Reading scripture in a less than careful way can lead to many erroneous conclusions. For example, some have read Peter’s instructions to the wives of unbelieving husbands and concluded that a person may be won to Christ apart from the word of God. Let’s take a close look at what Peter wrote to see if that is a correct understanding:
1 Peter 3:1 “Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the…
God is serious about His name. He always has been and always will be. When He punished Israel for bringing idols out of Egypt, He later explained His actions by saying, “But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.” (Ezekiel 20:9, NASB) In His commandments given to Moses, who in turn gave them to Israel, God…
I was recently in a class led by Pat Gaughan. He asked the question, “What is the purpose of salvation”? As you can imagine the wise and thoughtful answers begin to churn inside the thoughts of each one present. As the thoughts matured into speech, the answers you would expect were all present. “To be with God” . . . “To live forever” . . . “To walk streets of gold.” There was even the jovial “I want to live in a mansion.” However, the answer sought was not found in…
It has been said that a virtue in excess is a vice…. Examples:
The claim that Jesus was raised from the dead is the most vital point in the Bible. Without it, Christianity is a waste of time (1 Cor 15:12-19). It is important that we know why we should believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, because there are many theories that try to counteract the resurrection story.
One theory holds that the disciples of Jesus stole the body from the tomb. This is actually the oldest theory because it dates back to the…
John Owen was an influential Puritan preacher in the 17th century. Consider what he wrote concerning acceptable worship:
Question: What doth God require of us in our dependence on him, that he may be glorified by us, and we accepted with him?
Answer: That we worship him in and by the ways of his own appointment.
Question: How are the ways and means of the worship of God made known
It’s not good theology to attribute to the Holy Spirit that which the Holy Spirit never attributes to Himself. Doing so results in both faulty and contradictory claims, and this is exactly what we often see. Feelings get attributed to the Spirit, which are then contradictory to the feelings of others, who might also claim the Spirit as the source. Such feelings may also directly contradict God’s own word. Claims are made about what the Spirit is doing, when all the person has is a good feeling about a work. I wish it…
A 93-year-old man in Iowa named Bob Williams is known for sharing chocolate bars with random strangers in his small community. Every Saturday, he goes to the local dollar store to buy boxes of chocolate bars before handing them out to random people. People in his community say it puts a smile on their face and makes them feel special. They also tell how an act of giving a simple chocolate bar from an old retired teacher can turn a bad day on its head. “The Candy Man” – as…
In Judges 2:8-10 we read of a sad and tragic development in the history of Israel.
And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord…
A temptation comes upon you, and you are faced with a spiritual battle. The temptation could be many things, such as to lie, be overcome by fear, gossip, lust, drink alcohol, complain, or spiral in discouragement. We all find ourselves in the crosshairs of temptation, and Satan intentionally targets us in times of weakness.
I think about biblical stories such as Adam & Eve, Cain, David & Bathsheba, & Judas. If only they would have seen the temptation for what it was, and…
I had the opportunity to go to a Dave Ramsey SMART conference earlier this year, which had multiple speakers who talked about everything from finances, becoming debt free, preparing for retirement, relationships between a husband and wife, parents and kids, etc. One word that was consistently used by all the speakers was “Intentionality.” The definition of Intentionality is simply- the fact of being deliberate, intentional or purposive (with purpose or intention).
A popular quote from Dave Ramsey is “You win with…
Last month, The Atlantic published an article entitled, “Are McMansions Making People Any Happier?” The article was based on a study by Clement Bellet, which demonstrates that:
When I was young, I took piano lessons, and after a while I started to get to the point where I could play real songs. In our piano bench (like every other piano bench at the time) was a storage bin that would contain a smorgasbord of random sheet music. You never knew what you might find! In my house, it turned out there was quite a bit of 70’s pop music available: “You Light Up My Life,” the theme from “The Young And The Restless,” and other milquetoast offerings were…
