Joint Heirs with Christ IF We Suffer with Him (Romans 8:17-18)
On Sunday night, my wife Sharon showed me a video of a sermon she was watching. Sharon doesn’t watch sermons on her phone. Something must be special here. She was watching a video of the sermon that Pastor Bob Bryant of Cypress Valley Bible Church gave that Sunday. The sermon was on Rom 8:17-18 and […]
Coronavirus Disciplines: Praying for All the Saints (Ephesians 6:18)
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— (Eph 6:18). My prayer life is not as it should be. I’ve gone through different “phases” of prayer—a legalistic phase (complete with prayer book[s]), a mystical phase, and, frankly, many dry […]
The Implanted Word Is Able to Save Your Souls
During shelter in place, I received this question: Hello. In this article by Bob Wilkin, he states “In none of the four uses outside of our passage is eternal salvation in view.” The first usage of the word save in the Book of James connects the word save to soul (“Therefore put away all filthiness […]
The Right Attitude During Coronavirus
Bill Fiess, frequent Grace in Focus contributor, sent me a reminder of the right attitude to have during the coronavirus lockdown. His email was to the point: I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth (Ps 34:1). In everything give thanks; for this is the will of […]
Coronavirus Disciplines: Remember the Prisoners (Hebrews 13:3)
My grandmother (“Nanny”) has a studio apartment in a senior’s residence in Montreal. It’s like a little world all to itself, with its own restaurant, hair salon, and corner store. Nanny is an extrovert. She’s also “high energy” or what used to be called “hyper.” (Today she might be diagnosed as ADHD). She loves going […]
You Must Hang On to Be Spiritually Healthy!
Recently I did a brief study on the Greek word katechō. What I found is that this word is an important word for discipleship. The leading dictionary of the Greek New Testament, BDAG, says one of the main meanings of this word is “to adhere firmly to traditions, convictions, or beliefs, hold to, hold fast” […]
Cochlear Implants and Free Grace Theology (Rev 2:7)
Most of us have seen the youtube videos of deaf people hearing for the first time. Sometimes the person involved lost his hearing at a young age and hasn’t heard for many years, and sometimes the people were born deaf. In any case, they have had some kind of procedure that now allows them to […]
Coronavirus Disciplines: Forgiveness (Ephesians 4:32)
In a previous blog, I compared life under quarantine to a pressure cooker. My Instant Pot creates a high–pressure environment that allows food to cook much faster! Likewise, I find that life under quarantine is putting pressure on the family, and on me, so that I’ve been getting angrier much faster than I usually would. […]
Real Life and the Inspiration of the Scriptures (Matthew 27:23-24)
We just finished celebrating the week of Easter. During that week something occurred which many who study the Bible say indicates that the Bible is not historically accurate and thus not inspired by God. When Jesus is put on trial before Pilate, Pilate wants to release Jesus. Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent, but he […]
Coronavirus Disciplines: Apologies (James 5:16)
Of all the cooking tools we have at home, our Instant Pot is the one I like the best. I didn’t at first—all the meat turned out tough. But then I learned which recipes work best for an Instant Pot, and now I use it all the time. The Instant Pot is an electric pressure […]