April 10, 2011

Hard-Headed Preachers

Hard-Headed Preachers

We do not typically think of the term “hard-headed” as being a compliment when it is used to describe someone. Yet the Bible teaches that it is an essential characteristic of one who would proclaim the word of God. When God commissioned Ezekiel to “go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them” (Ezekiel 3:4), appointing him as “a watchman to the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 3:17), God gave the prophet a hard-headed demeanor so that he would be able to accomplish his task.
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April 6, 2011

The Religion of Peace

The adherents of Islam and their sympathizers spend a lot of effort trying to paint Islam as a “religion of peace.” The well-documented history of terrorist attacks carried out in the name of Allah make it difficult to defend this position. An examination of the Quran does not help either, as it calls for Muslims to “fight and slay the infidel wherever you find them” (Quran 9:5).

The latest black mark against this “religion of peace” comes in the response to Terry Jones burning a copy of the Quran. This man is a relative nobody in a tiny church in Florida. His actions in burning a copy of the Quran are so insignificant that it is an embarrassment that the media actually reported on it. Yet they did and word has spread far and wide about this event. Since then, Muslims on the other side of the globe in Afghanistan have responded by rioting and murdering dozens of people who are connected to Terry Jones only in that they are non-Muslims (infidels).
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March 17, 2011

The Plumb Line

Plumb Line

God showed the prophet Amos three visions that warned about the coming judgment against Israel (Amos 7:1-9). After the first two visions, Amos protested, pleading for mercy on behalf of Israel. But after the third vision he did not. What was different about the third vision? Answering this question will provide a valuable lesson for us today.
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January 7, 2011

Did God Use the “Big Bang” to Create the Universe?

Space

For a long time there has been a conflict between the teaching of the Bible and the beliefs of the scientific community in general over the origin of the universe. On one hand, you have the Biblical account of God creating the universe from nothing in six days. On the other hand, you have a theory held by many scientists that says the universe came into being when a ball of matter of unknown origin exploded (”Big Bang”), sending particles shooting through space, which eventually, somehow, formed planets and stars, bred life, and, over millions of years, through a long string of lucky mutations, those first single-cell organisms evolved into every living thing that we see in the world today.

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October 3, 2010

The Value of the Old Testament

Bible reading

At the first of the year, I started a Bible reading plan that would take me through the Bible in one year. There are several different reading plans people use to read through the Bible. Some sort the books by chronological order. Others arrange the schedule so that one reads a portion of both the Old and New Testaments each day. The plan I followed this year went through the books of the Bible in the order they appear. I have been able to keep up with the schedule (though there were times I was playing catch-up) and am currently up to date with the readings.

On October 1, I finished the book of Malachi. That means it took just over nine months to finish the Old Testament.

This served as a simple reminder that we cannot ignore the Old Testament Scriptures. Yes, we are under a new law (Hebrews 8:8-10) and the old law was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). But that does not mean the Old Testament is worthless to us today.
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September 14, 2010

A Noble Reception of the Gospel

After being run out of town in Thessalonica, Paul was sent to Berea. Here he continued doing the very thing that had previously stirred up opposition against him – teaching the gospel (Acts 17:1-5, 10). Fortunately, these individuals in Berea were “more noble-minded” than the ones Paul encountered in the last city. What was it that made them noble-minded? It had to do with their reception of the gospel.

“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

This verse shows us three reasons why the Bereans were called “noble-minded.” In addition, we can see how we should receive preaching and teaching today.
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September 10, 2010

Burning Books

A small church in Gainesville, Florida has caused no small disturbance with their plan to host a Quran burning this Saturday to mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Terry Jones, the leader of this church, has been urged by Muslims, religious leaders, and government officials to cancel the event for fear of violence that could erupt. The latest news, at the time of this writing, is that the event has been cancelled, but that Jones could still change his mind. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens.

But what about this? Is this something a church ought to be doing? Jones and his church are well within their legal and Constitutional rights to burn copies of the Quran (assuming they are their own personal copies and not stolen). But that’s not what we’re going to discuss here. Instead, we want to consider whether or not a Christian should burn copies of the Quran as this church had planned to do.
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