Eternal Approach

Oh, how complicated Christian “scholars” can make the scriptures. As Charles Spurgeon once said, “It is amazing how much light the Bible can shed upon the commentaries.”

Continue reading “Good Thursday” →

“That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”                            (I Corinthians 2:5)

Continue reading “Listening for Truth” →

“But speaking the truth in love…” (Ephesians 4:15)

Jonah, the prophet, provides us with an example of truth preached without “love”. Or, without true, heartfelt compassion for the people he preached to.

However, people were still saved. And Christ later honored Jonah. Despite his unloving attitude. Despite his original disobedience. Jonah actually did the best thing anyone could do for the Ninevites. The greatest thing anyone could ever do for them.

So, what would have happened if Jonah had “loved” them, had shown deep compassion for them, and then preached a “softer” message than God had commanded him to preach?

What if that softer message or a delayed message (waiting for a better opportunity at a later time) did not lead them to repentance?

Nineveh would have been destroyed. They would have died in their sins.

How “loving” would that have been?

Continue reading “Preaching Error in Love?” →

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: (Proverbs 1:7)

A wise man once said, “There is not enough time in one’s life to make all the same mistakes that other men have made.” How true. We have a limited amount of time. Why waste it?

Nor is there time enough to read all the books that knowledgeable men have written in the past. If a man were to give his life entirely to the indepth study of a book a week, he would scarcely make a dent in all the vast libraries of the world. Perhaps he would only be able to finish a few shelves in a single library.

And that is a problem.

Continue reading “The Beginning of Knowledge” →

The Holy Spirit is a Person. That may seem like an obvious, trivial point. But, practically speaking, we do not treat the Spirit as a Person. We act as if He is something else. Something impersonal or secondary.

We know that all persons are thinking, feeling beings. They laugh, grieve, love, hope, dream. The Spirit of God does all these things. He is all that Jesus Christ would be if the Lord were still here, in bodily form, upon this earth.

Who is the Spirit of God?

To illustrate our confusion about the Spirit of God, there are believers who place an inordinate amount of focus on Him. They are focused on manifestations and experiences. They desire those things for many reasons. Miracles are supposedly meant to bolster the Christian’s faith, draw the unbeliever to Christ, and to provide a kind of personal affirmation from God for a believer.

For example, some Christians look for a miracle as an outward affirmation from God of one’s own conversion. The gift of “speaking in tongues” is a common experience taught within the Charismatic movement that gives assurance of salvation to a believer.

This is a serious error. And it is compounded by other attitudes toward the Holy Spirit that lead us down many rabbit trails of confusion.

Continue reading “The Holy Spirit is a Person” →

In the average evangelical church, there is a spirit that seems to be controlling the discussion. It is not really a new trend, but more of a generation-long, growing force.

It may best be expressed by an almost militant response one might get when proposing “negative” biblical truth. Most church people today do not want to hear negatives. They want things to be positive and light. Robert Schuller, Norman Vincent Peale and Joel Osteen are all known for this positive gospel preaching.

This movement is coming from the pew as well as the pulpit. More and more leaders carefully guard their words when speaking on a topic that might create controversy. As if the bible can be preached without it.

Good luck.

Continue reading “Truth is not all Warm and Fuzzy” →