn’t even know it? The writer of Hebrews tells us to [b]e not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained …
Christian Origins #78 - Hebrews
Of all the things we know about God, one of the most disconcerting is that there is no place to hide from him. But let me put your mind at rest on something. God is …
Christian Origins #77 - Hebrews
One of the greatest pieces of symbolism in all the Bible is the Jordan River. It has captured the imagination of hymn-writers and theologians, generation after generation. When I was growing up, my father sang …
The Epistle to the Romans #1
Back in the good, old days in the heyday of Biblical scholarship (especially those German schools of scholarship) lots and lots of people were doing computer analyses on Paul’s epistles and said, Well, we don’t …
On Death and Resurrection #2
Many pastors and preachers see nothing wrong with the fact that today’s church doesn’t believe exactly the same thing as the primitive Christian church believed and taught. They place no small amount of weight upon …
Christian Origins #76 - Hebrews
Who was Jesus, anyway? Was he really God? Or was he just an angel in the flesh? Or was he even flesh? We know he was the son of God, but is that literal, or …
Christian Origins #75 - Titus
No matter how you slice it, a church is, always has been, and always will be a political institution. And let me be sure you understand what I mean by political. The word has to …