After hearing this book recommended at least a couple of times and since it dealt with a topic I wanted to learn more about, I picked up a copy of Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Gregory Koukl. I read it a few weeks ago and it was excellent.Continue Reading
April 2, 2020
Book Review: Tactics
April 1, 2020
What If Jesus Was Not Raised from the Dead?
Photo by Ferrell Jenkins
The “Christian” world uses the Easter holiday to remember the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is certainly good to remember the resurrection. After all, it is part of the foundation of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Even so, the observance of “Easter” as a religious holy day is nowhere authorized in the Bible.
However, while people’s minds are turned to the resurrection during this time of year, we often find opportunities to discuss this important event. So in this article, I want us to consider the following question: What if Jesus was not raised from the dead? Paul gave an answer to this in his first letter to Corinth:
“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).
Without Jesus’ resurrection, our faith would be in vain. But why? Let us notice six reasons for this.Continue Reading
March 30, 2020
Social Issues (Part 1): Abortion
Abortion is the procedure through which the life of a child in the womb is deliberately terminated. In other words, when an abortion is performed, an unborn child (a human being) is intentionally killed.
Those who argue in favor of abortion defend the practice as a woman’s “right to choose” (yet in most cases, it is really about avoiding the consequences of other choices). They contend that arguments or legislation against abortion are hostile toward women as they are to have a right to privacy (yet privacy should not be used to justify sin). They declare that they have authority over their own bodies (yet they deny the unborn child authority over his/her own body). They often (but not always) ignore or argue against the humanity of the unborn.Continue Reading
March 23, 2020
Social Issues: Introduction
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
There are many challenging issues facing us in our society. As Christians, we need to be aware of these issues, understand what the Bible teaches concerning them, know how to face them, and learn how we can respond to them in order to lead people to the truth.
Over the course of this study, we will discuss the following issues:Continue Reading
March 20, 2020
Pray for Leaders During the Spread of the Coronavirus
The topic that has everyone’s attention this week is the spread of the Coronavirus that has turned into a global pandemic. I discussed this topic previously on the podcast, focusing on some things that we as Christians need to do during this situation. One of those things is prayer.
In this article, I want to expand on the need for prayer – particularly the need to pray for our leaders (civil authorities) as this crisis moves along.Continue Reading
March 18, 2020
What the Bible Teaches about Suicide
Suicide is the act by which one intentionally takes his own life. In other words, this is not an accident, not one sacrificing his life for some other person or for some cause, and not making the decision to end treatment for a terminal illness. This is the purposeful act of one ending his own life.
To get an idea of the extent of the problem of suicide in our society, notice a few statistics (all of these numbers are for suicides in the United States):Continue Reading
March 4, 2020
Turning Blessings into Curses
“Have you found honey? Eat only what you need, that you not have it in excess and vomit it” (Proverbs 25:16).
In the Bible, honey is often used to symbolize God’s great blessings for man. When God told Moses of His plan to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and to the promised land of Canaan, He emphasized the goodness of the land by describing it as “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). Yet as the wise man pointed out in the verse above, that same blessing can be turned into something with a negative impact on us.
It is possible to take the good things with which God blesses us and turn them into something bad for us. This can be done by misuse, abuse, or excess. In this article, I would like to notice a few examples of how this can be done with certain blessings.Continue Reading
