The Bible is a Textbook on Life

The Bible is a Textbook on Life

You’ve heard people claim that the Bible is not a textbook on particular topics. While that’s generally true, it also depends on what is meant by “textbook.” The Bible is a book about all of life. Everything that it speaks of is useful and true for all times and all people. Humanity needs special revelation in order to see life from God’s perspective, rather than thro [...]

How Should 'This Generation' be Understood?

How Should 'This Generation' be Understood?

I continue to see debates about the proper understanding of “this generation” repeatedly used by Jesus in the gospels. Does “this generation” refer exclusively to the generation to whom Jesus was speaking, or is it somewhat elastic and expansive to include the entire New Covenant era? First, genea (generation) always means people living at the same time. It does not mean “race” (genos) or “nation” [...]

Adam's Fall or Christ's Resurrection?

Adam's Fall or Christ's Resurrection?

Which is more important, Adam’s Fall or the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ? It seems like such a simple question for a Christian to answer. The answer seems so easy. Obviously, the resurrection is more important, now and in eternity. If there had been no resurrection of Christ, our faith would be vain. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if [...]

The Private-Zoo Factor

The Private-Zoo Factor

There are numerous Christians who believe that a personal and private faith is all the gospel requires. Os Guinness described this as “The Private-Zoo Factor,”[1] a religion that is caged so that it loses its wildness. When true Christianity is applied to any part of the world, it blossoms far more fully and colorfully than we ever could have imagined. Everything seemed possible within the boundar [...]

Christianity as a Destructive Parenthesis

Christianity as a Destructive Parenthesis

Christian social irrelevancy manifests itself in several ways even while claiming to be fully biblical. There are those who believe the church is an earthly parenthesis—the “church age” to give its proper designation—and the world is destined for an inevitable eschatological showdown with the antichrist but only before the church is “raptured” out of the world. Look at most prophecy books that hit [...]

Where to Begin with the Book of Revelation

Where to Begin with the Book of Revelation

So often New Testament books are interpreted without reference to the Old Testament even though they are written against the backdrop of the Old Testament (e.g., Matt. 24:29–31). Try interpreting the book of Hebrews without reference to the Old Testament. It’s impossible. The same is true for Revelation. Revelation cannot be understood against the backdrop of the 21st century even though it applie [...]

The Sword and the Keys

The Sword and the Keys

As institutions, Church and State are separate but not so separate that either one can deny the law of God as it applies to each of them. “This separation in no way implies a radical antithesis between God and State, between Christianity and State, between morality and State, between Bible and State." [1] The biblical relationship between Church and State must be considered. A jurisdictional [...]

The Bible’s Impact on Our World

The Bible’s Impact on Our World

An article in GQ magazine written by the editors declared that the Bible is one of 21 books that you don’t need to read. It’s 12th on the list and the description by Jesse Ball begins with the following comment: The Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by it but who in actuality have not read it. More people live by it that have not read it, and that’s the main rea [...]

Revealing the Magic Tricks

Revealing the Magic Tricks

Were the miracles in the Bible tricks? Was Jesus an extraordinary stage magician? Did He pretend to raise people from the dead, walk on water, and feed thousands? Was Jesus like Jim Jones, using some of His followers to concoct an elaborate deception on the people to build a following of nationalist zealots to overthrow the Romans? Some people believe this, even though Jesus rejected any notion of [...]

Do Christians Deny Science?

Do Christians Deny Science?

If a person rejects Christianity, he has not set himself free from the concept of faith. He has only transferred his faith to something or someone else. For Carl Sagan, the cosmos is god, a glorious accidental substitute for what he believed were ancient, pre-scientific beliefs about the deity and the origin and nature of the universe. The very idea of a personal God, in Sagan’s worldview, is simp [...]

The Conflict of Religions

The Conflict of Religions

God assures believers He will “abolish all rule and all authority and power” in opposition to His kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:24). While Satan rails against the church, God promises “the gates of Hades shall not overpower” it (Matthew 16:18). Jesus describes the church as a marching army, ready and able to move against the stationary gates of Hades. Satan and his minions are on the defensive as the [...]

More Translation Frustration

More Translation Frustration

In a previous article, I discussed some translation missteps that are frustratingly unnecessary. Let’s move on to more critical examples when it comes to verse tenses. The following is from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: KIRK: What’s going to happen when you release the whales? GILLIAN: They’re gonna have to take their chances. KIRK: What does that mean, exactly? ‘Take their chances.’ GILLIAN: It [...]

Christ or Chaos?

Christ or Chaos?

The battle today is over lordship. The issue of politics today is the issue of sovereignty. Who is the Lord of all of life to whom man must give his total allegiance, Christ or Caesar? The answer to this question is the difference between liberty and slavery, justice and tyranny. The critical issue of our day is the relationship of Jesus Christ and His Word to our political and legal system in the [...]

More Stupid Prophecy Tricks

More Stupid Prophecy Tricks

“Stupid Pet Tricks” was introduced on NBC’s Late Night with David Letterman in the early 1980s. Some of them were cute and clever but many of them were … stupid. For decades there have been Stupid Prophecy Tricks to get Christians to believe that we are living in the last days. While it didn’t start with Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth in 1970, it continued with bar codes being the mark [...]

The Kingdom is Growing

The Kingdom is Growing

2021 is about to end. It’s been interesting and productive. I had two bouts of cancer. My left kidney was removed in January and my prostate was removed in May. I’m not experiencing any ill effects. In fact, I participated in a Masters Track and Field meet in July in the shot put and won my age group in Georgia. Of course, it’s not that hard to do since there aren’t that many 70-year-olds who can [...]

The Dark Night of the Soul

The Dark Night of the Soul

Most evangelicals tend to think in “words.” This is certainly understandable because of the Protestant focus on the Bible as the sole authority (sola Scriptura) and the Lutheran concept of the “priesthood of all believers.” When this is applied to storytelling and film, this primary focus on word over image ends up killing the spirit of the message in favor of trying too hard to make sure the mess [...]

The Worldview 'Rosetta Stone'

The Worldview 'Rosetta Stone'

A biblical worldview is an essential part of thinking properly about God and His creation. Thanks in part to the Enlightenment and its long-lasting effects of modern thinking, we often think like humanists rather than like faithful stewards of God’s truth. In order for Christians to be effective in the culture, they need to understand what it means to think God’s thoughts after Him. Or [...]

Politicians Don’t Know Much About Economics or Business

Politicians Don’t Know Much About Economics or Business

It’s shocking that elected officials, most of whom do not know how economies work or how to start, build, or run a business, are passing laws and spending our money on things they know nothing about. It’s immoral. The following meme caught my attention. While something of an exaggeration, it makes a point: Almost every business in the United States started and prospered without the help of the gov [...]

The Folly of Political Compromise

The Folly of Political Compromise

Many in Jesus’ day saw the kingdom of God in externals only. They visualized the kingdom of God as coming, not through regeneration, but through social revolution. Jesus said of His followers: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled” (John 6:26). It was Jesus’ message about mankind’s need [...]

What It Takes to Interpret the Bible

What It Takes to Interpret the Bible

When I sit down with young people to discuss films, I often get a blank stare. They have not heard about the films that I and others consider to be classics. I need to be careful when I mention something from a film to illustrate a point since many people have never heard of the film. As a result, they can’t appreciate the point I’m trying to make from a particular scene. [...]