I’m in the process of writing another book with the working title of The Storyteller. The book’s theme is analogies to help us know God better and understand theological concepts in general. As with my other books, it will be based on previous website posts and sermons. The links below form the original source material which I’m rewriting into a higher quality, readable form. I hope to have the book ready to publish by the end of 2025. The Storyteller These six audio messages are from a series called God The Author. They present an analogy to help both believers and non-believer better understand the nature attributes of God. I plan to include more on this subject in the book. …Continue reading →
How We Describe God Have you ever talked to a stranger, and during the conversation you increasingly felt he may be a fellow believer? He spoke positively of Jesus. He quoted scripture. He mentioned going to church last Sunday. But just as you were about to ask if he’s a Christian, he said something that immediately changed your mind. You realized he isn’t a Christian because his view of God is off. Perhaps he believes God had a beginning. God started out as a man and later he became God. Then He created us as His spirit children. One day we’ll become gods just like Him, and we’ll create our own spirit children who can themselves become gods. This is …Continue reading →
(From a message given January 22, 2023 at Beatty Baptist Church) Do you remember the relief we felt after the last elections were over? All the mud-slinging political ads came to an end, and ever since, we’ve had peace and harmony between people of all political persuasions… well, not really. That would have been nice. But at least we have a reprieve from those very annoying political advertisements. Most of those ads didn’t serve any purpose except to defame the character of the opposing candidates. Each candidate maligned the others. And if they did’t speak outright lies, they certainly didn’t tell the whole truth: so-and-so raised taxes, so-and-so made cuts to education or law enforcement, …and the context – why …Continue reading →
I was a teenager in the cold war era back in the 1970’s. Because of the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, end-times prophecy was a hot topic among Christians. There were movies about end-times events such as A Thief In The Night. There were books like The Late, Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. Many of these movies and books attempted to interpret current events as signs that the great tribulation and the return of Jesus Christ were just about to happen. Maybe they were correct in some of their interpretations, but they weren’t correct all the time. They made a lot of assumptions. For example, Revelation 9:13-18 speaks of an army of 200 million horsemen who …Continue reading →
(From a message in the Parables of Jesus series, given October 16, 2022 at Beatty Baptist Church) It happened, that when he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” – Luke 11:1 Jesus prayed many times in the gospels. He would talk to His Father frequently because His relationship to His Father was the top priority in His life. And something about the way He prayed stirred up a desire in His disciples to have that same kind of prayer life. It wasn’t about praying with eloquence, power or effectiveness. They saw the relationship Jesus had with His Father, and they wanted …Continue reading →
We know forgiveness of sins and eternal life comes through faith in Jesus Christ, but what does it mean to believe in Jesus? If you listen to some present the gospel, you might think it’s merely believing Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins. But this was not the message of the apostles and the early church. The New Testament gospel message is primarily about the identity of Jesus. In other words, it is not merely belief that Jesus did something, but that Jesus is who He said He is. It is not “Believe that Jesus can save you from your sins,” but “Believe in the identity of Jesus so that He can save you from …Continue reading →
(From a message given October 2, 2022 at Beatty Baptist Church) In Matthew chapter 18, Jesus taught His disciples what to do if a brother sins against them. In verse 15 He said to show him his fault privately, and if he listens—if he repents, he’s gained his brother back: the relationship is restored. If he doesn’t listen, then take one or two others who witnessed the offense and try again. If he still doesn’t listen, tell it to the church, and if that doesn’t work, treat him as a Gentile or tax collector. Considering how Jesus treated Gentiles and tax collectors, that pretty much ruled out bad mouthing the guy, taking him to court, or getting some kind of …Continue reading →
(From a message given August 21, 2022 at Beatty Baptist Church) Jesus calls us to love one another—to love our neighbors, and to love our enemies. Our Lord did not leave it up to us to define who our neighbors or enemies are, nor did He leave it up to us to define what loving them means. If left to ourselves, we might define love as not wishing someone harm, or doing a minimum amount of good to someone. But that is worldly love. God’s love is different. It is not merely the absence of hate. In the Bible, love is of the heart and it spontaneously displays itself in actions… extravagant actions, because it genuinely cares for the other …Continue reading →
(From a message given February 13, 2022 at Beatty Baptist Church) In Matthew 16, verse 5 and following, Jesus warned His disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees: And when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how …Continue reading →
(From a message given November 28, 2021 at Beatty Baptist Church) The Parable—Matthew 20:1-16 The parables of Jesus are short stories that use analogies to teach about real things. Jesus spoke in parables to conceal the meaning from those He knew would not accept it (such as the crowds in general), and to reveal the meaning to those He knew who would (such as His disciples). The parable we’re about to look at was intended for His disciples. It’s found in Matthew chapter 20, beginning in verse 1: For the kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a …Continue reading →
