One of the most incredible realities for Christians is the promise found in the Bible that those who trust in Jesus' death for the forgiveness of their sins benefit from the Holy Spirit moving into their lives. Paul reminded the Corinthians of this very truth: "You are God's temple and... God's spirit dwells in you." That's a pretty ... [Continue Reading]
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
I saw Prince Caspian twice this past weekend: on Friday night and on Saturday. My personal opinion is that it's better than the first one, and it's full of all kinds of Biblical truths. Here are few things that I was challenged with as I watched the movie (CAUTION: there could be a few spoilers): At the beginning, the children loved the land of Narnia ... [Continue Reading]
It ‘ s not Jesus and… (Acts 18:19-19:41)
For some people it's tempting to add Jesus as *another* thing they believe rather than *the* thing they believe. That was the situation during the time of the early church, and it's a situation we face now. We like to pick and choose what we like and leave the rest out. When Jesus says God is love, we like that. When Jesus says we have ... [Continue Reading]
The quest for purity (1 Thessalonians 3-4)
One of the challenges of living a life that pleases God is avoiding sexual immorality, and though Paul never specifically uses the word "purity," I believe it is implied in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8. Paul does say that God doesn't call us to live "impure" lives, so the implication is that we are to put a life of purity on a pedestal. ... [Continue Reading]
Keep a distance from idle people (2 Thessalonians)
Paul's closing challenge to the Thessalonians is worthy of notice: keep away from idle people. What was an idle person in Paul's day? It was someone who feasted off of the generosity of other people. These were individuals who took advantage of the benefits of the church (caring for people in need) without ever actually helping to support the ... [Continue Reading]
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A living example (1 Thessalonians 1-2)
One of the things that Paul praises the Thessalonians for is their example of faith. This was a group of people who were doing things right and living the way that God intended; they were a living example of faith. They weren't living in a right way so they would be noticed, they were doing it because that's what they were supposed to be doing. ... [Continue Reading]
Finding common ground (Acts 17-18:18)
Paul did something fairly remarkable when he spoke to the men of Athens: he found common ground. Surprisingly, he did not start by expositing the Bible; he started by connecting with the people who were interested in hearing what he had to say. I think this is an important concept to consider as we think about the church and the way we connect with ... [Continue Reading]
Examining the fruit (Galatians 4-6)
For the last few months I've been working on an independent study Greek course. One of the challenges of learning Greek is that you have to be a little bit of a detective to figure out exactly what case words are put in in a sentence; you have to use context clues to find out the real meaning. The same concept applies as it comes to evidence of the Holy ... [Continue Reading]
Justification by faith (Galatians 1-3)
Paul challenges the Galatians with a set of beliefs that is found only in Christianity: justification by faith. In every other belief system the way to eternal life is paved by doing good works. In Christianity, the way to eternal life is not paved by good works because there is no one good enough to make it all the way there. After all, how good is ... [Continue Reading]
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