I’m working on a powerful analogy to help explain many of the attributes of God’s nature in a way that can foster greater love for Him, trust in Him, and obedience to Him. It can also help us explain God to non-believers, young and old. I just finished the first part and it’s available for your perusal here. I have two more parts to organize and write, which may take some time as I don’t write fast. If this analogy has helped you, let me know!
Continue reading →He said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” – Luke 23:42 Here is a thief with great faith. This sinner admitted he deserved what he suffered. At the same time, he knew Jesus, suffering next to him, was innocent. He also recognized the Lordship of Jesus. He recognized Jesus had the compassion and authority to overlook his sins. And he knew that this death would not stop Jesus from returning in power and great glory to reward those who trust in Him. What a contrast with the disciples, whose hope died when their Lord died (Luke 24:21). They didn’t believe when told He was risen from the dead. They didn’t remember what He had told … Continue reading →
I believe God at times grants the temporal requests of unbelievers, just as Jesus healed all those who came to Him. But just because God helps unbelievers does not mean they have a close, saving relationship with God. They are still spiritually dead, lost in sin, and condemned before God. They may feel they have a spiritual connection with God, but that connection is a lie. (See Matthew 7:22-23.) A true spiritual relationship with God requires two prerequisite things on our part, and two saving things on God’s part: Our part consists of: Repentance: We must repent of our sin. This is not a requirement to live a perfectly sinless life, for that is impossible. It is a heart thing: … Continue reading →
And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and he uncovered himself in his tent. And Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren outside. And Shem and Japheth took the upper garment and both laid it upon their shoulders, and went backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were turned away, that they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and learned what his youngest son had done to him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; Let him be a bondman of bondmen to his brethren. – Genesis 9:20-25 On reading … Continue reading →
One of the most important foundations of Bible interpretation is: No scripture contradicts other scripture. If it’s all inspired by God, it must all agree with itself. This means you cannot set one set of verses against another set of verses to see which wins out because all of the Bible agrees with itself. If one passage seems to contradict another passage, you can be sure you have a wrong understanding of one or both passages. If something does not make sense, you must be open to the possibility that a doctrine you believe in may be wrong. It’s not enough to have select proof-texts to support what you believe. You must look at all of scripture to determine if … Continue reading →
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23 If I were to define the most recognizable trait of someone who walks in the Spirit, it is this: Those who walk in the Spirit act out of character. Someone can be very unloving in nature, but when she walks in the spirit, she truly loves in an unconditional way. Someone can be of a melancholy disposition, or in a depressing situation, but he can have joy in his heart in spite of circumstances when he walks in the Spirit. A naturally impatient person puts up uncomplainingly to delays when he walks in the Spirit. … Continue reading →
When it comes to spiritual warfare, I think it’s very important to know your enemy and the weapons he uses. Some years ago I wrote of three ways that Satan tries to get at us: Deception, Distraction, and Discouragement. Satan lies to us, he tries to get our eyes on worldly things, and he gets us to lose hope. Since then I’ve become aware of other weapons he uses, one of the most subtle and powerful of which is his power of suggestion. Satan doesn’t force us to disobey God, and he doesn’t always directly suggest we sin, but he does plant ideas in our heads to indirectly lead us to sin. We fall for his suggestions all the time. … Continue reading →
I just posted an article on one problem I see with evolution: how does natural selection filter out mutations that are neither advantageous nor disadvantageous? You can read the article here: Evolution and Harmless Mutations
Continue reading →Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ… – Ephesians 1:3 (VW) Everyone who is truly born-again is blessed. It matters not what your earthly situation is, you already are blessed with every possible spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. These heavenly blessings far exceed anything we could imagine now, and once we get to heaven, it will take all of eternity to comprehend them. But what about now? Are there earthly blessings awaiting us that we have not yet received? Well, yes, there are. But they’re probably not the kind that first comes to mind. Here’s what Jesus said about those who … Continue reading →
And the apostles said to the Lord, Give us more faith. So the Lord said, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you might say to this sycamine tree, Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you. But which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come, sit down to eat? But will he not rather say to him, Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded … Continue reading →
