Is the Bible’s Teaching about Homosexuality Offensive?
We cannot read the Bible and not be offended—condemned even—unless we come as broken sinners.
In a massive tirade against the hyper-religious Pharisees, Jesus calls them hypocrites, blind guides, whitewashed tombs, sons of murderers, and serpents: “You brood of vipers,” he yells, “how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” (Matt. 23:33). We cannot read the Bible and not be offended—condemned even—unless we come as broken sinners. If we... Continue Reading
A Creedal Crescendo – Rose Again from the Dead
We who have hoped in Christ receive every blessing bound up in Him because He lives.
The Creed expresses this reality of hope by saying the Jesus “rose again from the dead.” While that is a true statement, one used elsewhere for Christ’s resurrection (e.g., Acts 10:41; 1 Thess. 4:14), it might be more helpful to understand Jesus as being raised (e.g., Acts 3:15; Rom. 6:4, 9), again looking to Jesus in His... Continue Reading
3 Dangers of an Over-Realized Eschatology
When we assume blessings that are “not yet,” meaning they will not be realized until the return of Christ, it’s called “over-realized eschatology.”
Eschatology is the study of last things. When we think of end times studies, we typically think of charts and millennial views. While that is certainly part of it, it actually encompasses so much more. As people living in the last times, we “already” experience aspects of God’s kingdom, but there are still things that... Continue Reading
Dealing with Death and Disease
Sometimes things don’t turn out all right—at least in the short term.
People die every day. Babies, teenagers, young mothers, middle-age fathers, the elderly—death is no respecter of persons. It’s not exactly true that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. You can avoid taxes. If you’re willing to put up with jail time, you need not pay the tax man. Death, on the... Continue Reading
Exodus: Why Should I Obey Yahweh?
Exodus has three main divisions: Narratives of rescue, narratives of preparation, and discourses on law, covenant, and tabernacle.
Though chapter 19 is also narrative, the setting—with the people finally at Mt. Sinai—clearly fits together with the law codes and covenant ceremony of chapters 20-24. Chapters 25-40 consist of tabernacle details (first instruction, then construction), divided by the narratives of covenant rending and repair in chapters 32-34. While most book overviews are written... Continue Reading
Made For Another World
“Lord, we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
The world as we know it has changed and we don’t know when it will go back to the way it was (if it ever will). This has begun to reveal what we subtly hope in day in and day out as we feel our fears and frustrations from lost comforts and conveniences. The... Continue Reading
Living Out a Healthy Fear of the Lord
We must fear on their behalf, having our hearts wrenched with anguish over the destiny of the lost.
Faith is the eyesight of the soul, by which we can see invisible spiritual realities (Heb. 11:1). By faith, believers can see the holiness of our invisible God. We can also see the invisible hell to which our unsaved relatives, neighbors, coworkers, and friends are heading. Since there is no fear of God before their... Continue Reading
Habakkuk — A Book for Times of Crisis
The Bible’s great theme is stated in Habakkuk 2:4b, ‘The righteous shall live by his faith.’
We are running amid the arrows of this life, some very poisonous. However, because of ‘the feet of deer’ which God has given us we always evade the final, fatal blow. How did Israel survive the successive brutalities of Babylon, of Persia, of Greece, and of Rome? For millennia true faith has survived on earth... Continue Reading
If God Told You, You Probably Won’t Believe It
Even the prophets of old couldn’t comprehend the purposes of God that were to be revealed in the New Covenant.
I am of the opinion that if God were to fully explain his purposes, man would not be able to understand them. If God were to get into the particulars, while we are in pain and sorrow, to explain why he took away some of the people that we loved the most, we would not... Continue Reading
“Look at the Birds of the Air”
We are not to be anxious. And we are not to be anxious because our God will provide for our needs.
If you are a Christian and find yourself faced with such a situation in your life, take a moment and do what Jesus says there in Matthew’s Gospel – “Look at the birds of the air” (v.26). Look at them, listen to their chirping and singing, and be reminded that “your heavenly Father feeds them.”... Continue Reading