When you are reading someone else’s mail, it’s really easy to get confused. You don’t know the players, the history of the arguments, the attitudes, or the story behind the punch lines. When we read …
Unrighteous Anger
View PostThe General Epistles #1 - James
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials; Knowing this, that …
About Heaven
What did the first Christians believe about heaven? When they spoke of heaven, when they thought of it, what did they visualize? Was their concept of heaven the same as our own? I don’t think …
Christian Origins #40 - Corinthians
The Apostle Paul was steamed. He may have been a minister—gentle and kind—but don’t kid yourself, Paul got steamed. You can only take so much nitpicking, so much scratching around in your past, so much …
Christian Origins #39 - Corinthians
Looking back through 2,000 years at the apostle Paul, the man looks like a giant. He’s certainly a legend, but there’s no evidence from the New Testament that Paul was looked at that way by …
Christian Origins #38 - Corinthians
When the time comes to give, how much is enough? When someone is taking up a collection to help poor refugees, and they have shown you heart-rending pictures of starving children, how much should you …
Christian Origins #37 - Corinthians
How does it feel to walk up to someone, put out your hand and say, Hi, my name is Bob, only to have the other person simply turn his shoulder and walk away? It is …
The Life & Teachings of Paul #41 - Hebrews
Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no …
On Predestination
What did the first Christians believe about predestination? Did the first Christians believe that a persons life is completely mapped out before they are born? Did they believe that one person is born destined to …
Christian Origins #36 - Corinthians
Surely, no one would ever manipulate the Bible to his own ends, would he? Well, yes, I am afraid some do. I have heard some egregious manipulation of the scriptures by preachers who were trying …
Christian Origins #35 - Corinthians
Just how good do you have to be to avoid criticism? Do you have to be a saint? Is it even good enough to be a saint? Regrettably, no. The Apostle Paul, whom we affectionately …
Christian Origins #34 - Corinthians
Take a look at your shoes. A little worn, are they? If they aren’t, they will be. And your favorite sweater—how long before the elbows come out? Shoes, clothes—all this stuff—wears out if we use …
Christian Origins #33 - Corinthians
Okay, so you already believe in the resurrection. You believe that man will be raised from the dead. That raises the most interesting question of all: What for? When man has finished out his miserable …
The Life & Teachings of Paul #40 - Hebrews
For Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet …
Who Killed Christ?
When the Pope viewed Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of Jesus Christ, he is said to have remarked, It is as it was. The Vatican later tried to spin that remark to bring it back …
Christian Origins #32 - Corinthians
If a man die, shall he live again? That is the question isn’t it? Is this all there is? We live out our lives, we return to the dust and oblivion forever. It was a …
Christian Origins #31 - Corinthians
There is something truly seductive about any manifestation of the supernatural. Every human being experiences doubts once in a while. It is not so much a question of unbelief as it is a difficulty in …
Christian Origins #30 - Corinthians
One of the truly sad things in the history of religion is the hostility that persists between Jews and Christians—sometimes it even becomes hatred. It’s very old, of course. It dates from the very beginning …
Christian Origins #29 - Corinthians
Of all the ceremonies that are connected in our mind to the Christian faith, there is probably nothing more fundamental than that ceremony we call the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, or …