September 20, 2022
God is all-powerful and all-knowing. The problem is, we often don’t think about what that really means. Not only has knowledge of God diminished in our day, but respect and reverence for Him are now scarce commodities. Humanity in this technology-driven age is prone to judge without understanding. Our benevolent Creator is an easy target of this. We have discussed many supposed contradictions about God in our Bible Contradictions Series, and we will bring up a few more today. Primarily, we want to look at the relationship between God, us and our hard experiences in life. Does God tempt us? Does God purposely place temptations in front of us as a way to teach or punish? Some say the Bible says yes and others say the Bible absolutely says no. So, who’s right? Let’s actually look at the Bible and find out!
September 13, 2022
The actions of God in the Bible are an easy target for criticism. It is so easy to look into this ancient book and pick out events that may not look sensible and even make God look bad and wildly inconsistent. Examining these events carefully does reveal truth and harmony - if we are willing to look for it. One such event is the account where God specifically tells Abraham to take his son Isaac and kill him as a sacrifice to Him. This sounds absurd! How can a God of love, compassion and justice just arbitrarily ask someone to murder their son? What possible good could ever come from such an action? And what about other accounts in the Bible that seem to show God as minimizing the value of human life? These are hard questions. The good news is, the Bible has clear and legitimate answers!
September 6, 2022
The Bible is a really big book. It was written by about 40 people spanning a period of over 1,500 years and in three different languages. Just these facts alone create a likelihood of its writings being misunderstood, misinterpreted and misrepresented. Claims that the Bible is a wildly contradictory book are numerous and easy to find. In our Contradictions Series, we continue to look at these questions and attempt to answer them one by one. Our process is to consider the immediate context of the scriptures in question and the larger context of the Bible itself. We examine the original meanings of the words involved and attempt to assign the meaning that best fits the scriptural point being made. Solving apparent biblical contradictions is possible; we just need to see the Bible as God would have us see it!
August 30, 2022
To seek and acquire wisdom seems to be a lost art in our technology-laden world. Why spend the time, seeking, gathering, learning, absorbing, internalizing and applying wisdom when you can simply Google it and be told what something means? Why invest time and effort into trying to become a “wise person” when most of your friends and family are likely to disagree with such “wisdom” anyway? Face it, acquiring “godly wisdom” spells social media disaster! While this may be true, we need to step back for a moment and consider some things. While social media may rule the day, godly wisdom is timeless. It never changes, never diminishes and never loses its potency. It is always right and inevitably brings, supports and enhances life. Our first “words of wisdom” for today are: choose that which is eternal!
August 23, 2022
One of the great Christian challenges of our day is living a God-honoring life in a world that basically thinks you’re nuts. What role should our differences with the world around us play in how we do or don’t fit in with all that goes on each day of our lives? What specific principles do we have that govern our thoughts words and deeds to keep us godly and yet approachable? Jesus’ Parable of the Wineskins answers this. This parable is part of a specific answer Jesus gave to a specific question. His answer also included two other very simple parables. As we will see, these three short examples combine to teach some important lessons relating not only to prophetic events, but to our personal behaviors and choices as well.
August 16, 2022
Among Christians, some of the most often quoted and beloved Old Testament scriptures are found in Psalm 23. In very few words, these six verses paint a vivid picture of God’s overwhelming care for His children. The imagery of a shepherd knowing and caring for his sheep speaks to our helplessness as we as God’s children attempt to navigate the harsh terrain of a sin-sick world. Without our shepherd the tumult of everyday life makes it hard to find true spiritual nourishment. Without our shepherd we would not find absolute rest and we would always feel vulnerable. Here is the big question. Do I put myself completely and faithfully into the hands of my shepherd Jesus? Do I really trust him for all things? Is Jesus the true shepherd of my life or do I merely give him that title?
August 9, 2022
As long as no one gets hurt, I can do pretty much whatever I want! Such is the battle cry of our present age. We are so advanced in our awareness and thinking that it has become easy to throw off the once-constricting values of ages gone by and just be in the here and now. In our last “Is It a Sin if I…” episode, we looked at things like how we dress and adorn ourselves, cross-dressing and gambling. On this episode, we look at some deep issues regarding the expression of our human sexuality. When it comes to sex, there are many difficult questions that require diligent answers. Our diligence will be firmly centered around applying biblical teaching to our very advanced world today, so hold on! The clear scriptural answers we will uncover are destined to trigger major tensions with those around us!
August 2, 2022
Technology, medicine, communication and interdependence allow a previously unimaginable world of seemingly unlimited possibilities of societal advancement and personal fulfillment. Our communication is instantaneous, and our collective demands for entertainment and happiness have never been louder. While some of this has been a blessing, Satan, as this world’s master of confusion, has blurred the lines of morality, resulting in our discovery of new methods for old ways to sin. Our focus as Christians, is to please God and obey His righteous laws as outlined in the Bible. We already know God considers murder, lying and pride as sinful, but what about all the contemporary situations the Bible does not directly address? Do we face gray areas now that never before existed? How can we know what God considers sinful?
July 26, 2022
Parenting is a difficult and often unpredictable task. In Episode 1238, we laid a scripturally-principled foundation for managing our parental “what ifs” and imperfections. We also addressed the ever-present challenge of growing confidence and competence in our children as we slowly release our parental control over them. With all of this in place, it is now time to delve into several of the hard and practical matters of bringing children up. The structure of our present society extols a path and process of child-rearing that is often fundamentally opposed to true Christian beliefs. This leaves us with a lot of questions that may be hard to answer as we seek to apply principles of godliness. The good news is, no matter the question, there is always clear Bible-based instruction available.
July 19, 2022
Raising children never has been an easy task. Methods for parenting have varied dramatically based on what time in history you are bringing up children. Disciplining children in an “appropriate” way looks entirely different now than it did just a few generations ago. The culture you live in as you raise a family also has a powerful impact. We live in an age and culture of technology, where much of life is easily lived through watching or typing onto the screen of your phone. This convenience carries a great potential cost. Are we allowing technology and social media to not only unduly influence our children, but ourselves as well? Are we Christian parents listening to social suggestions regarding what our children need to the exclusion of going back to the basic Bible principles for those answers?
