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 …
Christian 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 #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 …
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 #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 #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 #87 - James
Is true religion a matter of the heart, or does it have to somehow affect the way we live our lives? Is Christianity merely a philosophy, a world-view, a way of thinking about things? Or …
Christian Origins #88 - James
Have you ever been angry enough with someone, or afraid enough of someone, that you would be willing to have them killed? Of course not. Oh, you might have said something silly once like, I …
Christian Origins #89 - 1 Peter
There is an odd thing about the New Testament. It starts off with the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. When you consider the prominent role Peter played among the disciples of Jesus, one …
Christian Origins #90 - 1 Peter
There is a recurring theme in the Bible that I don’t think is well understood. It is abused sometimes by religious leaders who want a dominant/submissive relationship with their people, by governments who claim a …
Christian Origins #91 - 2 Peter
When a man gets close to the end of his life, you get a chance to see more of the real man. He gets impatient with pretense and frivolity. He becomes much more aware of …
Christian Origins #92 - 2 Peter
By now, everyone knows that power corrupts. And everyone knows equally as well that money is power. Therefore it is a very short step to realizing that, as churches and ministries increase in money, they …
Christian Origins #93 - 1 John
There was one man who was closer to Jesus than any other. Sometimes I wonder what it was about this man that made him so special. Because Jesus had 12 disciples, but only one of …
Christian Origins #94 - 1 John
What I am going to tell you in this program may shock you. But it is my job to put the idea before you as clearly and as honestly as I know how. My job …
Christian Origins #95 - 1 John
It is easy to misunderstand things when you are reading someone else’s mail—for example, when John writes that everyone who commits sin is of the devil. But when you compare it with an earlier statement …
Christian Origins #96 - John and Jude
No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. John 1:18 KJ2000 Now here, John poses a problem for us. …