Articles The Conditional Love of God When the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, God warned them that if they followed the evil ways of the people, He would take them out of the land, and He would cause them to be overtaken by other countries (Deuteronomy 29:25-28). The books of 1 and
Articles Is Christianity Fact or Opinion? If you want to start a dispute, find two baseball fans and ask them who the best Major League Baseball pitcher of all time is. This question will almost certainly start a dispute because each person will have their own opinion of what “best” means. But if you ask those
Devotionals God is Our Refuge “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.” – Psalm 57:1 What do you think of when you think of a refugee? You might
Articles The Importance of Hermeneutics I remember hearing a story about Pearl Jam, one of the big bands of the 90s. One of their biggest songs called “Alive” is a painful autobiographical song written by the singer, Eddie Vedder. However, fans of the song heard the song as a song of inspiration and strength. They
Articles The Difference Between Antinomianism and Legalism in a Christian’s Life When it comes to the Christian life, there are two opposite but dangerous errors when it comes to understanding the law – antinomianism and legalism. Antinomianism is the teaching that since Jesus fulfilled the law, we have no law to follow and are free to do anything we want. Legalism is
Devotionals God Is Not Like Us “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your
Articles The Trinity The Trinity The Trinity is the biblical concept that God exists as three Divine Persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The purpose of this article is not to be a comprehensive study of the doctrine of the Trinity. The basic goals of this article are 1) to
Articles The Prosperity Gospel It has been said that one of America’s biggest exports is the spread of the prosperity gospel. The teaching of the prosperity gospel is about how God wants most for His people is health and wealth, that He will bless you financially and in other worldly ways based on
Devotionals I Am What I Am “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” – 1 Corinthians 15:10 When did
Articles A Spirit-Filled Church What is a Spirit-filled church? Is it one where there is freedom to worship God in whatever way our hearts are led? Is it where there is no structure and order to how worship is carried out or where there is structure and order? Does God set guidelines of how
Devotionals Woe to You “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of
Articles The Pull of Temptation In 2 Samuel 11 is one of the saddest chapters of the Old Testament. In it we see the great fall of David as one of God’s most faithful people to an adulterer and murderer. Although we know David was not sinless, the Bible does not record any significant
Devotionals The Joy of Genealogies If you were to ask a Christian for their favorite Bible verse or passage, you might expect them to say, John 3:16, Psalm 23 or 1 Corinthians 13 or Romans 8. What about any passage from the first seven chapters of 1 Chronicles? “The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher,
Articles The Pattern of Temptation There are times when we are on spiritual highs. Some experiences like a retreat, concert or a sermon allows us to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in a very strong and powerful way. During these moments, we can feel invincible in our faith, like nothing could ever possibly
Devotionals How Jesus Has Prayed for Us “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that
Devotionals Christians Need the Gospel, Too “Including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. … So, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also
Articles Our Sin Disease Imagine that you go to your primary care physician for your annual physical and he tells you that you have some form of inoperable cancer and have less than a year to live. You ask him if it is an aggressive form of cancer but are surprised to learn that
Articles Who John Calvin Was Not John Calvin (1509-1564) was one of the most well-known Christian theologians. He was an important figure who helped continue the protestant reformation after the death of Martin Luther in 1546 and his writings continue to be influential in Reformed denominations to this day. Even if you are not a member
Articles God Never Changes It is common to hear people talk about the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament as if He changed at some point. Usually, they say that the God of the Old Testament is a God full of wrath and anger, but the New Testament
Articles The Sufficiency of Scripture Living most of my life in and around Houston, Texas, I have often wondered how mosquitoes can glorify God. The oppressive heat and humidity of Houston summers make the season bad enough, but the presence of these annoying bugs make it even worse. I joke sometimes that God created mosquitoes
Devotionals Take Off Your Mask When you ask someone how they are doing, what is their typical response? What about if someone asks you how you’re doing? Chances are the answer is the same for both – “I’m good”, “I’m blessed”, or “I can’t complain”. It is okay to answer that way
Articles A Sinful Woman Forgiven Imagine you learned you were about to receive $10,000 for an unexpected reason. For most people, it would be a very welcomed and appreciated gift that could be used for paying off debt, a nice vacation, or for some other reason. However, for someone like Jeff Bezos, the founder
Devotionals The Gift of Not Getting What We Want “Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” Romans 1:24-25 I
Devotionals Love for God’s Word “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.” Psalm 119:103-104 Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. It is remarkable because it is 176 verses about the beauty and
Devotionals What is the Gospel? “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of