Are you ready for a quiz? Grab pencil and pad and write down the names of the two most important Christian Holidays. It should only take you a few seconds. No consulting your calendar allowed; …
The General Epistles #4 - 1 Peter
For even to this were you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, …
About the Messiah
What did the first Christians believe about Jesus? He was the Messiah, of course, but more than that. Jesus himself laid out the question before the Pharisees one day. While the Pharisees were gathered together, …
Christian Origins #52 - Romans
I don’t know what Paul expected when he set out on his first missionary journey, but I don’t think it was what he got. He does not seem to be prepared for the rejection he …
Christian Origins #51 - Romans
Do you believe in predestination? And if you do, what sort of predestination? Does a man really have a choice in all this, or has God long ago decided who should be saved and who …
Christian Origins #50 - Romans
I don’t know what it is, but preachers of every stripe, myself included, are prone to lay a guilt trip on people from time to time. It is almost as though we were your mother. …
Christian Origins #49 - Romans
Imagine for a moment that you are a highly successful cat burglar. Then one rainy night, you discover that you are not as good a driver as you are a cat burglar, and you are …
Out of the Rut
View PostThe General Epistles #3 - 1 Peter
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away: But the word of the Lord endures forever. And …
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 #48 - Romans
I am surprised at how often Christian people are conflicted on ethical and moral principles. I am not surprised that we struggle over some of the choices we have to make, but that people don’t …
Christian Origins #47 - Romans
Do you think you would ever be willing to die in someone else’s place? Can you imagine a really good person whose life and lifestyle was so worthy, that you would say “No, let them …
Christian Origins #46 - Romans
Why on earth would anyone be happy about being in trouble? Why would you take satisfaction, even pride, in severe affliction? You read people in the Bible who talk this way a lot, but does …
Christian Origins #45 - Romans
The Christian faith is constantly at war with itself over questions of grace versus obedience. There is nothing new in this, because the discussion was going on right from the start. I think the problem …
Between the Hailstones
View PostAn 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. …
The General Epistles #2 - James
Come now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is rusted; and the rust of …
On Death and Resurrection #1
If you have been blessed with a good Bible teacher, or some good books about the Bible, you already know that a lot has been said about the influence of Greek philosophy on the Christian …
Christian Origins #44 - Romans
I would have to conclude that there was a lot of tension between some of the Jews and Gentiles in the early Christian church. Paul is at such pains to chastise both Jew and Gentile …
Christian Origins #43 - Romans
There’s a lot of fatuous nonsense out there today masquerading as serious theology. It happens because of the doctrinal and theological disputes going on between sects and churches. In the discussion of proof texts and …