Responsible and Truthful Bible Study Begins with the Bible

Responsible and Truthful Bible Study Begins with the Bible

You don’t need to be Bible scholar or seminary graduate to read and study the Bible. What you do need to do is pay attention to what the Bible says and doesn’t say. When I was a very new Christian in 1973, I attended a Tuesday night get together called The Green House in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was a complimentary ministry of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. It was a place where other young p [...]

Public Schools are Churches and Teachers are Preachers

Public Schools are Churches and Teachers are Preachers

Placing the Ten Commandments in government schools has gained the attention of the usual subjects. The state of Louisiana has mandated their display: Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom, the latest move from a GOP-dominated Legislature pushing a conservative agenda under a new governor. The legislation that Republi [...]

What Jehovah’s Witnesses and ‘Last Days’ Advocates Have in Common

What Jehovah’s Witnesses and ‘Last Days’ Advocates Have in Common

My friend Bob Cruickshank sent the following to me regarding testimonies on Facebook’s Preterfest group: “So many were caught up in the JW [Jehovah’s Witnesses] movement—thinking the world was going to end and knocking on doors to tell people.” It’s encouraging to see so many people abandoning end times fiction. The sad fact is that many Evangelicals have been told a prophetic system that is like [...]

Without God’s Law, Slavery Can’t be Condemned

Without God’s Law, Slavery Can’t be Condemned

The Ten Commandments are once again in the spotlight, stirring up debate among cultural commentators and political figures. You may remember the controversy when former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court Roy Moore installed a 2.5-ton granite monument of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, Alabama. Moore said the following after its removal: “ [...]

French Kissing Secularism

French Kissing Secularism

The state of Louisiana has determined that the Ten Commandments (Decalogue/Ten Words: Ex. 34:28),[1] will be posted in Public School Classrooms. The usual and unusual subjects have voiced their opposition. First, the usual subjects, that is, “The American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom fro [...]

Unpacking the Chuck Schumer Grilling Controversy

Unpacking the Chuck Schumer Grilling Controversy

Father’s Day took an unexpected turn when a photo of Senator Chuck Schumer grilling a raw hamburger topped with a slice of cheese sparked a wave of reactions. To many, it was just an amusing snapshot of a public figure appearing out of his element in the culinary world. Sen. Schumer the Everyman. However, beneath the surface of this seemingly trivial incident lies a rich tapestry of biblical tradi [...]

Black Republicans, Unicorns, Fairies, and Elves

Black Republicans, Unicorns, Fairies, and Elves

The View co-host Sunny Hostin on Friday [June 7, 2024] mocked the idea that Black Republican voters exist…. “These Black men that [Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.] was speaking with, I’d love to see them,’ Hostin said. “It would be like looking at unicorns.” Hostin is responding out of fear. If the Dems lose just ten percent of the Black vote, the Dems are doomed. They will try to make up for the possi [...]

Can Satan Perform Miracles?

Can Satan Perform Miracles?

It’s distressing to read posts and comments on Facebook about the power of Satan. When I question this preoccupation, I was told I didn’t believe the Bible. “What about the magicians in Pharaoh’s court? They produced bloody water and frogs.” Haven’t these people ever watched Penn and Teller? I’m no magician, but I can make a card float inches from you. I’m doing it here: It’s a trick. I’m using de [...]

The SPLC 2024 “Hate List” is Out and You’re Probably on It

The SPLC 2024 “Hate List” is Out and You’re Probably on It

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is at it again. The left-wing propaganda outlet has published its annual “Year in Hate and Extremism” report, which is aimed mostly at smearing conservatives as ruthless bigots seeking to oppress marginalized communities. This report, released on June 5, highlights the addition of even more right-leaning organizations on its “Hate Map,” including Gays Against [...]

The Political Finger in the Dike

The Political Finger in the Dike

Can the gospel and social activism co-exist? Should Christians involve themselves in the world by participating in politics, pursue advanced degrees in education, medicine, science and law, produce films on a wide range of subjects, some even for entertainment value, seek a career in journalism, and develop non-governmental programs for long-term social reform based on a well thought out biblical [...]

Pinning the Tail on the Antichrists!

Pinning the Tail on the Antichrists!

