I know scores of Jesus followers who love what he taught, what he did and how he freely gave his life on behalf of humanity. But the practice of their daily lives, unlike Jesus, is one of a solitary walk. Why do so many people who are believers of Jesus Christ fail to join themselves with other followers of Jesus. …
Pure or Impure: The Choice is Ours
The Old Covenant beliefs were frequently faced with the possibility of becoming “impure” or “unclean” before God. Many things could create this state of uncleanness, like touching a dead body, or having open sores. In the condition of uncleanness, they were disqualified from certain rights and privileges relating to association with others and to temple worship. In like manner, New …
Worship Before Blessing
If you ask the average Bible student, “Why did God want the children of Israel to be set free from Egypt?”, most would answer, “So they could inherit the Promised Land”. But that is NOT what the scriptures teach us. Five times Moses tells Pharaoh to let the people go so that they may worship God in the wilderness. Was …
Crouching Sin… Redeeming Savior
Genesis 4:6,7Then Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” This is one of the most enlightening dialogues recorded …
The Dichotomy of Fear
Since the late 1980s we have all seen tee-shirts and placards displaying the phrase “No Fear”. While this popular mantra may give some degree of encouragement, it can also be misleading. While it may seem sensible to eliminate fear from our lives, not all fear is bad. It is a good thing to fear a sow Grizzly bear with cubs. …
Don’t Fear Religious People … WIN THEM!
In the past few weeks, I’ve had the blessing of guest speaking at some local non-denominational churches. These small local assemblies are full of people with a genuine love for God and a desire to know the Bible more fully. At each church, people approached me afterwards to either ask questions or to offer positive comments about the message I’d …
From Fellowship to Fear
A common thought about Christian fellowship is that it should produce comfort and encouragement. But how many of us look at fellowship as a source of godly fear? Yet, that is precisely what the first Christians experienced immediately following the Day of Pentecost. Acts 2 informs us that they followed a specific pattern of behavior, but the outcome wasn’t what …
Freedom in Christ
This month the United States of America will celebrate July 4th in remembrance of the ratification of our Declaration of Independence. Both in the preamble and the epilogue they acknowledge the Creator God as the both the author and protector of freedom. It was their reliance upon God that gave them the courage to take their stand and declare truth …
The War is Here… What Now?
Our world is spinning out of control. The most fundamental realities of life are under assault, and it seems most of earth’s human inhabitants are either ignorant, numbed or jaded about the inevitable outcome if we remain on the sidelines. What should Christ’s followers do? Do we march in the streets? Should we write letters of protest to our elected …
Righteous or Self-Righteous
Righteousness in the Bible carries two essential meanings. First, it is the state of being right according to God’s standards. The other meaning carries the sense of having been declared not guilty. One who is declared not guilty, is not of necessity living righteously. Throughout the Bible, God declared many people righteous, but it is through faithfulness to live according …