January 9, 2019

When the Son of Man Comes

Sun behind the clouds

Different people look forward to different events in their future. A high school student may be anticipating graduating and going to college. A young couple may be looking forward to having children. Those who are older may be preparing for retirement. People might look forward to the weekend as a time for fishing, attending a sporting event, or just spending time at home.

These anticipated events will be different for everyone because each person has different desires, priorities, and interests. Their plans for the future are different because everyone has unique circumstances so they can expect certain things to happen (good or bad).

However, one future event that is the same for all of us is the return of Christ at the end of the world. What will happen then? How can we prepare for this day? To answer these questions, we will consider what Jesus taught about the coming of the Son of Man.Continue Reading

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January 2, 2019

Planning for the Future

Plan

“The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

If we are going to be pleasing to God, there are two critical factors for us to consider – God’s instructions and our decisions. At the turn of every new year, many of us make resolutions and goals for the upcoming year. With this in mind, let us consider some passages from the book of Proverbs about planning for the future. As we move forward in the new year, we need to be sure we are acting with wisdom.Continue Reading

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December 24, 2018

Top 5 Articles on Plain Bible Teaching in 2018

Top 5 Articles in 2018

As the new year approaches, I wanted to stop and highlight the most-read articles on the site for this year. It is always interesting to me to see what makes the list. So here are the “top 5” posts based on the number of page views.

Top 5 new articles (posted in 2018):

  1. Why Parents Should Dress Their Young Children Modestly (07.04.18)
  2. Excel Still More (02.07.18)
  3. Understanding Romans 14 (01.03.18)
  4. Rapture and Tribulation (06.06.18)
  5. More Important Than Numbers (09.05.18)

Plus, here are the top 5 older articles (posted in 2017 or earlier) that continue to generate interest:

  1. A Short and Powerful Sermon (09.17.05)
  2. The Older Women Must Teach the Young Women (05.02.12)
  3. The Fields Are White for Harvest (08.09.09)
  4. What Happened After Saul’s Conversion? (03.31.11)
  5. Having a Zeal for God (08.07.10)

And for something new, here are the top 5 articles posted on the Plain Bible Teaching Facebook Page this year (based on reach):

  1. The Restoration Plea (03.31.18)
  2. Finding Purpose Amidst the Vanity of Life (08.29.18)
  3. Why Parents Should Dress Their Young Children Modestly (07.04.18)
  4. Why Do We Meet on Sunday Evening? (11.17.18)
  5. Understanding Romans 14 (01.03.18)

Thanks to everyone for your continued interest in Plain Bible Teaching. If you are not yet on the mailing list to receive the free PBT Weekly Newsletter, be sure to subscribe to stay up to date on new content and more.

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December 22, 2018

Book Review: Calvinism

Calvinism (cover)It has been a while since I’ve posted a book review, but since I was asked by a couple of people for a review of this book, I decided I would post it here. I will try to post other reviews from time to time.

The book under consideration is Calvinism: Built on a Foundation of Sand by Kevin Micuch. Below is the description of the book on Amazon:Continue Reading

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December 19, 2018

What to Do When You’ve Sinned

GuiltDavid was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), yet he committed a series of terrible sins in his affair with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). This can happen to us, even as God’s people – we can commit sins even though we have been called to righteousness.

We often talk about the need to overcome temptation – and we should, this is the goal (cf. 1 John 2:1). But what happens when we fail to overcome temptation? Are we without hope? No, we can be forgiven. Should we continue that errant course? Again, no, we are still to strive to do what is right. So what should we do?

In this article, we are going to notice six things we need to do after we have sinned.Continue Reading

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December 17, 2018

Identifying the Lord’s Church: Conclusion

Identifying the Lord's Church

Many people make the mistake of equating the church with a physical building. Yet as we have gone through this study, we have seen nothing in the New Testament that would indicate that the church is some type of physical structure. However, the New Testament does use a building analogy to describe the church:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22).

“You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

The Lord’s church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (their teaching contained in Scripture) with Jesus as the cornerstone (everything is built and based upon Him). Christians – individually – are the stones that make up this spiritual house.Continue Reading

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December 12, 2018

The Message of the Gospel

Romans

In his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul described the gospel as “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). This verse is often thought of as the theme of Paul’s letter – and for good reason. However, it is also important to note the first few verses of this letter as they introduce this central topic.

“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:1-6).

Since the gospel is “the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16), we want to be prepared to talk to others about the gospel – especially those who are unfamiliar with it. The opening verses of the book of Romans provide us with an outline to help us do just that. Let us break down these verses and see how they help explain the message of the gospel.Continue Reading

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