I saw the following on Facebook: The “Anti-Christ,” Obama? or Macron? Both posted as Possibilities on an Eschatology group recently. Let’s look at what is plainly written on this. The post includes Scripture passages about what the Bible supposedly says about a future end-time antichrist. One would think that any discussion about who the antichrists were would consult the Scripture passages that a [...]

The Self-Refuting Assumptions of Atheism

The Self-Refuting Assumptions of Atheism

After doing a little shopping, my wife and I stopped to take in a late lunch. With the bill, we each received a fortune cookie. My “fortune” read, “When in doubt, follow you heart.” I read it out loud to my wife and quickly added “Adolf Hitler.” She had a good laugh since I’m always pointing out apologetic verities that Christians can use in debates. It was sadly funny. Given the operating assumpt [...]

Remembering Archie P. Jones (1942-2024)

Remembering Archie P. Jones (1942-2024)

The following is from a presentation I gave at the memorial service for Archie Preston Jones (1942-2024) that was held at Midway Presbyterian Church in Powder Springs, Georgia, where my wife and I attend and where Archie and his daughter are members. You can read Archie’s obituary here. _________________________ Archie, actually Dr. Archie Jones, and I were in the same line of work. We liked to ex [...]

Newspaper Exegesis, the Antichrist, and Perpetual Prophecy Fear

Newspaper Exegesis, the Antichrist, and Perpetual Prophecy Fear

What is newspaper exegesis? The practice of interpreting the Bible though the lens of current events found in the headlines of newspapers rather than allowing the Bible to interpret itself and failing to take into account when prophetic events were to take place and to whom. It’s a form of retroactive prophetic explanation where current events are used as an interpretive grid for understanding the [...]

Argument by “Truce” Has Been a Disaster

Argument by “Truce” Has Been a Disaster

Some recent news stories caught my attention. The first is about Michael Cassidy, a conservative Christian and former Navy pilot who tore down a Satanic altar in the Iowa State Capitol during Christmas in 2023. There was also a Nativity scene. He was originally charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief. Tearing down the Satanism display was later designated a hate crime. The next news story is [...]

Matthew 24:21: Future or Past Great Tribulation?

Matthew 24:21: Future or Past Great Tribulation?

As usual, prophecy wars are being waged on Facebook. There’s so much bad eschatology that it’s impossible to keep up. There are debates over “the rapture”—is it, pre-trib or post-trib? Neither, and neither is it mid-trib or pre-wrath. There is no basis for any rapture position. In most cases, I point this out and move on. The rapture doctrine is a concoction of verses ripped from their original co [...]

The Real Minimum Wage Is Actually Zero

The Real Minimum Wage Is Actually Zero

California just implemented a law to force many businesses to pay employees $20 per hour. First, like so much of government regulation, this is theft. Only governments (and the mafia) can force people to pay more money for work they don’t do. Second, it’s a job killer for young people trying to get work experience. If you listen to Democrats, most Americans are working at jobs for minimum wage pay [...]

How Much ‘Influence’ Did R.J. Rushdoony Have?

How Much ‘Influence’ Did R.J. Rushdoony Have?

In my three-part podcast (see here and here for the first and second) about the impact of Rousas Rushdoony (1916-2001), I mentioned, contrary to some, that his writings have had a significant impact on much of Christian thought today, directly and indirectly. As a sort of hero of Christian education, Rushdoony’s basic ideas have directly or indirectly affected many conservative Protestants in Nort [...]

About to Judge the Living and the Dead

About to Judge the Living and the Dead

In 2 Timothy 4:1, the Apostle Paul picks up the theme of judging the living and the dead: “I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is [about] to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom.” The Greek has “about to judge” (μέλλοντος κρίνειν/mellontos krinein). This reads a lot like what is found in Matthew 16:27-28, Acts 17:31, and Psalm 96:13. [...]

Preterism and Biblical Moral Law

Preterism and Biblical Moral Law

The following is from Episode 16 of the second volume of The Hope of Israel and the Nations with Kim Burgess and me. Discussions regarding God’s law and its application in the here and now has a long history. Preterism did not stop the applicability of God’s Word in AD 70. It’s all about redemption accomplished and applied. Before preterism became a hot topic, biblical law was a subject of discuss [...]