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 …
What Is God Doing? #14
In Genesis 22, we have the story of Abraham’s trial—his test. God tested Abraham. He said to him, Abraham! Here I am, he replied. Then God said, Take your son, your only son, whom you …
What Is God Doing? #13
When God told Abraham that he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham nearly talked him out of it. He got God to agree that if ten righteous men were found in the cities, …
Objective Truth
What is objective truth? Subjective truth is something that is true to you but may not be true for me. Objective truth is something that is true for everyone. It is not based on a …
What Is God Doing? #12
There is such a thing as believing God and still having your doubts. The fact that a person doubts on a given point, though, doesn’t mean they don’t trust God. People who read the Bible …
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. …
It’s in Your Genes
It is always refreshing when science catches up with common sense. For a long time, specialists of one stripe or another argued that what makes us who we are happened as a result of heredity. …
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 …
Eyes to See
The Bible says the first man was made out of dirt. Scientists says life might have originated out of green slime. That’s close enough to agreement for the moment. The point being that somewhere between …
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 Death Penalty
There is something that is puzzling me about our society. Maybe you have the answer. When the time comes to execute a murderer, and all the television crews are out filming the demonstrators, interviewing talking …
Abortion and Lies
Suppose a young couple have brought a baby into the world, and have now decided they don’t want it. The reason could be almost anything. Maybe they can’t afford it. Maybe they already have more …