Jeremiah and the Tickling of Ears (Jeremiah 42)
We are all familiar with Paul’s warning to Timothy that the time would come when the believers Timothy is serving will want their ears tickled (2 Tim 4:3). In other words, they will want to be told what they want to hear. We are all prone to that problem. We don’t like it when the […]
God Is Omnipresent
The ancients thought their gods were limited to certain places. A god was in this tree or city, or only had power over that mountain or river. Outside of his or her particular domain, the god was powerless. By contrast, in Biblical thought, God is omnipresent. That means that, unlike creatures (or pagan gods and […]
Peter Kreeft on Free Will
Peter Kreeft is a prolific Catholic philosopher and apologist. He has written numerous books on apologetics and introductions to philosophy that I greatly enjoyed. What makes Kreeft’s introductions different is their dialogical format. Plato wrote his philosophy in the forms of dialogues, and Kreeft has followed that tradition. In Kreeft’s case, the dialogues occur between […]
Doctrine Matters
I received a call from a Free Grace friend. He asked, “What is doctrine?” My immediate response was, “Doctrine is anything that is taught in the Bible.” He went on to say that he distinguished between doctrines and tenets. He called doctrines the ten or so fundamentals: the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, His […]
Fifteen Characteristics of Life in the Millennium According to Isaiah
The Millennial kingdom will begin after the Tribulation. What will life be like? A great deal could be said about it. For starters, here are fifteen characteristics of life in the Millennium, based on three passages from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 2:2-4 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain […]
Cataracts and Zambia (2 Corinthians 4:4)
From July 11-25 my daughter Kathryn and I were in Zambia to teach the doctrine of Salvation and the book of Romans to two classes at a Bible college. We had a total of 45 students in the two classes. At the same time, at the school medical clinic, two visiting doctors from the US […]
No Trinity, No Salvation?
Question: Are “Christians” who don’t understand or believe the traditional doctrine of the Trinity really Christians? Answer: That’s a good question. I take it you’re asking whether they have eternal life. The traditional answer would be “No.” I believe the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and historic Protestant Churches would say you have to believe the […]
Invitations in the Evangelistic Ministries of Jesus and His Apostles
When I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, I was required to file weekly reports on how many students I evangelized, what their response was, and how many students I discipled. I was told if I did not get to the invitation prayer in the Four Spiritual Laws, then I could not count […]
Giving and Growing
We hit two milestones recently. First, my webmaster informed me that the Grace in Focus podcast has been downloaded over 151,000 times. That’s a pretty good number for a show doing serious theology (as opposed to, say, funny cat videos)! And, of course, that doesn’t include our radio audience. I’m encouraged! Second, this month, faithalone.org […]
Once Saved, Rarely Saved?
Someone sent me a link to a rather extreme Arminian preacher. Most who believe you can lose everlasting life think that people who believe you can’t lose your salvation still have a good chance of making it to heaven by persevering. However, this preacher thinks that the preaching of eternal security makes it very unlikely […]