What’s the point of suffering? Is there a purpose, a design? John Piper explains, from the bible, the meaning of why pain exists. The Purposes of God in the Pain of the World | Desiring God Continue reading The Providence Of Pain
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1Cor. 13.13 NIV) Love Stronger Than Death: | Peter J. Leithart | First Things Continue reading Jesus Isn’t Content to Live One Life of Love
Those so-called Christians who try to enforce righteousness on unbelievers is the main reason I wrote my recent post about the Two Kingdoms. The Law (Mosaic Old Covenant) wasn’t effective in itself to produce godliness. God’s Law was a spotlight to expose unrighteousness so that the conscious-stricken petitioner would make use of the remedy of sacrifice. The book of Hebrews makes the same case: The … Continue reading Failing the New Covenant
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours (Jn.17.9 NIV). Ever since the promise of redemption contained in the sentence, or curse, upon the devil (Gen. 3.15), two kingdoms have existed: The seed of woman and the seed of the serpent. It is not the case, however, that God only rules … Continue reading “I Am Not Praying for the World”-Jn. 17.9b
In the book of Acts, Luke records the words of the mob at Thessalonica claiming that the new Christian Movement was upsetting the world order: These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus (17.6b-7 NIV). Therefore, it … Continue reading Ancient Secular References to Jesus and His Followers
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God (Phil. 1.9-11 NIV). A half truth is usually a … Continue reading Discerning What is Best
ABSTRACT: “And the Rock was Christ.” Some have interpreted Paul’s claim in 1 Corinthians 10:4 as a departure from grammatical-historical exegesis, or even as evidence that Paul gave credence to unhistorical Jewish myths. A close reading of his words against the backdrop of the canon, however, shows that Paul was reading Moses the way Moses… The Rock Was Christ: How Paul Read the Pentateuch — Desiring … Continue reading James Hamilton: Christ as Rock
Recently, various press outlets have run stories about a stone artifact with a very fragmentary Old Hebrew Inscription on it (e.g., https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/bibles-reliability-further-affirmed-as-king-hezekiah-inscription-deciphered/ , citing the proposed restorations and interpretations of Gershon Galil and Eli Shukron), discovered ca. 15+ years ago on an excavation. I would like to make some brief comments on this inscription and… Restorations are *not* a Good Foundation for Dramatic Proposals: Reflections on … Continue reading Overly Speculative Reconstructions Lack Credibility
The Abolitionist Hero You’ve Never Heard Of Continue reading Happy Birthday Granville Sharp
Merneptah, son of Rameses II, ruled Egypt 1213-1203 B.C., in the 19th Dynasty. The Merneptah Stele, made of granit, is an inscription of great archaeological and biblical importance. It contains the first mention of Israel in a source besides the Bible. On our recent tour of Egypt, this is one of the main artifacts I […] The Merneptah Stele — Leon’s Message Board Continue reading The Merneptah Stele
On Tuesday, Nov. 8 a Lunar Eclipse occurs. More impressive and important is a total Solar Eclipse. A Solar Eclipse, at least to me, indicates design. The difference in mass between the Sun and Moon is enormous, yet, in their relative placement to each other from the vantage of a person on Earth, total Solar Eclipses sometimes occur. This phenomenon impels curiosity to find out … Continue reading Evidence that God Wants Us to be Scientific
Summary: New dating technology uses the Earth’s magnetic field to verify the biblical accounts of Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian and Babylonian military campaigns against the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And he [Nebuchadnezzar] burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. –… Earth’s Magnetic Field Used to Verify Biblical Battles — Patterns of … Continue reading A Remarkable New Dating Tool for Israeli Archeology
4 Questions about Headship and Head Coverings — Crossway Articles: Questions and Answers Continue reading The Head of the Wife is Her Husband-1Cor. 11.3
God demonstrated His love in Christ’s crucifixion (Rom. 5.8). However, the members of the Trinity did not suffer since Christ, only in His humanity, paid sin’s penalty for us. The incarnation and earthly ministry of Jesus was the start of an advance into a new realm: materiality. God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must do so in spirit and truth (Jn. 4.24). Modern, … Continue reading Did the Godhead Suffer at the Cross of Christ?
