In my last post in this category, I gave a narrative description of the first 6 books of the Old Testament ending with the death of Joshua. Now, I'm picking up where that post left off. The key thing to remember for the rest of Jewish history is that the Jews lived in a constant cycle that went …
In the Beginning(s)
How the Perfect Creation was Corrupted Nothing existed except for God, and he decided when everything should begin. He created the world in a flash of light, and built it up piece by piece until it was exactly the way he wanted it, but despite its beauty and greatness, he noticed something was …
Explaining the Whole Bible
As I have spoken with people about the Bible, I find more and more that people aren't really familiar with the "plot" or the overall story of the Bible. Therefore, I'm going to try to go through the entire story of the Bible in a very brief overview fashion. The challenge is that I don't want to …
Is there “Recovery” for the homosexual?
In the living room of my in-laws' home I watched an episode of Law and Order that I haven't seen before, and it bothered me quite a bit. The victim was a young man who had tried unsuccessfully to "recover" from homosexuality through the counseling and support of a religious group called Regenesis. …
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How would you defend the authority of Scripture?
Theological Question #2 One of the most foundationally important issues when it comes to any religious or theological belief system is the understanding of where the authority for one's belief originates. Catholics look to the traditions and history of the church, but Protestants (and more …
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What is Scripture’s major theme and purpose?
This is the my answer to the first of the "24 Theological Questions" The central theme of the Bible is God's work at creating for himself a unified family of people who worship and love him. He does this despite the repeated efforts of people to run away. In theological terms, the story of the …
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24 Theological Questions
Here are 24 key theological questions that I plan to answer here as I get the time. I should probably just make a commitment to do one answer per day... We'll have to see! Follow my progress by clicking on the category link -> 24 Theological Questions …
Hurricanes, Tsunamis, and Worship
The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is unbelievable. There is a wide deal of speculation that this may be the worst disaster ever to hit the United States both in terms of human lives and also in terms of property damage. Roughly 20,000 people are missing, and the death toll is already …
Homosexuality and the Bible
I just completed my series of messages on the Bible (see sermon series Shhhh! God's Talking) and during the series I spent a good amount of time dealing with tough questions of the Bible and tough questions about the faith, but one of the toughest questions that I had to deal with is God's take on …
FBFI and Piper
I noticed at this fellow's blog that there is some awareness among Christians that the BGC is "endorsing" open theism. Here's a quick link to the blog that clued me in. ... centuri0n: FBFI and Piper I just have to quickly respond to that. First of all, if you don't know what open theism is, you …
My Most Controversial Message
For the last two hours, I have been sitting here in my office pondering an issue that will form the basis for what I feel is going to be my most controversial message to date that I've given in my current church. That's right, I plan on Sunday to deal with the issue of women in ministry and the …
The Bible Can Be Trusted
NWBC-027-03 The Bible is the single most accurate ancient document in existence today! Now that's a big claim! Nevertheless, it's true. The Bible is spiritually reliable, historically reliable, textually reliable, and reliable in many other ways too. In this message, I try to explain exactly why we …
There are no unplanned pregnancies
Yesterday was Mother's Day 2005, and I preached a message on three women in the beginning of the gospel of Luke---Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna. While I was preparing for the message; though, God helped me to understand something that I had never really seen before. There are no unplanned …
A church that impresses a geek!
I can't believe this! I just saw this post (don't ask me how I found it) about a fellow who calls himself a technology evangelist. He recently visited a church in Texas and writes about his experience on his blog. You have to check this out. I couldn't believe the insights he gleaned and the …
The Resurrection of Jesus (Easter 2005)
Every year at this time, I begin to think critically about the resurrection of Jesus. Yeah, you heard me right. I said, "_critically_". Just because I'm a pastor, that doesn't mean I accept everything in the Bible without thinking about it too. I'm a thinker, I majored in mathematics and philosophy …
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Questions on Tithing
This last Sunday, a lady in my church gave me a blue card with some questions on it regarding tithing. Since my email to her was rather long-winded, I thought I would share some of those thoughts here. Deuteronomy 26:2-15 Verse 2 says to take "some" of the firstfruits. What happens to …