Articles (Page 35)

Articles (Page 35)

Babylonian?

I talked with a charter member of the church I attended in another town that Sunday, a church with less-than-conservative views on the Bible. The question I asked was designed not only to give me information, but also to engage my new friend in thinking about his beliefs. "What is your church’s view on the Bible?" I posed. "Well," he answered, "I’m a chaplain for the Masons and I think we have a little stronger view of the Bible there…

Bible Reading Record

The following is not a Bible reading plan, but a way for you to keep track of your Bible reading. Whether you tuck this page in your Bible, keep it at your desk, or stick it on your refrigerator, we hope this will help you as you discipline yourself to become more familiar with God’s Word. We suggest that you read a portion of the Old Testament and a portion of the New Testament each day, moving progressively through both…

Brian Fleming’s The God Who Wasn’t There A Critical Review

Written, Directed and Narrated by Brian Fleming Beyond Belief Media 2005 A friend of mine is fond of quoting the axiom, "Consequences have ideas." That certainly seems to prove true in Brian Fleming’s documentary diatribe against Christianity, "The God Who Wasn’t There." The 39-year-old Fleming, who describes his parents as "typical, non-Bible-thumping Methodists,"1 attended an evangelical parochial school in California as a child. There, he says, "I was born again at least three times, I think."2 Fleming describes his school…

Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now — A Critical Review

  Osteen, Joel, Your Best Life Now, New York, Warner Faith Publishers, 2004. Inspirational/motivational; 310 pages.   It may seem foolish to disagree theologically with the man who pastors the largest congregation in America. Thirty-thousand adults attend Joel Osteen’s church every Sunday. Millions more tune in to his national and international television broadcasts. Certainly (one might assume) a man with this incredible following must be on the right track. Joel Osteen’s book, Your Best Life Now, is even endorsed by…

John & Stasi Eldredge’s Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul — A Critical Review

Eldredge, John and Stasi, Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul, Published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville 2005, 225 pages.  Introduction In the introduction to Captivating, Stasi Eldredge writes, “As a new Christian, the first book I picked up to read on godly femininity I threw across the room. I never picked it up again.” Can you identify with her feelings? I certainly can. Over the years I’ve read dozens of worthless books aimed toward Christian women. Some appealed to…

Life of Trust

Long ago I learned that people are not so interested in what a man can do for God, but rather what God can do for a man. I wanted my life to be a visible demonstration of the fact that God exists and that He hears and answers prayer. This led me to make financial choices that many of you ask me about. I am happy to talk about this since one of the very reasons I have taken this…

Thinking and Speaking Biblically about Natural Condition of Man, Part 1

Part 1: Thinking Biblically "Every person has an image of himself or herself. The question is, does your image of who you are line up correctly with who God says you are?" I found those words in a best-selling religious book, in a chapter entitled "Who Do You Think You Are?" The author, who is also the pastor of a very large church, made no attempt to distinguish between Christians and unbelievers before saying, to every reader, "God sees you…

Thinking and Speaking Biblically about Natural Condition of Man, Part 2

Part 2: Speaking Biblically In his book, So Great Salvation, Dr. Charles Ryrie, the former Professor of Systematic Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary, includes a chapter entitled, "It’s Not Easy To Believe." In the beginning of the chapter he writes, "When we ask someone to believe in the Lord Jesus, we are asking something very difficult." The difficulty Dr. Ryrie speaks of is the nature of the body of truth that must be believed. Factors such as our historical distance…

Thinking and Speaking Biblically About The Love of God for Man, Part 1

Thinking Biblically The love of God is beautiful and even breathtaking when considered rightly. God is infinite in His capacity to love, even loving fallen, rebellious sinners enough to send His beloved Son to die in their place (Romans 5:8). Of all the ways in which God’s perfection far surpasses human ability and effort, the most obvious and humbling is His perfect love. Have you ever truly contemplated the fact that an infinite and holy God loves human beings who…

Thinking and Speaking Biblically About The Love of God for Man, Part 2

Part 2: Speaking Biblically1 On a Christian radio station, a speaker recently declared: “God loves you so much that if He had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.” Messages like this are not hard to find these days. People are inundated with images of God’s love that picture Him in heaven, longingly looking down at the human race and wringing His hands, hoping every single person will realize just how much He loves them and how desperately He…

Thinking and Speaking Biblically about The Providence of God, Part 1

Part 1: Thinking Biblically “Providence” is a theological term describing God’s preserving, sustaining, ordering, ruling, and governing of His creation. Many have used the word “meticulous” to describe the extent of God’s providence. “Meticulous” providence depicts God as ordering and directing everything—every detail in the universe. According to this understanding, every event in nature and every human action and decision is according to God’s decree and purpose. There are a number of biblical texts which affirm this view. For example,…

Thinking and Speaking Biblically about The Providence of God, Part 2

Part 2: Speaking Biblically “God had nothing to do with September 11th.” Those words were reportedly spoken by a pastor in the days following the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. Whether they were actually spoken as reported or not, I do not know. I certainly disagree with them. But they raise a good question: If it is biblical to understand, as I tried to affirm in Part 1 of this article, that God in His providence is the “Author”…