The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away (Mt. 13.24-25 NIV). Bob Dylan’s Infidels holds a message for today. Jesus, in Mt. 13. 24-30 points out (see vss. 37-43), that in the expression of the Kingdom on earth, many individuals feign righteousness. … Continue reading Bob Dylan: Infidels
The doctrines of Calvinism have a way of both wounding and healing the human heart. They are sword and balm, stumbling block and safety net, thundercloud and rainbow. The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) once described Calvinism as a lamb in wolf’s skin: “cruel in the phrases,” but “full of consolation for the suffering individual.”… The Five Not-Points of Calvinism — Desiring God Continue reading The Five Not-Points of Calvinism
This reblogged post has some English grammar problems. I was going to correct it, but, I believe readers of English can figure out what he is saying. Aubrey identifies some not-so-obvious translation issues that plague the modern church. The bible is both very simple and complex (in parts) simultaneously. To understand biblical concepts takes effort. I believe God grants understanding to those who ask, seek, … Continue reading Mike Aubrey’s Concerns
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1Cor. 11.25b-26 ESV). Christians can become overly introspective during the Lord’s Supper because of Paul’s warning in the next verses about observing the rite: Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of … Continue reading Whom we Remember and Proclaim
C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters was the first book by him that I read. I was a young Christian and wasn’t always sure where Lewis was going with his sarcasm. I finally got the gist of what Lewis was doing in this classic. The last sentence of this review is instructive and raises a question: does the devil put things into our mind or does … Continue reading ‘The Screwtape Letters’
At death we will see our friend and Lover face to face: Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord (2Cor. 5.8 ESV). Additionally, other believers will welcome us as well: People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the … Continue reading Gathered to God and Our People
Peter Gurry exposes a truth by careful reading what sources actually said. It is a fallacy to believe that the resultant major N.T. readings preserved today accurately reflect ancient majority readings. There are too many variables to accept the stated theorem: “A theoretical presumption indeed remains that a majority of extant documents is more likely to represent a majority of ancestral documents at each stage … Continue reading The Reality of Asymmetrical Textual Transmission
The main reason for doubt of the letter 2 Peter is because it seems so different from 1 Peter. I have argued elsewhere that 1 Peter was composed largely by Silvanus (Silas) the prophet (see Acts 15.32). Peter indicates that he wrote (or authorized) the words of 1 Peter in 1 Pet. 5.12: By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written … Continue reading Why 2 Peter is Canonical
C.S. Lewis on the Decline of Christianity — Ad Fontes Continue reading Syrupy Christianity vs. The Real Thing
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice (Phil. 4.4 ESV) Rejoice! How Can You Be Happy on Command? — ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry Continue reading Rejoice in the Lord Always
And the LORD said to him [Elijah], “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. (1Ki 19:15) Hazael was a ruled Aram-Damascus (Syria), a kingdom located to the northeast of Judah and Israel from ca. 842—800 BC1. He appears in […] Hazael: An Archaeological Biography — Bible Archaeology Report Continue reading Hazael: An Archaeological Biography
Be sure not to miss the comments of the post. Also, this post links to a previous discussion of 1Jn 2.23 (at that verse). The link, with its comments, discusses the longer reading of 1Jn.2.23 and 1Jn. 3.1. My position, on these two verses, is acceptance of the longer readings in both texts rather than the clauses being explanatory additions. The KJV misses these two … Continue reading FOMO: The “Fear of Missing Out”
The Jews who rejected the Messiah set up their new religion apart from and in rejection to the signs God gave as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. The words of Amos probably refer to this time: The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done…The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a … Continue reading The Better Plea: “Give Me Jesus and the Apostles”
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