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Series: Help for the Helpless Message: Hope for the future Romans 8:12-25 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the…

Series: Help for the Helpless Message: Love Holds On Rom 8:26-39 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind…

The first and last temptation of Christ have always made sense to me. In the first temptation, Jesus was hungry. The temptation was to fulfill an immediate need, His hunger. In the last temptation, Jesus would get what was His by right, but get it immediately. He would not have to go to the cross…

I’ve been asked often, “Why should I bother with church?” With dozens of religious TV stations, many feel that they can get their Bible teaching without attending church. This is a great question that deserves an answer. I’ll start with an admission. Church is a bother. You don’t get many days of the week when…

As a father of six young children, I can remember with each one of them how my wife and I waited for their first step. It was an exciting time that also opened the doors for dangerous times. No longer would the baby be safely confined to a crib, but the baby would soon be…

Psalm 2:4 is an interesting passage. In the passage it says that God laughs. Exactly what is God laughing at? The previous verse says that he laughs at the efforts of men to kill the Messiah. They think that by binding the Messiah to the cross with fetters and bands they can be free from…

I do think that there is a knock down falsification argument against the most common young earth argument. Let me give it a shot on you and see what you think. Young earthers often say that Adam was created to look a particular age, say 21 for the sake of argument. This makes sense. Further,…

There are a couple of good sources of free Bible software for Windows. The price really is right. One of these is On Line Bible. It has some pretty good reviews. I haven’t tried it in a long time so I can’t comment on how good it might be (comments appreciated). The other program is…

Who is my Christian Brother? There are two criteria for what makes a person a Christian. One is belief that Jesus is the Messiah. The other is belief that Jesus is the Son of God. What this all means is where the rub comes in.

It can be problematic going from a specific Bible passage to a generality. One obvious example is: Exo 4:20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. Taking this passage as…

I am thinking today a bit more about Acts 2:42 and the order of the passage. In the passage, Luke lists the four basic things that the early church was doing. This is an important passage since it is the first glance of what the earliest church was doing. These four things were devoting themselves…

Ever wonder if we are doing the right things as a church? Acts 2:42 gives us a snapshot of the first moments of the new church. It is shortly after the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came on the disciples. Three thousand people were saved that day. Acts 2:42 tells us that “they…

Great article about how one Covenant Church pastor is using cyberspace to get the Good New out.

Resurrection:(1) Current Questions and the Contemporary Setting Resurrection:(2) The Evidence of the Early Church Resurrection:(3) Paul and the Gospels

While I’m on the subject of great Christian authors, let me include another favorite of mine, Dr. William Lane Craig. Dr. Craig is currently Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. Dr. Craig is also well published and has an impressive academic background. Dr. Craig is an excellent debater…

This is a great book on loving God with our mind by one of my favorite authors, Dr. J. P. Moreland. Dr. Moreland is a professor of Christian Philosophy at Talbot Seminary in Southern California. Dr. Moreland is an excellent speaker on subjects related to the Christian faith and Christian apologetics. He also served as…

It has become common language to talk about the the building where Christians gather as the church. In response, it is sometimes said that the church is not the building, the church is the people. There is some value in this distinction but for several reasons it should not be overplayed. It is an ordinary…

This blog is in response to a question about my views on the atonement. I have to confess at the offset that I am not terribly sophisticated in my theology on this subject but as a good theologian I will not let that keep from commenting. Just do not expect my comments to be all…

The Augsburg Confession rightly says that God is not the cause of man’s sin: Of the Cause of Sin they teach that, although God does create and preserve nature, yet the cause of sin is the will of the wicked, that is, of the devil and ungodly men; which will, unaided of God, turns itself…

I have taken a few genealogy trips in the past year and thought I’d write down what I learned in order to aid those who are considering similar trips. Before Leaving on the Roadtrip Start with what you know. Collect names and dates of births, marriages and deaths. Interview all living relatives. It is probably…

Dallas Willard is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. Dallas is a Christian philosopher and thinker. He has written a lot of articles and books including The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God and The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Here is an article Dallas…

If you have an interest in Christian historical documents, the Internet has some wonderful web sites. If you have not been to these sites, they are impressive in the amount of source materials that they contain. The Internet Medieval Sourcebook is a vast depository of Medieval source materials. The Christian Classics Ethereal Library has a…

This is an interesting article by C. S. Lewis on God, Gender and Priestesses. Lewis wrote the article in 1948. In particular, Lewis talks about feminine language to describe God as mother, etc. This article by Lewis predates by 40-50 years the current controversies in the Episcopal church and other denominations. Here is an article…

It has been stated by some that science has shown a genetic basis for sexual orientation. In other words, the claim is that abnormal behaviors are wired into people by their genetic makeup. This is now an accepted fact in some quarters which has been used to advance the agenda of certain persons. Here is…

The Gospel of Matthew contains some blanket condemnations of Gentiles. This article considers those condemnations. This is interesting in light of the charges that The Passion of the Christ is Anti-Semitic. Food for thought.