Is religion hard or easy? Is it complicated or simple? If you listen to some teachers, you would think that there is nothing to it at all. All you have to do is give your …
The Gospel of Matthew #20
Could Jesus Christ come tonight? Is it possible that you could walk out on your back porch before bedtime and see a great light in the sky as Jesus and all the holy angels are …
The Gospel of Matthew #19
Have you ever encountered a prophet? I mean the real thing, the genuine article. I’m not talking about some guy with wild eyes and a bad hair day who’s telling you, The world is going …
The Gospel of Mark #9
And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again. And …
Why Not Life?
I live in the country, near a small city. Some people, out where I live, sleep with the windows open and night and don’t bother locking the doors when they go for a walk. But …
The Gospel of Matthew #18
Have you ever wondered why religious people can be so hard-nosed and intolerant? No, I’m not exaggerating—religious people can get in bitter arguments with one another over small matters of doctrine or belief. So much …
The Gospel of Matthew #17
Have you ever wondered why healing played such a big role in Jesus’ ministry? Probably not, because it seems like the most natural thing to do. What would you do if you had the power …
The Gospel of Matthew #16
If you were one of Jesus’ apostles and had to distill the ministry of Jesus and put it in, as Matthew did, 28 chapters and so many pages, where would you start? What would you …
The Gospel of Matthew #15
It is hard for me to imagine Jesus being surprised at anything. After all, Jesus knows the thoughts and intents of the heart, doesn’t he? Isn’t he able to know what we would think before …
The Gospel of Mark #8
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with …
Christians in Winter
We are living in troubled times but, you know, it is a mark of how far we have come that we get in a panic at the prospect of living in what we call hard …
The Gospel of Matthew #14
I don’t want to be misunderstood; I agree entirely with Paul when he says: For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of …
The Gospel of Matthew #13
One day when I was praying forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors it dawned on me that I was praying in the first-person plural. I was not merely asking God to …
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 Mark #7
And he came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; …
Understanding the Fall
If there is one concept that is central to Christian teaching along with creation and redemption, it is the fall of man. The concept may be integral to the Christian faith, but it often isn’t …
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. …
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 …
Why Did Abraham Tithe?
When God gave Abraham his great victory over the King of Elam, he was met on his return by an enigmatic figure, a priest, by the name of Melchizedek. What is of special interest about …
The Grace to Die Well
(This article was written by Ronald L. Dart in the 1980’s) When it comes my turn to die—and it will come—I hope that God will give me the grace to die well. I know I …
A Christian Harvest Festival
One of the great losses to the nominal Christian faith was the abandonment of the holy days of the Bible—their dismissal as merely Jewish institutions. And surely, one of the greatest of the Christian holy …
Keeping the Sabbath Holy
Just what does it mean to keep the Sabbath? What should a person do on that day? Or, as some prefer to ask, what should a person not do? Can you work at your normal …
Is There Really a Hell Fire?
Is there really an ever–burning hell where sinners are tormented with fire and brimstone throughout all eternity? Is it only for the very wicked? What about the “unsaved”? The Bible tells us there is only …
Law or Grace?: Serving God Acceptably
It had been a hard three days. David and the handful of young men with him had left in a hurry and had taken no food. By the time they got to a place called …
Which Old Testament Laws Apply for Today?
If Jesus told you not to think something, would you believe Him? Or would you continue to suppose that something were true when Jesus told you plainly it was not? For example, if Jesus said, …
What You Need to Know About Spiritual Gifts
What actually happens at the moment you receive a spiritual gift? Do you get a little buzz when it comes? Perhaps a rush? On the day of Pentecost, there was a sound like a rushing …
Charitable Giving
From the beginning, Christian Educational Ministries established helping others as a cornerstone of our foundational philosophy. Chances are, helping others is important to you as well. You probably already share your blessings with others by …
Would You Join a Cult?
“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from you own steadfastness.” In the aftermath of the tragedy in Waco–so …
Would God Harden Your Heart?
Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? When I taught Old Testament Survey class, we could never get through this section of Exodus without a lively discussion on this question. Did Pharaoh have a choice in …
Nine Things to Consider Before Giving to a Ministry or Church
Dear Friend, Any religious organization, be it a television ministry or a local church, depends on donations to survive. And so they all engage in some kind of fund raising effort to make ends meet. …
Why Do We Sell (Some of) Our Materials?
It is not a frequent question, but sometimes people ask, Why do you charge for some of your CDs? The answer is simple enough. We charge for them so we can make them available. But …
Truth, Doctrine, and Policy
Along with the marvelous teachings of Jesus, we often pick up some very bad ideas from our churches and organizations. One of the worst of these ideas, all too common in churches, is that our …
Who Rules the Church?
Was it Jesus’ intent to create a hierarchy of human government over the individual Christian? Does the Christian ministry sit in Moses’ seat for the church? This article explains what you always wanted to know …
Speaker’s Corner
Introduction Welcome. Over the years I have often been asked the equivalent of What’s your secret for public speaking? And I have been badgered to hold seminars or workshops in public speaking and sermons. The …
Knock Three Times
I’m not much into numerology, and I think E. W. Bullinger’s list of the significance of numbers is somewhat fanciful. That said, there is something I’ve wondered about for rather a long time. It has …
Whither New Orleans?
Email of the day (in response to Sept. 9) If nothing else, I find that the absence of the realization, in less than a year, God (Nature) has shown us 2 things. Whether there is …
Mark Steyn on Durbin’s Remarks on the Senate Floor
This isn’t a Republican vs Democrat thing; it’s about senior Democrats who are so over-invested in their hatred of a passing administration that they’ve signed on to the nuttiest slurs of the lunatic fringe. It …
The 40th President
Like so very many people over the past weeks we have mourned the death of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. For some reason, I kept noticing how often commentators noted that …
The Gospel of Matthew #21
Is religion hard or easy? Is it complicated or simple? If you listen to some teachers, you would think that there is nothing to it at all. All you have to do is give your …
The Gospel of Matthew #20
Could Jesus Christ come tonight? Is it possible that you could walk out on your back porch before bedtime and see a great light in the sky as Jesus and all the holy angels are …
The Gospel of Matthew #19
Have you ever encountered a prophet? I mean the real thing, the genuine article. I’m not talking about some guy with wild eyes and a bad hair day who’s telling you, The world is going …
The Gospel of Mark #9
And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again. And …
Why Not Life?
I live in the country, near a small city. Some people, out where I live, sleep with the windows open and night and don’t bother locking the doors when they go for a walk. But …
The Gospel of Matthew #18
Have you ever wondered why religious people can be so hard-nosed and intolerant? No, I’m not exaggerating—religious people can get in bitter arguments with one another over small matters of doctrine or belief. So much …
The Gospel of Matthew #17
Have you ever wondered why healing played such a big role in Jesus’ ministry? Probably not, because it seems like the most natural thing to do. What would you do if you had the power …
The Gospel of Matthew #16
If you were one of Jesus’ apostles and had to distill the ministry of Jesus and put it in, as Matthew did, 28 chapters and so many pages, where would you start? What would you …
The Gospel of Matthew #15
It is hard for me to imagine Jesus being surprised at anything. After all, Jesus knows the thoughts and intents of the heart, doesn’t he? Isn’t he able to know what we would think before …
The Gospel of Mark #8
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with …
Christians in Winter
We are living in troubled times but, you know, it is a mark of how far we have come that we get in a panic at the prospect of living in what we call hard …
The Gospel of Matthew #14
I don’t want to be misunderstood; I agree entirely with Paul when he says: For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of …
The Gospel of Matthew #13
One day when I was praying forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors it dawned on me that I was praying in the first-person plural. I was not merely asking God to …
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 Mark #7
And he came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; …
Understanding the Fall
If there is one concept that is central to Christian teaching along with creation and redemption, it is the fall of man. The concept may be integral to the Christian faith, but it often isn’t …
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. …
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 …