-
Q & A: Free will in Heaven?
While reading Benjamin Warfield’s critique of perfectionism and the attendant descriptions of both justification and sanctification, I received a question from a friend whose son had asked if we will have a free will in Heaven.
-
A Pilgrim’s Look Ahead
Leaping from 2022 into the unknown territory of 2023 could be likened to an airline pilot’s anxiety when faced with the necessity of landing a 747 safely in the Alaskan bush. Or, it can be likened to the proverbial “leap in the dark.” Taking leaps of faith challenges all of us as Christians. We know
-
The Authority of Scripture in the Book of Jeremiah
Introduction Jeremiah “combined the fearlessness of Amos, the loving concern of Hosea, and the stern grandeur of Isaiah.”[1] The Word of God is one of the major themes of the Book of Jeremiah. “‘And those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number.
-
Shalom Living for God’s People
In 2014, as part of my participation in the ministries of Abraham Lincoln Foundation of Albania (ALFA), Robb Provost (ministry director) asked me to prepare and present a study about “shalom living” from the Old Testament.
-
Uncommon Wisdom: Old Testament Wisdom Books
Introduction Overall, Old Testament (OT) wisdom books are fairly anthropocentric (man-centered) since they address the issues of everyday living faced by God’s people. That does not mean that they are not also theocentric (God-centered).
-
Peace-Loving Believers in an Age of Violence, Part 3 (Final)
Three fairly significant biblical examples appear to support a believer’s participation in the military: [1] Jesus’s approval of a king who waged war against wicked people (Matthew 21:33–41). In Luke 3:14 John did not command them to resign from military service, but to be conten
-
Peace-Loving Believers in an Age of Violence, Part 1
Scripture disallows seeking peace at any price. Some apologists argue that even believers must draw the line somewhere to stand up to the forces of evil. Wherever one stands, Christians need to be pro-active. As Friesen, Langan, and Stassen observe in their introduction to Just P
-
Messianic Hope and the Gentiles–Thinking Through Romans 15:8-13
Romans 15:8-13 provides us with the apostle Paul’s theology of Messianic hope as founded upon the scriptures of the Hebrew Bible. In this significant text he builds upon the revelation of hope about which he speaks in Romans 15:4.
-
Messianic Hope and the Gentiles
Even before the creation of the world (1 Peter 1:17–21), God appointed Christ and His perfect sacrifice as the basis for showing mercy to the Gentiles. Through Christ they could experience hope in spite of being strangers to Israel and not being recipients of God’s covenants with
-
Blessing–Even in Affliction
Sometimes our lives seem as fragile as a bluebell clinging to its perch on an ancient chapel’s stone wall. The prophet Jeremiah caught the deep emotional pain disobedient Jerusalem must endure as the Lord brings upon her the covenant curses as discipline.
-
Pentecost Meditation: The Significance of Christ’s Ascensions
Bible readers often pick up on the apparent fact that Jesus ascended more than one time into heaven following His resurrection. Indeed, there appear to be three different ascensions, each accomplishing different purposes.
-
How much seminary training does a missionary need?
An old pastors’ adage says, “Those who can’t, go; those who can’t go, teach”—the shortened aphorism for “Those who can’t preach , go to the mission field ; those who can’t go to the mission field , teach.” Whoever created this useless and unbiblical proverb deserves appointment a
-
Why is Bible translation an important missions ministry?
Share The Word of God must be at the core of all missions strategy. Without the Word of God, no ministry can be satisfactorily performed— the Word provides the authority for ministry, the instruction for ministry, the power of ministry, and the message of ministry. To all of this
-
Hebrew Whiteboard Update
Now we come to Psalm 4:6-7 (Hebrew verse numbering) as we continue to analyze this psalm. After one imperative in verse 4 and four imperatives in verse 5, verse 6 adds two more, for a total of seven.
-
Hebrew Whiteboard Update
Psalm 4:5 brings us to the second occurrence of “Selah” in this psalm and it gives the verse added emphasis. The verse also leads us to study the Septuagint (LXX) translation, since Paul cited the first half of the verse from the LXX in Ephesians 4:26.
-
True Spirituality, Dealing with Addiction, and Self-Help Manuals
Counseling individuals with various types of addictions presents an ongoing challenge. How can you best help them to help themselves? How can you encourage them? What resources do you recommend?
-
True Spirituality, Dealing with Addiction, and Self-Help Manuals
Dealing with addictions can push a Christian to the limits of patience, trust, and exhaustion. The addiction might involve drugs, alcohol, tobacco, food, sex, pornography, power, popularity, wealth, social media, technology, or recreation—and many more. Recovering addicts soon fi
-
Biblical Doctrine Volume Now Available
My contributor’s copy of Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Survey of Bible Truth, edited by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue has finally arrived! The hefty volume (1023 pages) fills 2-1/4 inches of horizontal shelf space.
-
Hi-def Leadership in a Hi-def World
The attributes of godly leaders occupies a good deal of Scripture. Sometimes we find it necessary to synthesize the biblical teachings on leadership in order to sharpen our understanding of its seriousness and its challenges.
-
Hi-def Leadership in a Hi-def World: Attributes of Godly Leaders
High-definition (or, Hi-def , or HD ) refers to increased visual resolution as compared to the commonly used standard of resolution. This involves twice as many scan lines per frame, a proportionally sharper image, and a wide-screen format. In other words, this technology produce
-
What Books Do You Recommend Most Highly?–Part 2
As I continue to populate my list of books I most highly recommend, I move now to the New Testament commentaries. See What Books Do You Recommend Most Highly? (click on that title–it is a link that will take you to that first post) for the start of the list and the identification of the Old
-
Hebrew Whiteboard
Structural or logical line diagramming serves as one of the chief means by which the exegete can identify verse structure in the Hebrew Bible.