Introduction It has often been joked that those looking for a perfect church will render it imperfect the moment they set foot in it. Without a doubt, any church is made up of imperfect people, and if we can't accept this, we will no longer have a church. While some consider it their sacred duty to size everyone up and boot out all the people who have problems, others see this type of compulsive "sorting" as the danger in teaching sound doctrine. They think--and understa

Begin with the Facts Any honest study of a text from God's Word must begin with the facts. A command of the facts must include a careful examination of the words used in the text, not only in a reliable translation but in the original languages. The facts of the text must then be placed in their proper context --not only the circumstances surrounding the composition of the text but also the intended audience and the author. In the strictest sense, all of Scripture is w

A Revelation to Behold As a partial repost of A New Year's Revelation, it seems fitting to reorient our vision this sacred season to Christ Himself as we embark on a study of the Book of Revelation. With all those who "love His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8), we yearn for His Second Coming to begin Christ's earthly reign as He restores all of Creation. We do not believe with the postmillennialists that we ourselves will usher in Christ's reign. Nor do we see conclusive eviden

It was April 15, 2019. Some last-minute tax-filers might have had their thoughts fixated on finishing their returns. But most of the world was watching in horror and grief as Notre Dame Cathedral was burning. I remember where I was standing in Doris Henderson Newcomers School in Greensboro, North Carolina, when my teacher-friend Vanessa told me in her endearing Australian accent that Notre Dame Cathedral was on fire. I looked at her dumbfounded as chills of disbelief an

Introduction A chunky white King James Bible with yellow-orange edges might not seem like an appropriate gift to place in the hands of a small child today, but this Bible not only set the course of a lifetime journey for me; it fed my natural childhood's curiosity. I felt from my earliest days the sacred weight of both duty and wonder in reading God's Word. The difficulty of doing so in itself spoke eloquently to the thrill of knowing God. I knew in my spirit that I neede

Only a boy named David; only a rippling brook; only a boy named David, but five little stones he took! In his best-selling book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcolm Gladwell supports the intriguing thesis that misfits and underdogs turn the course of history. The viewpoint that has been rejected is, after all, frequently the right one, and the misfit who leans into his impending failure often reaps the reward of staking his all.

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind dri

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind dri

A Gift Still to Be Opened The new year teases like a bright green package still waiting to be opened. What does it hold in store? We want a new beginning, but we don't want things to change. We pick up a blank journal, turning hope into history with a deep resolve to meet our destiny unafraid. Some people take Christmas with them, leaving up tiny twinkle lights all year. But what if we all kept candles burning out of holy expectation? A Revelation to Behold A revelat

" But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 Introduction One of the most beloved promises in the Bible, Isaiah 40:31 could very well also be one of the least-claimed. Most people don't like waiting, and, for some, waiting too long for anything brings out their true colors. Most of us think of waiting as a w

Students of John Milton's epic Paradise Lost cannot soon forget his Biblical description of hell. Writing out of his own blindness, Milton paints hell as a place of "darkness visible." Not only is hell a place of palpable darkness; it is an abyss of sulfurous flames in which the newly cast Lucifer, now Satan, rolls in thunderous pain as the embodiment of Leviathan. But it is Satan himself who defines hell also as a state of mind--a state which, in his rebellion, he deceive

A Refutation of The Dissenter's Jeff Maples' Dismissal of Charles Wesley Why I Struggle with Jeff Maples Last week, I received in my email an article from the online periodical known as The Dissenter , written by Jeff Maples, in which he explores the doctrinal correctness of Charles Wesley's Christmas hymn, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" Having myself written a blogpost on the Christmas carols recently and having noted the theological integrity of these great hymns, I

If history is made up of individuals, it is also certainly made up of moments. The birth of Jesus Christ occurred in one divine moment centuries in the making, and remarkably, only one historian in the entire world has recorded that moment: the Apostle Paul's beloved physician and traveling companion, Luke. I never realized just how viciously Luke's account of Jesus' birth had been attacked until I borrowed a book one day from my father's extensive library. It doesn't loo

Believing that the word "sinner" is not only overused but misused today in reference to God's children, and, believing that it matters whether we identify ourselves as "sinners" or as "saints," I have set out to study Scripture's use of the word "saints." The search is as easy as it is daunting, for the word "saints" is used at least 98 times in the King James Bible, but it isn't at all difficult to find the references. With Strong's Concordance and a journal in front of me

It wouldn't be too surprising to hear that Christians these days are going through an identity crisis. This crisis might not involve merely the question of who we are ourselves but also with whom we can identify anymore. The Christian landscape seems ever changing, to the point that people we thought we trusted yesterday turn out to be someone entirely different today. That respected leader lets us down, and we find out that we have no heroes left, after all. Some people'

Most of us will never know what really goes on behind the scenes during the week of Halloween. If you have ever felt more Satanic oppression during this time than at others, you are not alone. Perhaps your spirit feels a burden you cannot shake, a heaviness you cannot explain, a depression you cannot dismiss. What's really going on? My mother told of a time when she and my father experienced unusual Satanic oppression when they had a next door neighbor who was a practicin

Narrative Arc and the Biblical Worldview When Jesus likens the days before His return to the days of Noah, He shows that human history moves in a circle. And yet this circle is intriguingly different from the wheel of time found within the Eastern worldview. Rather than merely revolving in an eternal rotation of birth, death, and rebirth, human history in reality repeats itself in successively worsening degrees. Jesus makes this clear when He warns that it will be easier

Taken as a Whole Called the greatest sermon of all time, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount not only sets the tone of His entire earthly ministry but defines the very essence o f the Gospel. Like His seamless robe, which the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus cast lots for rather than divide, Christ's sermon must be taken not as a collection of teachings but as a whole. As the New Testament fulfillment of the Old Testament's Ten Commandments, Jesus' sermon is morally binding upon

The Ark Encounter Two years ago, I got to visit the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. I had wanted to go for a long time, and it finally worked out. The entire experience surpassed my expectations. The late-June day was overcast and cool, so it was easy to imagine a looming storm. If you have been there, you remember your very first impression. Mine was fear wrapped in safety. You enter semi-darkness amid ominous thunderbooms as you inch your way through the

Introduction Our culture has long ago lost the inimitable charm of living for others. "Please yourself" has become the mantra of the...