The ultimate goal of Biblical teaching is to restore man’s relationship to God. Today, we want to talk about two doctrines that developed because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Paul discusses them in the passage from Ephesians that we are considering this week. You may want to re-read Ephesians 1:7-10 before you continue with…
That’s What Christmas Means to Me
I love celebrating the season of Christmas. Most years, I am not one of those who begins listening to Christmas music when the handful of radio stations begin playing holiday music before Thanksgiving, but this year I started listening to a song here and there since the beginning of October. I tend to think quite…
We Don’t Get the Grace of God
I have been a student of the Scriptures since at least my high school days – over fifty years now. Some parts of the Bible are incredibly challenging to understand: What are the signs of the Second Coming of Christ? How did God create the world? Why does a good God allow evil and suffering?…
Off the Coast of Providence
We tend to try to make the mysteries of God more mysterious, don’t we? We expect the things of God to be complex and complicated. One of those mysteries for us is the doctrine of providence – how God interacts with the events and affairs of humans. How is God involved in our lives? Over…
This Week in Church History – Nov 1 – Martin Luther
We pause for a few moments every week to take a look back through the pages of the history book of the church. We strive to find some truth and lessons from the events of the past that can help guide us through the decisions of today. The great Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther, once wrote,…
This Week in Church History – Sep 8 – Schweitzer and Teresa
History teaches us the impact of cultures, religions, and individuals on society and its future. Christian individuals, especially in Europe and America, have shaped the direction of business, education, medicine, and politics. Through the lives of Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa, we better understand the impact of the individual. T.S. Eliot wrote, “It is in…
This Week in Church History – August 15
August 15 has been an active day in the church’s history books throughout the centuries. Let’s look at some events on August 15th through the lens of several years. Making History is a thought-provoking novel written in 1996 by author Stephen Fry. Years before its time, the book sounds like a chapter out of the…
The Desert
Stasi Eldredge once wrote, “God leads all his people into the desert at one time or another.” Most of us are fearful of the desert. It’s wasteland holds mysteries which confuse and concern us. The desert has none of the comforts of home. It is cold, harsh, hot, and lonely. In our minds, the desert…
This Week in Church History – Aug 4
This week’s church history look back includes the Cane Ridge Revival of 1801, a major event of the Second Great Awakening in Kentucky that drew thousands and spurred smaller meetings across the frontier, and the death of Thomas a Kempis in 1471, noted for his influential devotional book “The Imitation of Christ.”
This Week in Church History – July 28
Understanding history teaches important lessons; unfortunately, many of the lessons fall by the wayside. The old adage, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” has several versions and has been attributed to British statesman Winston Churchill, among others. The thought most likely originated with George Santayana in a 1905…