As a culture, we are fascinated with the unknown. Monster and horror movies are all the rage. Exorcism has become a popular genre of film, and it seems like there’s a never-ending catalogue of tv shows about people trying to catch ghosts. This fascination with the unknown is not foreign in Biblical study either. For … Continue reading Demons – What Are They? (Halloween Edition)
Tough Questions
Practical Ways to Fight Individualism
Within my first blog on Isaiah,[1] I posted that individualism is often one of the major forces behind our lackluster response to injustice. After posting that blog, as well as after many conversations with others about this topic, some good questions arose. For example: “Why is individualism so bad?” “Isn’t salvation, ultimately, between an individual … Continue reading Practical Ways to Fight Individualism
Trusting God in this Age of “New Magic”
More and more frequently I have been seeing videos and social media posts passed around in Christian circles that claim to contain “prophecy” concerning the coronavirus. For example, the 700 club’s recent videos contain “prophecies” that a divinely directed cure is being developed in Israel[1] as well as a “word” that this virus was created … Continue reading Trusting God in this Age of “New Magic”
Sabbath Law and COVID-19
The Sabbath laws were critical in ancient Israelite worship. God rested on the seventh day of Creation, and His example set a precedent for how the entire nation was to conduct its business. Remembering the Sabbath made it into the Ten Commandments. Several chapters of Torah are devoted to explaining its inner workings. When Sabbath … Continue reading Sabbath Law and COVID-19
Embodying Repentance
Let us return to our look at biblical repentance. If you haven’t checked out the previous two blogs on this subject, I would highly recommend that you do so. This one is a continuation of those other two. Specifically, I would like to further explore what it might mean for us to live-out the concept … Continue reading Embodying Repentance
Repentance: A Key to the Kingdom?
This blog is a continuation of my study on biblical repentance. If you haven’t read the previous post “A Brief Look at Biblical Repentance,” I encourage you to do that first. I plan to narrow our focus here on one of the Greek words for “repentance” used in the New Testament: metanoio μετανοέωas. That previous blog … Continue reading Repentance: A Key to the Kingdom?
What’s a “Hedge of Protection?”
There are certain phrases in the Christian vocabulary that, while normal to believers, are head-scratchers for unbelievers. For example: “traveling mercies.” Camp or spiritual “high.” Doing “life together.” Inviting Jesus “into your heart.” Those of us who are familiar with western Christian culture have likely assimilated these phrases into our religious word-stock and don’t even … Continue reading What’s a “Hedge of Protection?”
Are people adding scripture to the Bible?
This is a follow up post to “are people removing scripture from our Bibles?” If you have not read that blog yet, I’d advise you to do so before this one. Because, within that, we were only able to discuss well-known scripture passages that have been removed because of their lack of manuscript evidence. But … Continue reading Are people adding scripture to the Bible?
Are people removing scripture from the Bible?
While it is not typically asked in such an “on the nose” way, this question has come up frequently. Are the translation committees that are tasked with creating new versions of the English Bible purposefully removing sections of scripture? If you spend any time on Facebook, you might have seen memes that claim such a … Continue reading Are people removing scripture from the Bible?
Does God have a girlfriend?
This question was posed to me by a teenager riding on the bus down to one of our youth group’s winter retreats: “If I have a girlfriend, why can’t God have one?” Of course, the simple answer is that, no, God does not have a girlfriend. He is both self-existent and ontologically different than His … Continue reading Does God have a girlfriend?
Scripture Simplified 