While finishing up Romans 16 last month, I was struck by Paul’s ending. The next day, when I went to Jude, I was awestruck even more at how the two chapters correlated (specifically the ending of Romans 16 with Jude). Now, Paul has talked about false teachers a bunch in the New Testament, but, there was something in particular that time, and also about Jude, and I knew I had to speak on this topic again (previous post can be found here). Continue reading
*Post was originally published on March 17, 2017. Relevant still for such a time as this one.*
What is pharisaism? Pharisaism is adhering to the principles and practices of the Pharisees—men who were fierce (self-righteous) hypocrites, as we see in the Bible.
The Pharisees’ belief was that everyone should live by their rules, their man-made traditions (even when they themselves didn’t). When people didn’t, they unmercifully criticized them, and Jesus wasn’t excluded. Let’s look at one example. Continue reading
In many churches today, there’s a myth floating about, which says that salvation and tongue-speaking go hand-in-hand. This myth has been alive and well in churches for a long time now, and it will likely be so until Jesus returns. My mission today is to expose this myth for the lie that is (especially for the newcomers to Christianity), and to give you a quick background on why it is a lie. Continue reading
In Isaiah 53:5, we find these words: “But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed” (ESV). The King James Version ends with, “By His stripes we are healed.” Continue reading
Several times in Scripture, God speaks on the jealousy He has for His name. (Note: God’s jealousy isn’t the same as sinful, human jealousy, but is a righteous jealousy, as it’s a part of who He is, and the longing is for what is His [praise, devotion, honor, glory, reverence].) Continue reading
On Saturday, while putting away my old blood pressure monitor, after letting a relative use it, I thought back to the days when I had high blood pressure and was on high blood pressure medication. Continue reading
Over the past weeks, in light of some very interesting things going on within the “Christian community,” I’ve been reminiscing on two events that occurred in my life some years back. During the first instance, I was around 15 years old, and my sisters and I were taken out for the evening by our then pastor (a friendly gesture, as our dad had died some time before). Continue reading
There are many discussions that I hear amongst those of the Christian community, regarding biblical doctrine, that sadden me, as they are pretty far off base. But, there’s one that I encountered recently that really crushed my spirit: it’s the notion that Christians— followers of Christ—can be inhabited/indwelt/possessed by demons. Continue reading
In verse 1 of Matthew 6, we read, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in Heaven.” If we read on, we find that God goes on to tell us about sounding the alarm when giving to the needy, about praying just to be seen of and admired by men, and about intentionally fasting in a way that is noticeable to others. Continue reading
